Once you get away from the hordes of tourists in Piazza San Marco and along the Grand Canal, Venice is an exquisite maze of brick buildings, tiny balconies and narrow boats. The faded colours and textures and reflections are mesmerizing.
We wandered the network of sidewalks and little bridges until we were lost, but just kept walking, soaking up the atmosphere of the most unique city in the world. Quiet and beautiful, a magnet for picture-taking at every turn.
At lunchtime we followed the striped shirts of the gondoliers, sure they would lead us to the best and cheapest menu in town and they did.
Unfortunately Venice really is sinking. Over-tourism, climate-change, flooding, erosion, crumbling foundations, cruise ships, saturated soil. An unsustainable 35 million tourists in 2019. What a shame. What beauty.
