Urban Adventures-Updated with more pictures!

While in Venice I was lucky enough to go on a tour all by myself.   It was a photography tour with Urban Adventures.  I found out about this company while reading other expat blogs.  They do tours in a lot of different countries and their tours vary with the city.  Venice has a Cicchetti, an eating and drinking tour, a lagoon tour and a photography tour.  

Giovanni was our tour guide and he was great.  He was very knowledgable about photography and Venice.  His family has been in Venice since the 12th century and he had a lot of great stories.  

 The idea of the tour was that Giovani took us around different parts of the city while we took pictures. We started out crossing the Grand Canal in a traghetto.

 From there we went to the Rialto market where they have many different kinds of fish and produce.  The tour was on a Saturday so the market was not busy at all.  

 The peppers were very neat looking.

 I loved that the clementines still had their beautiful leaves on them. 

 This vegetable was so pretty.

We walked through so many parts of Venice that were just far enough off the beaten path that we were the only people walking.  

 This is an example of fresco on a ceiling in a market near the Rialto.

 I loved this church with a huge clock.  So many people were just walking around like it was no big deal. 

 These big beautiful buildings never got old to me.   

 The Rialto.  It was so fun standing here watching all of the different boats and gondolas travel through the water.

 The symbol of Venice.

The windows are all so different and beautiful through out Venice.

 The pigeons were taking a bath in the fountain.  Giovanni said that the water coming out of these fountains was better than bottled water.  Because of Venice's unique situation he said there were more controls on the tap water than bottled water that gets brought in.

 These little side streets were all so beautiful.  Each one had something special, I love the metal railing on the bridge in this one.

 A bridge with no railing.  There is a story with Napoleon's Army and men falling into the canal.  The Venetians said it was because the Frenchmen couldn't handle the wine, The Army believed the men were being pushed.  I must say I am glad that most bridges have railings today.

We took a walk off the busier streets and there were so many everyday details that I found fascinating, the boats right outside people's doors.

 Grand old buildings that don't seem to be getting much use now.

 The details in the architecture.

 The textures of the brick, and windows and the water.

 This is a place they used to make gondolas, it is now a private residence.

 The alley ways are just stunning.

Another side street.

 More of the amazing windows.

 I love the patina on this boat.

 Into the Jewish Ghetto.  I didn't realize before this trip, but the term 'ghetto' originated in Venice.  This picture shows how much taller the buildings in the ghetto are, there were a lot of people living in this small area so they had to keep building up.

 Walking through the Ghetto.

 Outside a preschool, I loved seeing all of the little scooters outside this preschool.  Bicycles for adults are not allowed on the island of Venice, but scooters are very helpful for little legs that have to do a lot of walking.

 Giovanni brought us to this bakery in the Ghetto.  He said they had the best bread in Venice.  This wasn't actually part of the tour, we just kept following him as he was headed to get a treat for himself.  The impade were amazing.  They are the long bread in the middle.  They have a crunchy outside with an almond flavored inside.  They were so good I took some home for the family, and then we went back the next day for more.  I think my favorite thing about the baker was the smell.  It was the best smell ever, so sweet and warm and inviting.

This is the Rialto market from the other side of the canal.

 One last gondola picture.  They are so elegant looking to me, even when they are just tied up.

 I'm not sure where this is, I passed it several times while on the ferry, but it was just so pretty.  I love all of the details you can see through out the city.

I really enjoyed the tour with Giovanni, the photography lesson, the tour itself and the history all made for a very enjoyable morning in Venice.