And now for a Venice post without small animals.

Venice is really so beautiful that I couldn't stop taking pictures, even when I wasn't sure exactly what it was I was taking a picture of. Well obviously they are cathedrals but as there are so many I don't know which ones these are. The architecture and detailing are just fantastic.
These pictures are from our ferry ride from the mainland to Lido, the beach resort town we stayed in while we visited Venice. There are no cars in Venice, so we stayed where we could park our car. It meant taking a car ferry, but it was a great way to see parts of the city.


Another beautiful church.
Venice at night as seen from our hotel balcony -amazing.

I know it is very touristy, but I just had to take a gondola ride this time in Venice, and it was so worth it. The front of the gondolas all have similar marking, and they represent the six sections of Venice.
Sometimes the canals would be clear, just our gondola, then we would turn a corner and there would be a lot of traffic, from other gondolas, to delivery boats, to water taxis, to personal transportation.
We saw many beautiful building and bridges, and then there was this building. It was not as architecturally beautiful as some, but it was the home of Marco Polo! So cool.
Our gondolier, who actually did sing, but only a few bars. Mostly what he did was call out and talk to every other gondolier or boat driver around.
After our gondola ride we went to tour the clock tower. It had been undergoing repairs and conversion to an automated time keeping system last time we were in Venice. The clock was built in 1499. This is a view of Piazza San Marco from the top of the clock tower.
The famous bronze horses. We toured through St. Mark's Cathedral last time, so this time around we did different things.
Our guide is showing us how tall the 'Moors' are on top of the clock tower. (Over 2m tall) They are called Moors, not because they represent Moorish figures, but just because they are tarnished so they appear black.
There are 132 (I think, Monica, is that right?) steps, and very curved.
A view of the tower from the piazza.
People in Venice use boats like cars, including people who talk on cell phones as they drive! It may be hard to see in the picture, but he was definitely talking on his cell. Over here we have also seen people talking on their cell phones while riding bicycles.
A last look at Venice on our ferry ride back to the mainland.