The way to see the Grand Canal is from the water and so we had a cruise along by vaporetto. From this view we could see all the palace frontages, the four bridges and the way that the life revolves around the canals. The bridges each have their own styles from the original, the Rialto, to the newest, the Calatrava bridge, which is very modern in its style and construction.

Venice is a charming city and, like all tourist destinations shows its charm as soon as you are more than one street away from the tourist routes. Our first destination was, of course, Piazza San Marco. Here we were able to get a glimpse inside the Basilica and see the Ponte dei Sospiri.

We went in Carnavale and in Venice it is the thing to go in costume, but not any costume. Piazza San Marco is the place to be seen in your absolutely stunning costume. People parade around and are happy to have their photo taken. Masks is the other thing. There are a couple of traditional designs but along with these people wear anything from a lacy domino to harlequin style and anything in between. We ended up trying a couple of options.

We did take costumes, courtesy of the Catherine of Aragon group of Ampthill. Even if these were not as flamboyant as most, we still found ourselves an attraction, with people wanting our photo, as with the masks.

On our day of aquatic tours, we visited the island of St George, just across the water from the Piazza San Marco. Here we found that all the costume wearers visit for a session of photography with the view of San Marco as the background.

One of the “must do” trips in Venice is a tour out to Burano and Murano. Burano is traditionally the fishing and lace making island and is famous for the painted houses. The reasons for the latter are lost in the mists of time with a variety of implausible theories now available. Murano is famous as the source of Venetian glass.

The way to see the Grand Canal is from the water and so we had a cruise along by vaporetto. From this view we could see all the palace frontages, the four bridges and the way that the life revolves around the canals. The bridges each have their own styles from the original, the Rialto, to the newest, the Ponte della Costituzione, also known as the Calatrava bridge, which is very modern in its style and construction.