In late November 2005, I took a quick 48 hour trip to Venice.  One of the best parts of traveling through Italy in November is that the crowds are thin, the lines are short, and you can really pack in a lot of sight-seeing into a relatively short amount of time.

However, there was lots of fog, mist, drizzle, and out and out rain to contend with.  On the second day in Venice, it cleared enough to see San Giorgio Maggiore across the lagoon.  This Benedictine church and monastery dates to the 16th century with a facade designed by Palladio.  There is a nice article about this church here.

While I would have loved to have ridden on a gondola, watching other folks preparing for their ride was all I had time for.  The idea of a gondola seemed romantic and picturesque, the poor weather and steep price-tag kept me on the water buses.

Monuments in Italy are always under reconstruction and restoration and when I peeped down the canal towards the infamous Bridge of Sighs, the prison on the right was completely wrapped with signage to cover the scaffolding of the ongoing work.  However, the Doge’s palace on the right was beautiful despite the grey weather.

For more information about Venice, visit their official tourist website.  If you are planning a trip to Venice, I recommend checking out this article.