Venice, Day Two

A Strollers Paradise
This town is built for walking. We headed off in no direction in particular this morning and bumped into some gondoliers taking a break. Perhaps the global downturn has finally trickled down to the gondola trade?

The photos simply don't convey the maze of narrow alleys that make up this city. You can get lost within a minute without a map - and even with one. We dead-ended ourselves in blind alleys and small canals alike.

The canals carry a sluggish green water around the maze - throwing bright reflections high up the building walls.

As you can see, some of the canals are barely wide enough for a slim gondola to get through.

From the top of the Ponte del'Accademia we got a nice view east towards the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute.

Closer to the bridge is the Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti, which is now used as a university. We took a walk across the bridge into Dorsoduro and had lunch at a small restaurant.

A few hundred meters past the restaurant was an exhibit of Leonardo DaVinci's inventions, which was really interesting. It included many of the weapons he invented but most recognizable was the fixed wing that he hoped would allow man to fly.

Just outside was a much simpler invention, the elevated walkway. You may recall that Venice was flooded just a few months back and I guess these remain for the next one. They are close to two feet tall.

Here is a shot across the grand canal from the front door of our hotel.

Campo Angelo is a large square about a five minute walk from the hotel. We had coffee at a cafe here in the morning. In the evening, we returned to the church in the distance for a concert.

The concert was given by a group called Interpreti Veneziani who played Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Bach's concerto number 2. We bought the tickets earlier in the day while visiting a museum dedicated to baroque instruments. I learned that Vivaldi was born and raised in Venice, so what better way to spend an evening?