2010•Venice

First view of the Grand Canal, September 1, 2010. Piazza San Marco from a vaparetto (water bus). My accomodations: Hotel Ca'Formenta. On Via Giuseppe Garibaldi. My hotel room, complete with fruit basket and Michelangelo. Clean and functional.
Room with a view. Sights along San Marco Canal. MG 3295e MG 3296e Santa Maria della Pietà , inaccurately known as "Vivaldi's Church," it sits near the former site of the orphanage where Vivaldi taught violin and composed many of his works.
Leaning bell tower of San Giorgio dei Greci. View across the canal to San Giorgio Maggiore. MG 3303e Basilica di San Marco MG 3306e
MG 3307 MG 3308 MG 3309 MG 3310 Partial obstruction due to restoration.
Views from Campanile di San Marco (the bell tower). The island of San Giorgio Maggiore. MG 3315 MG 3318e MG 3319e
MG 3320e The neighborhood of my hotel. MG 3322 Façade of San Giorgio Maggiore. MG 3324
Detail of one of the Basilica domes. MG 3327 Wide angle view with Doge's Palace in foreground. Sign posted on the viewing deck of the bell tower in Piazza San Marco, Venice. Rough translation: Galileo Galilei, with his telescope from here, August 21, 1609, broadened the horizons of man. In commemoration of the 400th anniversary. "The Last Judgement" over main entrance to Basilica.
MG 3336 MG 3337 MG 3338 The Doge's Palace. Views from a water bus.
MG 3343 MG 3345e The bell tower of San Marco. MG 3348 MG 3349e
Santa Maria della Salute The Lion of St. Mark on the clock tower. Courtyard of the Doge's Palace (interior photos not permited). View from inside the Bridge of Sighs. The blue panels are due to restoration projects. Scala dei Giganti (Giant's Stairway) in courtyard of Doge's Palace. Statues of Mars and Neptune by Jacopo Sansovino.
MG 3365e MG 3366 The Bridge of Sighs. There's always something in Venice undergoing restoration. Clock tower in Piazza San Marco (late 15th century). MG 3372e2
MG 3373 MG 3374e The statues ring the bell on the hour. Detail on the bell tower at Piazza San Marco. Many attractive building façades can only be seen from a boat on the canal.
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MG 3385e Southern end of Grand Canal, looking east. Santa Maria della Salute MG 3388 MG 3391e
MG 3392e MG 3393e MG 3395 MG 3396 Foreground left: San Maurizo, now housing the Museum of Music. Backround right, the leaning bell tower of Santo Stefano.
Interior of Museum of Music. Had dinner here. San Vidal, the venue for a Vivaldi concert I attended, performed by Interpreti Veneziani. San Vidal Construction at the base of the bell tower.
Replicas of the Horses of St. Mark. The original, restored, gilded bronze statues are inside the Basilica and may not be photographed. Originals estimated to be at least 800 years old. Detail of what's under the plaza surface. MG 3418e "The Resurection", Basilica exterior. Detail of mosaic tiles.
Balcony of the Basilica. Left: Doge's Palace; right: St. Mark's Library. View from Basilica balcony. MG 3423 A storm approaches. MG 3425e
San Giorgio Maggiore MG 3428e MG 3429 MG 3432e Entrance of Palazzo Grimani.
Note gondolier using cell phone. How romantic. Bell tower of San Giorgio dei Greci. MG 3439 Inner workings of the clock tower. Weights for the clock movement.
MG 3442 The clock's digit wheels. The woman is the tour guide. Bruce on roof of clock tower. Photo credit goes to the tour guide. MG 3448 The characters who strike the bell are Moors.
MG 3450e MG 3451e MG 3454e The street, Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, looking east from near my hotel. MG 3457
Trattoria Giorgione; I returned here later for dinner. Giuseppe Garibaldi MG 3461 Island of San Pietro; leaning bell tower of San Pietro di Castello. MG 3463
San Pietro di Castello San Pietro di Castello Dinner seranade at Trattoria Giorgione. Bruce at Piazza San Marco. MG 3486
Carnival masks for sale. Santa Maria della Salute Departing Venice via water bus to Murano & Burano. MG 3492 Brightly colored houses on the island of Burano.
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The lighthouse at the Faro vaparetto stop on Murano. Murano is known for its glassworks. MG 3522 MG 3523 MG 3525
Santa Maria e Donato on Murano. Bell tower of Santa Maria e Donato. Santa Maria e Donato Santa Maria e Donato. 12th century mosaic floor inside but photos not allowed. Rialto Bridge on Grand Canal. It also functions as a shopping mall.
MG 3533 View from Rialto Bridge. MG 3538e San Vidal, where I attended the concert on my 2nd night. San Vidal
Santo Stefano bell tower. MG 3544 MG 3545 Spiral staircase of Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo (stairway was closed). MG 3548
Note the gondolier's footwork. MG 3555 A glass shop in Venice. MG 3557 MG 3558
Lunch at Hard Rock Cafe (needed a change of pace from Italian fare). MG 3564 Participants prepare for Regata Storica. Porta dell Arsenale MG 3574
MG 3575 MG 3576 MG 3578 MG 3579 Santa Maria della Salute, my principal vantage point for Regata Storica.
The annual Regata Storica, parade of historic boats. MG 3585 MG 3586 MG 3593 MG 3600
MG 3601 Official flag of Venice. MG 3607 MG 3608 MG 3611
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MG 3633 MG 3634 MG 3635 Waiting for the gondola races which follow the parade. San Giorgio Maggiore from Santa Maria della Salute.
MG 3642 Santa Maria della Salute MG 3647 MG 3648 Which mask doesn't belong?
MG 3652 The fire department. Finally the gondola races begin, over an hour after the parade. MG 3657 A weather vane.
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San Zaccaria San Zaccaria, façade detail. Santa Maria Formosa (tower not actually leaning). Campo Santa Maria Formosa Cistern at Campo Santa Marina.
MG 3698 MG 3700 MG 3702 MG 3703e Santa Maria dei Miracoli. Very impressive interior, but photos prohibited.
Canal alongside Santa Maria dei Miracoli. Left: Ospedale Civile; right: Santi Giovanni e Paolo Ospedale Civile, a functioning hospital. Tomb of Doge Pietro Mocenigo, by Pietro Lombardo,1481, in Santi Giovanni e Paolo. MG 3712e
MG 3713e MG 3714 Tomb of Andrea Vendramin, Doge of Venice 1476-1478, by Tullio & Antonio Lombardo, in San Giovanni e Paolo. MG 3716 MG 3717
Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo MG 3721 Façade detail on Santa Maria dei Derelitti. MG 3725 MG 3727
San Giovanni Battista, where Antonio Vivaldi was baptised. Rialto Bridge MG 3735 MG 3736 MG 3737
MG 3738e Vaporetto stop, Ca'Rezzonico MG 3741e MG 3742 MG 3743e
MG 3745e Brief stop at Zitella on the island of Della Giudecca, en route to San Giorgio Maggiore. Piazza San Marco from San Giorgio Maggiore. San Giorgio Maggiore San Giorgio Maggiore
This is the mosaic tile on the floor of the church. It only looks 3-dimensional. Views from bell tower of San Giorgio Maggiore. MG 3764e MG 3765e MG 3766e
MG 3767e September 7, 2010. Start of day trip to the Dolomite Mountains. Raining and much cooler than at sea level. MG 3779e MG 3780e MG 3782e
Town of Pieve di Cadore. MG 3785 MG 3786e MG 3790e MG 3791e
Casa del Tiziano (home of the painter, "Titian"). Pieve de Cadore, Italy. MG 3796e MG 3797e Town of Auronzo di Cadore. MG 3799
MG 3802e Lake Santa Caterina MG 3807e2 MG 3810e Lake Misurina. On a clear day you'd see the Dolomite Mountains beyond the lake.
Grand Hotel Misurina, Misurina, Italy At the last minute we did not eat here and continued on to the mountains. MG 3819e MG 3827e Rifugio Auronzo, where we did have lunch, at the base of Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Elevation about 7654 feet.
Temperature at this elevation was about 48°F. MG 3832e MG 3833e MG 3837e MG 3838e
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MG 3854 MG 3856 MG 3862CFR Town of Cortina d'Ampezzo, site of 1956 Winter Olympics. MG 3864
MG 3865 MG 3866 Sculpture of Angelo Dibona, famous local mountain guide in early 1900s. MG 3869 MG 3870
MG 3874 MG 3876e Venice at night. Santa Maria della Salute MG 3883e
MG 3886 MG 3887e MG 3889e Cistern in Campo Santa Maria del Giglio. Santa Maria del Giglio (aka Zobenigo). In 1679, Antonio Barbaro left a bequest to fund construction of the elaborate façade as a monument to himself & his family. A statue of Antonio appears on the 2nd tier.
MG 3897e Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari MG 3899 MG 3901 Straight ahead: San Rocco; to left of church is Scuola Grande di San Rocco.
Scuola Grande di San Rocco Heavy rain on the square, not canal overflow. MG 3906e San Giorgio dei Greci (HDR-enhanced image) Campanile di San Marco at sunset.
Panoramic composite of 11 images.