Missing: my hand, last seen on this chick's shoulder. Answers to "Mrs Palmer".

This was a common scene, Mum covertly using a random restaurant's toilet, and getting caught and told off since we weren't eating there hahaha!

Another common scene: black fellas selling genuine fake handbags hehe (and Mum buying them).

Fish, pizza, pasta, olive oil, and plonk - gotta love the Italian diet!

Piazza San Marco (or St Mark's square), the principal square of Venice, and home to the bloody impressive St Mark's Basilica - the most famous of the city's churches (and there are a lot of them!). St Mark's square is the lowest point in Venice and often floods. Water pouring into the drains in the piazza runs directly into the Grand Canal. This is ideal during heavy rain, but during the acqua alta it has the reverse effect, with water from the canal surging up into the Square hehe.

As well as a shitload of tourists, St Mark's Square also has a shitload of pigeons hehe. Feed them at your own risk ;)

With it looking like it was about to piss down at any moment, we caught a 45-minute ferry to one of the islands outside of Venice...

...Burano (not Murano, where all the famous Venetian glass is produced).

That tower in the background doesn't look quite right.

Burano is around 8kms northeast of Venice and, like Venice, is made up of a number of tiny islands linked by bridges (so again, no vehicular traffic). It's known for its lacework, and small brightly-painted houses. According to Wikipedia: "The colours of the houses follow a specific system originating from the golden age of its development; if someone wishes to paint their home, one must send a request to the government, who will respond by making notice of the certain colours permitted for that lot."

Burano is home to about 5,000 very curious locals.

We spent a few hours here having a good wander and window-shopping etc, and the owner of the restaurant where we had lunch fell in love with Mum hahaha!

Pretty!

After lunch we went to check out the Leaning Tower of Burano we saw from the ferry! This is the tower of the San Martino church, and whoever laid the foundations clearly did a poor job of it.

If it does topple one day, this is what it's going to topple on to - a playground full of kids hehe.

The northeast coast of Venice, as seen from the ferry back from Burano.

And as always, some night shots! I mentioned before that getting lost in Venice is inevitable (especially at night), unless you're smart and bring your GPS.

This person gave up on the map hehe.

Eating along the Grand Canal.

Rialto Bridge, the oldest (built in 1591) of four crossing the Grand Canal and the most famous in the city.

The Grand Canal, one of the major water-traffic corridors of the city, as seen from Rialto Bridge.

Piazza San Marco and St Mark's Basilica.

Some live music in St Mark's Square.

A random canal full of parked gondolas.