Italy 2006

Venezia, Veneto: 18-21 June

		Between Urbino and Venezia, we stopped and had lunch at the Abbazia de Pomposa, about half way between Ravenna and Venezia. This was once a flourishing community but it was wiped out by malaria. This is part of the cloister.
		Photography was not allowed inside the church, but we captured some external details.
		We had lunch by this lake. The bridge used to carry the main road from Ravenna to Venezia, which went past the Abbey, but the road has been diverted and now the bridge carries pedestrians between the car park and the Abbey.
As always, we enjoyed our stay in Venice: there is no other city like it. Decaying and decrepit in places, but quite unique.
		Our favourite part of Venice: Campo Santa Margherita in the Dorsoduro. It's off the main tourist track, and has some local life.
		A palazzo on the Grand Canal ...
		and by night.
		Sunset on a side canal in Dorsoduro.
		Venetian street. Note the blessed absence, not only of cars, but also of traffic signs.
		Salute church seen from under the Accademia Bridge on the Grand Canal.
		Another view of Salute, with cruise ship.
		They can't sell vegetables off the back of a truck in Venice, so they sell them from a boat.
		Piazza San Marco.
		The Golden Staircase in the Doge's Palace.
		A modest and understated ceiling in the Doge's Palace.
		A boat yard near Zattere, where gondolas are still made and repaired.
		One of the main gondola stations at San Marco.
		Carvings on a house in Cannaregio.
		A canal on the island of Murano, traditionally the home of Venetian glass-making
		Murano again, with Church of St Peter.
		Canal near San Marco at night.
		And a stall selling tourist tatt souvenirs.
One of our days in Venice, we caught a bus to Padua, where we had a booking to see the frescos in the Scrovegni Chapel. These were very special, but no photos are allowed. But we took pictures of the market and another church.
		The outdoor fruit market.
		And the indoor meat and food market.
		The church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti (St John of the Hermits) was badly damaged by Allied bombing in 1944, which destroyed some magnificent frescos. There are some small photos on display.
		The church has this simple carving of the Madonna and Child.

We then had a long drive to Vezzano Ligure.