From the windows of the palazzo

Watching from the windows is a Venetian habit - well, it is everywhere, truth to tell. These are some views from the windows of our apartment: I spent hours there, watching the world go by,with great pleasure.




This is the hotel next door to us, which has the most wonderfully warm coloured walls and roof. It is near the Bridge of Marvels, and closer to the Grand Canal. The birds - Venetian pigeons for the most part, I think, but starlings too - colonised the roofs at various times of day.



To describe this as a view from our kitchen window is stretching the definition a little, as I had to lean out of the window with the camera pointing back towards the apartment wall in order to photograph this little chap. He and his twin have a job of work to do: holding open the heavy wooden window shutters when they are not closed, to stop them blowing about in the wind. He would not ordinarily be seen by anyone, being so far from the ground, and it was by chance that I spotted him at all. There are many hidden details/treasures like this around Venice, if you have your eyes open - one of the many joys of the place.



This grand building across the Rio San Trovasino, on the corner with the Grand Canal, is undergoing radical refurbishment, and watching the arrival of deliveries and the slow progress of work was part of our days there. It has wonderful Gothic features and will doubtless look even more splendid on completion.



Faded grandeur is commonplace but so is refurbishment and restoration. It is good to see the past so revered and cherished, and such vital signs that life is going on amid the glories of antiquity.