The view of the rooftops from the window of our spacious attic room. Pretty spectacular, eh?!!!

We decided just to meander today. We had a need to make our way to the train station to do the booking for our next leg so it was either catch a water taxi/ferry or walk the four kms. Walking meant that we found lots of interesting nooks and crannies. Of course there are canals everywhere. Many of them are only wide enough for two gondolas to pass. Wherever you go there are guys in striped shirts and boater hats touting for business, a ride in their beautiful gondolas. At 80€ for half an hour we decided it was much more exciting to watch others enjoying their trips. Some of the gondoliers were singing and others played instruments to add to the romantic scene.
Many of the buildings in Venice appear to be crooked and half falling down. If you wander the back streets you see that many buildings are not well maintained and in fact downright falling apart!!. The ambiance is great though. Everyone's happy. It's not yet high season - a bit early for shoulder season too really - so the streets are not over crammed. We've been told that the congestion during high seasons very uncomfortable so I'm glad we're here now. The sky was blue and it even got hot enough to take our jumpers off.
The huge St Marks square is flanked by many restaurants all vying for your business. Their tables and chairs outside are very inviting. In some places they have small music groups to serenade you (though there's a surcharge if you buy anything, to pay the players - sneaky b*****s).
There are small souvenir looks everywhere with their scarves, tea towels, hats, masks, handbags, fridge magnets etc,etc.