Venice Mix

Today I picked up a Venice Chorus pass, which provides access to fifteen churches where much of the city's fine art is being preserved or restored. One also gets to enjoy weaving through the maze that is Venice in search of each church. As taking interior photos is discouraged, for this post I've decided to just include a mix of pictures from walking about the city. First, like most Venetians, I'm residing down an alley. This one is in the Castello section. My rooms are up one floor, on the left, where one can see the open shutters towards the end of the alley.

In Saint Mark's Square there are some interesting vendors; this one sells fine glasswork.

Here's a closer look in one of the windows.

And another one.

Across the piazza, by the canal, one may wonder, just how close do those large cruise ships pass by Saint Mark's Square? This close.

One can imagine, on those occasions when the canal water rises up and flows into the Square (note the portable walkways stored in the middle), larger vessels probably send wakes across the flooded piazza. There is controversy about the impact of large ships, for undoubtedly their wakes take a toll on preservation efforts. No surprise if the ship lanes change in the future.
There is a delightful Italian movie called Pane e tulipani or Bread and Tulips, much of which takes place in Venice. On impulse, a woman who is separated from her family on vacation ends up in Venice, and cannot quite bring herself to leave. When her not-overly-understanding husband sends a very amateur detective to find her, she meets the detective briefly in a small campo before running away again. The campo is in a very out-of-the-way section of Venice, through a maze of alleys. Here is Campo Do Pozzi.

On the campo there's a nice small bar where one can go for a coffee and pastry in the morning.

Back to one of the most popular attractions in Venice, the Rialto Bridge, spanning the Grand Canal.

By looking under the bridge one can get a sense of its actual width, with crowds crossing over the middle and far side as well.
Back in my Castello neighborhood, one can walk a short distance and cross one of two bridges onto the island of San Pietro di Castello (formerly Olivo), which was one of Venice's original settlements, going back at least to the Sixth Century. Here was located Venice's first cathedral. In more recent centuries it has been home to the Church of San Pietro di Castello.

The church has a separate bell tower, another one of Venice's leaning towers.

In a neighborhood on the island, a window was open so a winged resident could enjoy the fresh air (look carefully).

A bit further along was a wall shrine.

Took a different return route that included a nice campo on wash day.

Of course, a serious clothesline can span an entire canal.

In a nearby alley came upon this unique door. The upper sign may be translated as "Genius at work. Do not disturb." Probably best to not knock.

Finally, back to my alley, with this picture from the apartment window.

Ciao.