A Trip Down the Grand Canal

Most people's experience of Venice begins with a vaporetto (ferry) ride from the train station to St Mark's Square.

It is thrilling to be out on the water, and you never know what strange types you will meet. 

Bill and my first ferry ride down the Grand Canal is burned into our memories.

My favourite building, the Ca d'Oro, is a fine museum.

Side canals branch out from the main canal, hinting at the wonders beyond.

The canal is lined by mooring poles where boats and gondolas can tie up.

The famous Rialto bridge is about halfway down the canal.

Here's an intimate building: a hotel? I love the Islamic influence in the shapes of the windows.

The Islamic/Arabic influence is everywhere in Venice.

On the ferry you can spot the local Venetians as they are rarely looking out the windows.

They prefer each other's company, no doubt for local gossip.

Boats of all kinds, public and private, fill the waterway.

We found lots and lots of gondolas this year (2025).

One day we got off at the Accademia bridge to visit the Accademia Gallery: a Venice must-see.

As noon approaches all creatures start to think about lunch.

St Mark's Square and the Palazzo Ducale looking rocked by the rough waters. Is it really sinking into the sea?

Now the Canal widens into the lagoon. Change boats. The island of San Giorgio Maggiore is only a short ride away.

San Lorenzo Quarter, Naples

We can't leave our memories of Naples without a stroll through the astonishing San Lorenzo Quarter.

Unlike the Spanish Quarter, it has few tourists, though the teeming Via Tribunali is just a few blocks away.

Streets are narrow

and dense with residential dwellings.

The Neapolitan sun with its sharp contrasts,

dramatizes the textures of the centuries old walls.

You will find family life here, not other tourists.

As photographers, Bill and I found much to treasure.

This is a poster for the nearby Neapolitan Sacred Art shop.

It is possible that San Lorenzo has more street shrines than any other area of Naples. Bill has a large shrine above

and at eye level a small shrine depicting the Holy Souls in Purgatory roasting in their purifying flames.

The Quarter is dotted with small, independant workshops,

with their street doors welcomingly open.

We watched as locals festooned the streets for the upcoming Serie A soccer championship.

Much to fall in love with in the San Lorenzo Quarter.

A barber pole painted on this glass shop front put diagonal lines on the customer within who had taken off his shirt to brush himself off. Thank you, Photo Gods!

The busy Via Duomo caught us up once more in the thrilling noise and crush of Naples once again.

Some Neapolitan Shops

Dispaccio is Naples' best art book store (33 via Luigi Settembrini, near MADRE, the contemporary art museum).

Ivano Bove opened the shop in 2025. He has a stunning collection and he knows his books.

Happily, Dispaccio was minutes from our apartment.

We dropped in every evening, and came home with great books and good local sightseeing suggestions.

Just down the street from Dispaccio we found this elegant dog on guard in front of his master's fabric shop.

Bill and I keep our hair short so our cuts need attention every three weeks.

We like our barber shops cheap and cheerful. Bill is getting exactly the haircut he asked for at this via del Zita shop.

And he looks terrific springing out of the chair.

Another Neapolitan barber shop featured the heads of soccer players: anyone for a Dybala?

On the Spaccanapoli at via San Gregorio Armeno, we found a Tombola shop. Tombola, similar to our bingo, is a popular Neapolitan Christmas game.

Nearby, this pop up shop was selling soccer merch for the upcoming Serie A championship (which Naples won).

Maradona is still the ultimate Neapolitan soccer hero. Maradona merchandise is everywhere.

I had not known that I needed Elizabeth II and Pope Francis action figures until I visited Naples. Now I know.

We were charmed by the antiques at the Neapolitan Sacred Art shop in the San Lorenzo Quarter.

Look at this amazing shop window!

Steps away was this old-fashioned print shop.

At the end of the day we always made our way home past a thicket of wedding shops around the Duomo.

Neapolitan Religious Sculpture

Neapolitan religious sculpture begins at home.

In the hall leading to our rented apartment in Naples Bill and I found a Pieta and a Madonna on duty.

I will say that our electronics functioned flawlessly.

The domestic religious impulse also puts statues, like this exuberant Mary, Queen of Heaven, on the street.

In the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie on via Toledo we found two images of Mary in vitrines. Here is the ever popular Mary as the Madonna with child.

Nearby we find the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Each of the swords represents a painful scene in the life of her Son. The theatricality of her suffering feels Spanish to me.

We found another suffering figure in a vitrine in SS Filippo e Giacomo. We could classify this statue as Christ Mocked.

Spanish religious artists always emphasize the suffering of the figures. Spain ruled Naples throughout the Baroque.

Also behind glass, in San Nicola alla Carita', an enormous reliquary, resting place for two saints, both with skulls and bones on display to inspire pious reflection.

We found this window full of votive offerings in the church of Gesù Nuovo: each acknowledges an answered prayer. 

Bill and I found reliquaries in the Cloister Museum of Santa Chiara: Santa Thegla (above)  and Santa Fortunata (below).

Their eyes and hands invite us to venerate the relics that were once held in their hearts.

Bill and I love the use of a starburst behind a saint. Here's a nice one in the ambulatory of San Lorenzo Maggiore

Bill noticed that the starburst is not attached to the saint but is separate and has its own stand

This clunky freestanding starburst is in San Domenico Maggiore. And here is San Domenico below.

He has a dog at his feet. I looked up St Domenic in The Golden Legend, the 13th C. standard reference on the lives of the saints. Bill persuaded me to quote in full:

"Before he was born, his mother dreamed that she carried in her womb a little dog which held a lighted torch in his mouth, and when the dog came forth from her womb, he set fire to the whole fabric of the world." Welcome to Naples.