Diane Snider Photos

A single Grand Canal photo can tell you so much. A daily delivery of food stuffs arrives, by boat of course, for the waterside market. That boat "parks" between pilings which throughout the city provide specific places for tying up - and remember those pilings came all the way from Scandinavia to form the bottom support for platforms which in turn hold the houses and palaces. Sadly, the viscious tidal waters through the centuries have forced abandonment of the first floors of many of these centuries-old structures and some are even totally empty because of rot.

Give serious thought in advance as to the type of vaporetto ticket you wish to buy - guide books will explain the differences among them. You may wish to hop on and off during your 2 1/2 mile ride on the Grand Canal for photos and/or shopping along the side streets. And if you're hungry for a snack, the local market is just the place to stop, especially for fresh fruit. If by chance, you hop off the vaporetto on the Canal side opposite the market, don't despair but look for one of the six traghetto stops along the Canal.

To understand the uniqueness of Grand Canal architecture, you must realize that these structures were built centuries ago on water-level platforms which, in turn, were constructed on top of 15 foot pilings driven into the marshy land below which was actually sediment that was washed out from the Italian mainland nearby. (And with no assistance from computer-aided design nor cell phone communication among the construction men!) Interestingly enough, much of the wood for pilings came all the way from Scandinavia - by ship of course.

Venice has canals instead of streets and its more fortunate citizens proudly own private boats instead of a family car. Imagine trying to find a parking space for your boat so that you can do a quick errand to a grocery store! A garage for your boat?

Vaporettos (water buses) run all day long and late into the night up and down the Grand Canal as well as on many other routes in Venice. Note, they run UP and DOWN the Grand Canal. Now if you just want to CROSS from one side of the Grand Canal to the other and you're not near one of the three bridges that span it, don't pay the cost of a vaporetto ticket. Instead, travel as the locals do and use an inexpensive traghetto. It is actually a gondola but plain black and not decorated and please note, you are expected to STAND UP for your short ride ACROSS.

What a strange place to choose as one's fishing hole! Smack on the edge of the Grand Canal in Venice and at a water bus stop at that!

Wouldn't you love to sit all day on the steps of a bridge and watch all the canal activity below? Don't plan on it because foot traffic is often so very heavy on most bridges that signs are posted to tell you "No Sitting on the Bridge". Also, keep to the right on a bridge or you might get mowed under by oncoming walkers. But such is Venice where bridges are a key way of life and unbeatable places to quickly snap wonderful photos of gondolas gliding below.

Photos showing the edges of Venice right at water level make you easily understand why the city suffers frequent flooding - sometimes as deep as five feet high! A massive engineering project has been underway for years now in the hopes of preventing future floods by means of a system of massive walls that will rise out of the water and dam the high tidal waters behind them so Venice will hopefully stay dry.

What appear to be logs standing up out of the lagoon are actually official signals to boaters as to right of way, water depth, speed limits, etc. Such markers are throughout the lagoon which sees hundreds of boats of varying sizes from cruise ships to kayaks daily. The lagoon provides a most exciting opportunity to view and/or photograph all sorts of water craft. Be sure and have your camera ready not only for wonderful shots but also to be moved quickly to avoid water spray from boats passing all too closely.

How unusual to see this waterfront promenade empty of rushing pedestrians. When you are viewing or photographing Venice from a top deck on your cruise ship, don't forget to have a look from both sides of your vessel. If too crowded on the cityside of your deck, cross over and enjoy views from the other side such as that of the church pictured above. What a beauty!