Churches in Venice

This week's PhotoHunt theme is "Closed."

I took the first photo last year from the boat on the way to Torcello, an island in the Venetian lagoon with a couple of amazing ancient churches. When I saw the scaffolding around the bell tower, I knew that it was still closed and when I got there, the sign confirmed it.

Closed for Extraordinary Maintenance. Sounds dire, doesn't it?

The only time I've found this tower open was in 2003. The views of the lagoon from the top are fantastic but that was before I had a digital camera. I'd love to climb this tower again someday.

It was also closed when I went in 2008 (being repaired after a lightning strike), and I learned from this article that it re-opened briefly in 2009 before being closed again because of a "real and serious risk of collapse." This 12th century tower is so fragile that they've stopped ringing the bells.

And here's a late winter camellia bud...closed at the time but not for long.

You can find more Photo Hunters and join the hunt here.

Thanks for visiting and have a good weekend. Happy April!

Continuing with a Torcello restoration report...when I was there in 2008, this little bridge was covered with scaffolding. The work is finished now and the old stones of the Ponte del Diavolo (Devil's Bridge) look great.

There are medieval "Devil's Bridges" all over Europe, and many of them have legends or folk tales connected to them. In some cases, the Devil helped the bridge builder in exchange for his soul; there are other stories in which the builder outwitted the Devil after enlisting his help. Not sure what the story is with the Torcello bridge.

This bridge is one of only two remaining in Venice that don't have guard-rails. For centuries, almost all the bridges in Venice were open-sided like this one.

The view from the fondamenta~

And the view of the fondamenta from the other side. I love that peach-colored palazzo.~

Be still, my heart! Boy, I love this one.

I wasn't expecting to find another shrine on Torcello since I'd spent a long time looking for them in 2008. But when I walked across the Ponte del Diavolo, I found this Madonna in a niche in the wall. What a beauty.

This week's PhotoHunt theme is "Trees."

A tough theme because I had so many!

These two are from the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh. The first one was taken on the hiking trails surrounding the museum ....an outdoor painting surrounded by trees.~

And inside the museum cafe, a sculpture made of red maple saplings~

This one was taken in downtown Durham, NC.~

Winter-time tree at the lake close to my house~

A bird's nest in a tree~

You can find more Photo Hunters and join the hunt here.

Thanks for visiting and have a good weekend.

I don't know what the story is with this palazzo, but it sure looks spiffy now. The first photo was taken in 2008, the second in 2010. I love those red chimneys.

I’ve been lucky-in-lodging, as far as Venice goes, and have stayed at some places that I really and truly loved. Twice I stayed in a little apartment in campo San Giacomo dall’Orio and then for three trips in a row, I stayed at Locanda Orseolo.

When I started planning my 2010 trip, I decided it was time to move on to a new sestiere since I want to stay in all six of them eventually. I hadn’t stayed in Dorsoduro yet and during my 2008 trip, I had discovered a charming little Japanese tea room called Fujiyama, close to campo San Barnaba. I learned that it’s also a small B&B and after I read the rave reviews on Trip Advisor, I contacted them and was able to get a room in November. Love this place! The owners are wonderful and fun to talk to, the rooms are very comfortable, and there’s a lovely little garden in the back. I really enjoyed seeing all the art the owners have collected during their travels all over the world. I can't wait to stay there again.

And this neighborhood is great with lots of very good restaurants; it’s fun to walk around the campo and down Calle Lunga San Barnaba, check out the menus in the windows, and then decide where to eat. That might not work in high season but in November, I never had trouble getting a table without a reservation.

Here are a few scenes from the neighborhood~

There are a couple of Internet points nearby - one inside the toy store in the photo below and another one called Officina that's on the calle leading down to the Ca' Rezzonico vaporetto stop. Both are great places and not too expensive.

The famous San Barnaba vegetable market~

The artichoke soup at this place was incredible...one of my favorite things I had on this trip.

Other restaurants where I ate in this neighborhood were Oniga, Avogaria, Casin di Nobili, and La Bitta, and I enjoyed them all. Had a nice dinner at La Bitta with fellow Slow Traveler, Cubbies - this was the third time we've been in Venice at the same time, and it was wonderful to see her again.

This week's PhotoHunt theme is "Road."

The last time we did this theme, I showed you a charming little NC roadside attraction, the folk art village of Shangri-La.

This time I'm going to Venice. One of the many things I love about that city is the fact that there aren't any cars or roads (as we usually think of them); instead, there are canals (roads for boats).

You can find more Photo Hunters and join the hunt here.

Thanks for visiting and have a good weekend.

Thanks to everyone who has commented or contacted me after the tornadoes hit North Carolina this past weekend. I'm fine and so are all of my family and friends. It was such a scary storm - it rattled the windows of my house and the thunder scared the cats, but we came through it okay. My thoughts are with all of those who lost their homes and loved ones.

Now to Burano...

You have to change boats at Burano on the way to Torcello, and so I stopped and spent a couple of hours wandering around there, looking for shrines and cats. I also visited the church of San Martino which was closed the last time I was there.

I found a few shrines on Burano in 2008 and even more this time. Their shrines are particularly charming and very well-kept. It's really such a lovely island; that one main drag is kinda touristy but the surrounding neighborhoods are nice. I really love both of these shrines. More Burano photos coming soon.

This week's PhotoHunt theme is "Dusty."

The guy in the orange shirt playing the mandolin is my cousin. His name is Dustin but everyone calls him Dusty. :)

Nothing to do with dust but here's a "Happy Earth Day, Happy Easter, Happy Spring" photo. Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

You can find more Photo Hunters and join the hunt here.

Both of these are large, colorful, and dramatic with huge bouquets of flowers and big electric lights. I'd love to see what they look like at night with those lights on.

Because the campo in front was torn up, I wasn't able to get a decent photo of this one. Had to stand right underneath and shoot. This Madonna is holding an exuberant Baby Jesus throwing his arms out with joy. Great flowers too!

Each of these was tucked away inside a sotoportego, above the exit. They're all small and rather homespun, not elegant but very charming.

This one's unusual...a paper collage of sacred images with "Salvami Regina" at the center. Save me/us, Queen of Heaven....

And this one has a bottle of holy water very much like the one I got at the Festa della Madonna della Salute.