Venezia: gondole, canali e calle

A selection of photos from our last few days in Venice. Mainly canals and gondolas.

An old well in a courtyard

i liked this lamp -a hand and forearm holding the lamp

Aqua alta: water seeping up from under the pavement

Two gondoliere hanging around waiting for customers - not trying too hard as the footpath was submerged by aqua alta

Another two having a chat in the middle of the Grand Canal :)

Time out

I've been out of action for a few days with a gastro bug.  Haven't seen much of Venezia other than out of the bedroom window.  

It sounds like Daniele de Rossi from AS Roma had the same attacco gastroenterico yesterday:
"un attacco violento di nausea, l'allenamento interrotto appoggiandosi  un muro vicino al campo"  I know how he felt :(  It was reported in La reppublica yesterday.  

Fortunately none of the rest of the family have caught it. 

 They have been out and about and have taken some good photos etc and I will post them soon.  We are catching the train to Rome today so will post again when we are settled in.

Another lazy day in Venice

We went to the Accademia gallery  (Gallerie dell'Accademia) yesterday and enjoyed wandering around looking at the fabulous collection. In the afternoon we walked around the St Marco/ Rialto side of the canal and went to a few favourite shops and bars.
We ended up in San Marco around 4.00pm so sat in the warm sunshine at Gran Caffe Quadri and enjoyed the beautiful view.  The light from the setting sun was perfect and the light/shadow contrasts were amazing. A very pleasant break. The photos are a mixture taken with our fuji by Rob, Jules and me.

The antique market in Campo S Barnaba. I really wanted to buy some of the glass lamps hanging on the right but getting them home in one piece is a bit problematic.

Next to Accademia bridge

It was impossible to get this shot without a tourist in the way

From Accademia bridge

From Accademia bridge

This one as well - there is a reason there are always heaps of people on the Accademia bridge, the views are always fantastic

Another one of my favourite spots

Looking in a shop selling beautiful paper and pens

Gondola traffic- tutto era bloccato

Ammonite in Piazza San Marco

and another one

Blue skies and a prime spot at Gran Caffe Quadri

I was busily checking my phone - just for a short while, I did take in my surroundings :)
 Sarah enjoyed just being there -as  you should

The contrast between the light and shadows was stunning

San Marco

Heaps of tourists

It was good to relax in the sun

Sardine tourists all crammed into the one spot -it's good for us because other areas are easy to walk around.

The pink lights are great

Jules took this photo -with much direction, neither of us will ever make it in TV :)

Fossils and other interesting stone surfaces in Verona

There are some beautiful ammonites in the stone in the streets of Verona as well as the Arena.  There are probably other fossils as well but my knowledge of fossils is limited.  We have taken many photos of interesting surfaces and will sort through them and post them soon.  These photos are just from Verona. 

If you are interested in fossils, the Natural History Museum/Museo di Storia Naturale in Verona is worth a visit.  We spent many hours there a few years ago and it has a huge collection of fossil specimens from Bolca

You can see the size of the fossil from the cigarette butt in the right corner