Venice 7th and 8th April 2004
St Marks from the Canale di San Marco
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Arrival and first day ......
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The coach arrives at the Pizzale Roma from the airport at Treviglio. Immediately you are on the Grand Canal.
The bustle of street markets accompany you.
Repairs on the Grand Canal just south of Pizzale Roma.
I was especially impressed by this little skimmer.
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The Venice of tourism
Murano
The approach to Murano from the vaporetto from Marco Polo airport.
Duckboards and their trestles wait on the quayside in Murano.
The Canal di S.Donato in Murano provides classic views; tourist development tends to be on the sunny-side of the canal.
From Murano to St Marks
The Canale delle Fondamenta Nuove runs down the northern shore of Cannaregio and Castello, and includes berths for the town's hospital; and a goof few water ambulances were plying this waterway.
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The Canale delle Fondamenta Nuove (above) gives way to a more industrial sector of the city, as the vaporetto passes the entrance to ship-repair yards, the Canale delle Galeazze and the Canale di Porte Nuovo which leads to the much larger harbour of Darsena Grande.
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In the Canale di San Marco a seemingly-huge merchantman dwarfs the skyline, including the Campo S. Giorgio (centre).
The leaning Camp S.Marino, just to the east of St Marks on the Canale di San Marco, must give photographers nightmares!
The Campo S. Giorgio across the waterway of the Canale di San Marco .. as the vaporetto approaches St Marks.
The Canale di San Marco, with its view towards St Marks and the Campo S. Giorgio, gives way to the Canale delle Giudecca.
A glimpse of the heavier industrial complexes that dominate the north-western shores of the lagoon.
Camp S.Giorgio, the huge rounded basilica opposite St Marks, indicates the southern end of the Grand Canal.
The Canale delle Giudecca has a number of fading palaces, and some interesting points of detail. Some renovation of the properties is evident, but the barge and crane in the centre photo indicate more thorough works.
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The lovely skyline of the Campo S. Giorgio and the Canale di San Marco.
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Near the Rialto Bridge is an intensively-used base for gondolas plying their trade .. where tourists are particularly concentrated.
Rialto Bridge - gondolas and tide gauge
At the Vaporetto station is a tide gauge, a vital indicator in this city on or below Spring High Tides!
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St Marks Square
The approach by vaporetto from the west, along the Grand Canal.
Painting are sold by their artists from a dozen stalls, between the landings and the square. We bought one!
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The lapping waters of the lagoon indicate their encroachment of St Marks in shades of green.
There a few vendors of pigeon seed in the square .. and then photographers to capture the results!
A shot from landward of the overtopping waters.
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The frontage of St Marks, the Molo Riva Degli, is being raised to resist inundation, hence the lengths of steel piling and the concrete.
Manhole covers are the conduit of floodwaters at high tides, so these are being replaced and new drains installed.
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To the east of St Marks, along the Molo Riva Degli, it appears a new area of waterfront is being constructed. The centre shot is one back over the Molo Riva Degli towards the Campo S. Giorgio.
Duckboards and their supporting frames are colonised by weary tourists.
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The frontage of St Marks and its square, thronging with tourists in the afternoon sun. The queues to look over the interior of the church are long and for the dedicated enthusiast/faithful traveller only, as the time would certainly run away with the day.
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Live music was the accompaniment to this restaurant in the square.
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Venice Lido
A good deal is being done to the Lido in term of coastal protection, but mostly to improve the facilities I found the concrete architecture stark and somewhat sterile.
The Lido vaporetto stop leads to the Adriatic, seaward side of the lagoon by the Gran Viale S. Maria Elisabetta.
There is a faded elegance about the Lido .. although not a faded a i Venice proper.
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The Gran Viale S. Maria Elisabetta.
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The Lido was somewhat frayed in the early spring. A good deal of renovative work was going on, but it was hard to see the area as the stylish resort it must be in summer. Concrete groynes, and crumbling concrete at that, did not appeal!
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The Venice Plain - Valley of the River Po
The Alps are the backdrop to the spring scene in the valley of the River Po.
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Drainage channel and B&B.
The verdant plains near to Marco Polo Airport, with the Alps in the distance.
The B&B was none to easy to spot in the unlighted darkness .. luckily the hostess collected us from the bus stop!
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The low-lying and poorly drained coastal plains, are crossed by innumerable drainage ditches.
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