Venice, Jan 2010

Earlier this year, late January, I had a work-related trip to Aviano, Italy for security assessment of DoDDS schools there. Aviano is located in the northeast part of Italy, at the foothills of the Dolomites section of the Alps. Venice is not too far from Aviano. On our way back to Germany, via the Venice airport, we stopped by the city of Venice. Since our flight back was not until early evening, we left Aviano early in the morning and headed towards Venice to spend most of the day there.

My previous three trips to Venice were all in the middle of summer. This time, it was right smack in the middle of winter. Venice, during this time, was not the Venice that I was familiar with. It was cold and less crowded with tourists. We parked our car just outside the city center and rode the vaporetto to St. Mark's Square. The piazza was in the latter stage of flooding, with wooden boards laid out to create an elevated walkway for the public. Without the hordes of tourist and with most of the shops closed, it was easier to get lost walking the narrow alleys of Venice. Getting lost in the labyrinth of alleys, however, is the only way to properly explore the city.

The following are some pictures from the visit: