Venezia

This was not my first time in Venice but it is every time a special place to visit. It blows me away to think that the entire city is built on top of wooden pillars planted in the lagoon floor.  My favorite thing to do there is getting "lost" through the narrow streets, especially away from the touristy areas. You never know what you are going to see...a small courtyard with a cafe, a bridge over a canal, great architecture, laundry strung across the alley, a piazza with an enormous church or a dead end into a canal. There is always signs taking you back to landmarks like the Rialto bridge or the piazza St Marco so you can't get really lost even without a map.

Everything is done by foot or by boat here. It was very interesting to sit at a terrace along the grand Canal and watch the traffic of boats and gondolas. The gondolas have priority over all the other boats. They seem the hardest to maneuver. We saw all sorts of delivery boats, water taxis & buses,  a freezer boat, police & firefighter boat, funeral boat and a construction boat with the crane.

We rented an apartment on the fourth floor with a view of the rooftops. Nothing was plumb or level and the floor was on a slight slop. A charming old building !

Below is a picture of Burano, an old fishing town on a nearby island. It is such a fun colorful town. It has a Disneyland feel to it and it is just as crowded ;-) The story says that the fishermen's wives, being tired of their husbands mistaking the neighbor's house for theirs, painted the façade of their home with vivid colors. That way the fishermen, after a day at sea and a few drinks with friends could better recognize  their own home !

Ciao !