After skiing the Val di Mesdi, we got in the car and drove straight to Venice, where we spent a bit more time hanging out with Mo, Chris, Marc and Rich.

Mark's mother has long been a theatre director of Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operettas. We felt like we had walked on to one of her more elaborate stage sets.

The weather was cold, the crowds thin. So much the better for exploring this amazing place. Gondolas moored and carefully covered until the busier season begins.

The town was not entirely deserted of course. A couple of gondoliers find work.

Looking down on the Basilica di San Marco from the Campanile di San Marco.

A panel in the Doges Palace.

La Dolce Vita!

Even well after Carnaval the ubiquitous masks on sale.

This shop window finally demonstrated to Kathy why Italian-made shoes are so famous. This looks like the return of a fashion that got waaaaaay out of hand several centuries ago.

A quiet day in the harbor, seen from the Campanile.

Another gondola marina awaits warmer weather.

We enjoyed wandering the quieter residential back streets where school children walked home chatting noisily with friends, parents and grandparents. Here, moth-balled boats wait for their owners to return.

Near the Accademia, everyone is out trying to squeeze a little warmth out of the low winter sunshine.

After a last meal together in a charming restaurant tucked away in some cul-de-sac I would never be able to find again (as everything in Venice seems to be), it was time to break up the party at last.