Venice general

We spent 3 days in Venice. We went on an escorted walk and a Grand Canal boat tour.  One evening we went to a Vivaldi small orchestra concert playing 'The Four Seasons" in an old room with amazing acoustics  The young women lead violinist was amazing and knowing Vivaldi spent a lot of time in Venice added to the atmosphere.
We bought vaporetto tickets and got quite adept at jumping on and off the ferries and looking around. We walked a lot as well and got lost many times which is supposed to be one of the things you need to do in Venice. We found the Venetian people to be very helpful and courteous. How those who are not involved in tourism manage I'm not sure. It must be difficult for them to get around at times. With the help of the hotel staff we discovered two restaurants largely patronised by locals and enjoyed these very much. One of my ambitions was to visit some of the private gardens in Venice that I've read about. The hotel manager tried hard but it was not possible in the time we had. Next time.
We visited the Palazza Ducale or Doges Palace - the seat of Venice's government for nearly seven centuries so it's seen a bit. An added bonus was seeing a Manet exhibition that was on there as well.

These are some general pictures that we took.

 The Venetian houses were originally family homes. We're told that this is one of the last that had a family in it. It has recently become a hotel.

                                 There's still washing to be done even if you live in Venice.

Imagine having this water lapping at your basement door constantly. There are strict rules about how fast boats can travel top prevent too much backwash but it's hard to know if they're adhered to.

At the risk of being boring the colour in the buildings is amazing.

 

                 
This restaurant is accessible by boat and has it's menu out for viewing on the canal.

There are lots of masks for sale in Venice. Bob had read about these which were used during the plague. The long noses kept people further away and transmitting disease was supposedly less likely.

We watched these wooden piles being bored into place one day and the next day there was a platform on top. We presume it will be a new landing dock for boats.

This is The Bridge of Sighs between these two buildings. It was supposedly called this because prisoners walked over it between the court and prison if they had been found guilty and knew it would be some time before they saw outside again - if ever.