Venice

Here we are, after a very long coach ride waiting for the other busses to arrive and for the suitcases to be loaded in the launches seen on the far right of the picture and taken to our various hotels. There were three this time, and ours was on the other side of the island from St. Mark's.
There's Craig who helped us by letting us upload our digital picture files on his computer, which he didn't lose in the airport.
After our luggage was safely launched, we had a short trek to our hotel, since the bus terminal is also on the island backside.
We had an immediate rehearsal and concert and were to walk to the church. But taking the boat launch was a lot faster.
This is the church, Chiesa di San Salvadore. I didn't get any interior pictures since dragging my tripod while in full concert tux and music would have been a pain and a distraction.
There was our poster, ready to attract an audience.
Mellowing before the concert. We had a long and grueling rehearsal.
The youngens amused themselves with some sort of football game.
The next day, we all assembled at St. Mark's square for our walking tour.
We had a very nice concert with a full house of enthusiastic listeners. Afterwards, we all dispersed, and a few of us braved the walk back along the little narrow side streets of Venice. Ellen, Mitch, Martha, Brian, Elaine and I were the first to brave the deed, and if it hadn't been for Brian's excellent sense of direction, I'm not sure we would have made it. My map was pretty useless. It showed all sorts of canals that weren't there, and canals we crossed were not on the map. It was also very late for Venice (10:30 PM) and absolutely nobody was around. Eventually, we picked up some other persons that seemed to be going to the same place, and we found ourselves approaching the bridge we recognized, crossed it, and started desperately searching for a place to eat some dinner. We had not eaten anything before the concert. Our Pizza next to the river was wonderful with the largest beers we ever drank. Martha, thanks for sending us the picture below.
The stunning St. Mark's Square, complete with birds flying.
Our guide for the walk was very informative.
The beautiful St. Mark's Cathedral where we sang a mass on Saturday.
Grace Hong wrote: People could slip letters to the powers that listed individuals who were accused of being conspirators, liars, etc etc. Of course, if any accusations were false, the person submitting the letter would be taken to prison himself. Thatks, G.
The beautiful entrance of St. Mark's Cathedral.
The last picture we were allowed to take before entering Doge's Palace. It's the ceiling above the entrance staircase.
As prisoners walked through Bridge of Sighs, this is what they saw.
Someone trying to smuggle a dog into St. Mark's! I think he succeeded. This tower is the most prominent structure in the square, and below are some pictures taken from the top.
And this is the outside view of that Bridge.
Looking down on the square.
Looking out toward the sea.
The domes of St. Mark's Cathedral. See all the leaning towers.
The square below right next to the sea.
There is a story about this pleasant looking chap. He was one of the clerks at our Continental Hotel. We asked how to get to Mestre on the mainland, and he said, "Take any train for one stop." We did, got off the first stop and were in the middle of nowhere! After speaking (sort of) to an Italian dock worker, we found out that the only way out of there today was to walk fifteen minutes to the next station. We did in the blazing heat, and had no time to do anything but come right back on our return ticket. Later, he said there was only one train every two days that stops there, and we were unlucky enough to take it.
Waiting to walk to our meeting place where we claim our luggage and board our busses.
Our bags being conveyed up from the launch to be loaded onto the various busses.
This picture and the one below were taken on the walk to the bus terminal. They were so beautiful, we couldn't decide which to leave out.
And, while we waited for the rest of the party that had to be launched to the terminal, a bridge game passed away the time.
The line of red are flowers which lined a pizza place where we dined with Martha and Brian after the concert, without getting drenched by a watering hose.
POST SCRIPT: Those pictures taken from the top of the tower were taken by us eight years ago when we were here and young enough to climb to the top. We just thought no web site of Venice would be complete without those spectacular views.

Next Stop, Montecatini Terme and Florence
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