Venice - Mish Mash

These are some photos of Venice which didn't quite make it onto earlier posts. The one above is a bit scary don't you think?

This one looks like a pantomine villain.

I just love the green door and the red and white of the oar.

The strange he-she men with the "boobies".

The picturesque canals and gondolas.

That lovely green with red and yellow. Lovely against the brickwork.

My daughter and husband - having a rest! We did a lot of walking and our feet ached.

Pretty Murano glass baubles.

Santa Maria della Salute from the water taxi as we arrived.

Colourful posters on the wall.

Outside the gondoliers hut.

I love this plasterwork. I wouldn't like it on my house here but in Venice it just looked right.

I had wanted to place a photograph of a cat here but got into a muddle and didn't know how to fix it!

I will add more than one cat photo tomorrow to make up for today.

Until then,

June.

Venice - Churches

There are many churches in Venice. Virtually around every street corner you find another one. They house many works of art by famous artists and are highly decorative.

Although the streets outside were heaving the churches were fairly quiet. A time to contemplate in this fast moving world.

I don't really recall now the names of any of the churches we went into we just ambled along and if it took our fancy we went inside.

When you step inside these churches it seems to bring life into perspective - so much of our time is go, go, go and being at every person's beck and call and yet in these tranquil, holy places you realize there is a need to sometimes slow down and take stock.

I am not a deeply religious person although I used to attend Sunday School as a child.

Every now and again in the street you would see little pockets in the wall where there was a painting of Christ or something religious.

Too many pigeons had been attracted to the one below!

The amount of gold in these churches was immense and there only seemed to be a little old lady making sure that everything was alright.

This church below was my favourite but I cannot for the life of me remember where it was nor what it was called. I loved the terracotta colour and the ornate carving.

This was just inside the same church. I think it's lovely. I especially like Joseph and Mary in their embrace and holding baby, Jesus, in a heart shape.

This again is from the same church. The items in this church did not appear as stuffy as some. Although the above image has religious connotations it could be any mother bouncing her baby on her knee. 

And something out of context or is it? - In that funny shop I showed you yesterday where there were some men with "boobs" wearing high heels was a table with this image on it - Jesus, with dollar signs in his eyes. I suppose it really does tell a tale about the immense wealth of the church!

And finally, here is another cat who was displayed in a shop window and which meant that the camera had to come out again!

Tomorrow, I will do a miscellaneous blog which will bring an end to our stay in Venice.

Until then,

June.

The Campanile

 Lions are everywhere in Venice - not real ones, I hasten to add! This one was on the Basilica in St. Mark's Square.

Here is a friendly dog we met on one of our walks. He looks a bit like our dog Charlie but with much longer legs. O.K. so he's a different colour as well but other than that there is some similaity don't you think? Charlie, our dog features in another post - Our Faithful Hound - for those of you who may want to check it out.

As promised here are the photographs from The Campanile. This one shows St. Mark's Square and as you can see as it was towards the end of the day it was far less busy although the queue to the bell tower was still quite long.

Santa Maria della Salute from The Campanile.

The Basilica's rooftop and Venetian rooftops.

Another photograph of the same. I love the blue, silver and terracotta colours.

A further view from The Campanile - looking at the Doges Palace.

The bell! What more can I say - it speaks for itself!

We came across these strange looking fellows in a shop. Not quite sure what to make of them. Japanese and American tourists were fascinated!

Some more gondolas in a quieter street.

This was a poster on a shop door - well, you can imagine my camera was out of its bag and snapping away almost immediately. Doesn't he look grand and he seems to be standing in St. Mark's Square!

That's all for now. I will show you some photos tomorrow from inside some of the churches and some papier mache cats.

Until then...

June.

More from Venice

This is the Londra Palace Hotel where we stayed. A lovely hotel overlooking the lagoon. There were plenty of cafes and restaurants nearby and due to its central location visiting the sights was easy. Below are some more photos of the Basilica - look at the striking colours!

You cannot fail to be amazed by the beauty of the building and admire the quality of the workmanship.

Looking at these photographs of the facade of the Basilica makes me wish that I had perservered in the rain to see the inside.

Here is my daughter - reading Michael Morpurgo's "The Amazing Story of Adolophus Tips".

On every street corner there seemed to be a reason to take a photograph. Venice is really a magical place.

Doesn't this seem a truly brilliant life - imagine no cars, buses or lorries!

Although St. Mark's Square gets busy the area around the Rialto Bridge is heaving and the crowds seemed more aggressive - pushing and shoving but all part of the Venetian experience.

The inside of a gondola - isn't it resplendent.

Who could forget Carlo Collodi's Pinnochio - that's him on the right!

And finally, you can't go past a shop window with a delightful papier mache cat and not get a photo can you? This shop was truly amazing - it sold paper, stationary and these cats. All the paper sold was hand-printed and the shop owner was kind enough to take us to the back of the shop to show how this was done.

I love this cats' expression and what a spectacular bow tie. When we walked past the shop a few days later the cat was no longer in the window - he was too handsome to stay there for long.

Until next time when I will show you the views from the Campanile and some more cats!

June.

Venice in October

Venice is a truly beautiful place despite the crowds!

We stayed in Venice recently on a weekend break. It is a city that is both charming and captivating.

We stayed in a hotel just off St. Mark's Square and arrived there by water taxi - what luxury!

The above photograph was taken from our hotel window on our last day when it rained. The other three days had been very sunny - T-shirt weather. The building in the distance is the Santa Maria della Salute. The church was built to give thanks for the ending of a plague.

The above photograph is of the Basilica in St. Mark's Square - the Cathedral of Venice. There were large queues to go in and as we had kept it until the last day and it was raining we decided not to go inside. I wish now we had gone in on one of our first few days there as the queues had been smaller. I will show you better pictures tomorrow when we were in St. Mark's Square on a sunny day.

This is the Doges Palace, which is situated next to the Basilica.

This is the Campanile - the bell tower. Although the queues were lengthy we did wait and go up to see the view. The panoramic views of the city and the lagoon were breathtaking.

This aristocratic looking pug was in a shop window and I just had to take a photograph. Doesn't he look dashing!

Of course, no trip to Venice would be complete without a ride on a gondola. It was pricey but something that you had to do. It is best to haggle and to find a gondola that is not too near the Rialto Bridge where the prices were expensive!

I love the painting of the Basilica on the gondola and you can also see a part of the Doges Palace.

Even the mundane has something about it in this beautiful place.

This photo was taken from the Rialto bridge and shows how hectic the Grand Canal can be. In the forefront of the photo you can see a vaporetto - a water bus. This mode of transport is much much cheaper than a gondola. Everything in Venice seems to be within relatively easy walking distance but when the feet begin to hurt then it is easy to hop on and off one of these.

And finally, how could I leave you without a photograph of a cat. This cat was sat on a small balcony watching the pigeons.

I will leave it there for today but will return another time with more photos of Venice.

Until next time.

June.