Autumn in Venice

We spent a week in Venice. We stayed at the delightfully named Palazzo Contarini della Porta di Ferro, a 17th century restored Venetian palace, its huge wooden door hidden down a very quiet street.

We went to all the famous places which were frightfully crowded, so enjoyed our time more when we visited quieter neighbourhoods. A highlight was an evening concert we attended at the church where composer Vivaldi preached. It is now a concert venue. The 7-piece orchestra played Vivaldi's Four Seasons and other Baroque works - an obvious choice and definitely for tourists, but it was wonderful and we loved every minute of it.  

There was so much to see in Venice that I've sorted my photos into various categories.

Classic Venice

Part of St Mark's Square

The Doge's Palace

The Rialto Bridge

Waiting for a fare.
Even at 80 Euros for a 45-minute ride (100 Euros in the evening) gondaliers never rested for long.

Crumbling Venice

Venice details

Carnival masks, the principal souvenir, ranged from 5 to hundreds of Euros.

The lion of Venice was everywhere.

On top of the column in St Marks Square.

Crowded Venice

Fashion Venice

In a museum...
 

People in Venice

People were taking selfies everywhere.
I was lucky to get this - just the right timing.

Quirky Venice

Eating in Venice

The hot chocolates were the best ever!

Almost all my meals were lasagne.

The waiter suggested Steve wear a bib! 

The gelato were to die for.

Historical Venice
First up: statues

The Doge's Palace was enormous. We couldn't believe our good luck to be first in line at 8.30am and find nobody there. It was built in the 14th century for the Doge, the highest political position in the Venetian Republic. The beautiful paintings, sculptures and decorations were created for the palace, not moved here from elsewhere, so it really did feel authentic and as if, (cliche alert), you are stepping back in time.

Our ticket got us into other museums where we were able to soak up Venetian history. 

The Palace of Franz Josef 1 Emperor of Austria and his wife Elizabeth

They lived here for a while in 1856; the rooms have recently been restored.

 The Printing Museum

The Printing Museum told the history of printing.

The Coin Museum

Coins of unbelievable antiquity

Archaeological Museum
I enjoyed this space as it was mostly huge friezes, statues and tops of columns that would have graced enormous buildings. Almost everything here was HUGE.

The Armoury
Apart from the helmets, axes, swords and suits of armour here, I liked the shadows they created.

Islands in the lagoon
We caught a vaporetto and visited two islands in the Venetian lagoon, an hour away from Venice.

Burano 
The island is famous for its brightly coloured houses. They really were this colourful.

The island used to be famous for its lace but nowadays most of it is made in China!

This was a very lacy shop!!!!

 We walked over a footbridge which linked the island to another smaller one - Mazzorbo, a gentle landscape of vineyards, orchards and gardens.

Torcello
Back on the vaporetto, we ventured further on to the small island of Torcello. My guidebook said it was established in the 5th century and once had 20,000 people, with palaces, churches and homes. Today there are only 60 inhabitants and a Byzantine cathedral, the only remains of the island's glorious past. Ernest Hemingway was entranced by the island and stayed here in 1948, writing, hunting and fishing.

Pomegranates grew in profusion.

I loved the air of mystery here.

Chestnuts

Lost in Venice
We were continually perplexed with the maze of alleys that bore no resemblance to the myriad maps consulted. And were subsequently constantly lost.

I am ending with a photo that will mean nothing to anyone but Steve and me. This is the window of a  photo shop not far from our palazzo. Every time we passed it (which was often) we knew where we were. It was like a homing beacon for us. We kept saying 'Ah,  Salvador Dali and Sophia Loren. We know where we are.' (Except we found out later that it was Gina Lollabrigida.)