Venice
I've been to Venice several times, but there are always more things you've not seen, on this occasion wanting to go via a rail route through Austria that's famously scenic
but that hasn't been possible for ages because of industrial disputes between Austrian and Italian railways that meant it was always replacement buses which, as all train commuters know, are always hideous.
When we got there, it was amazing to find that it was Not Busy, well, not compared to usual, not even compared to Cambridge at the weekend. Evidently during Lent, when there are no balls, parties and festivities, Venice is extremely quiet, which is wonderful :-)
How often can you get photos in Venice that aren't full of random strangers?
Nice as it was to wander round peacefully, we headed for the Museo di Storia Naturale, housed in a 13th palazzo
Like South Kensington's Natural History Museum, they have dinosaurs, whales, abundant 19th C taxidermy, gemstones and minerals, and fossils, which are more inventively displayed than they are in London, as many are in display cases built into the floor, so you are seeing the trilobites slithering over the landscape.
Ok, displayed in a more conventional case makes for easier viewing, but - particularly in somewhere as rooted in the past as Venice - it was good to see exhibit designers doing something new with their collection.
They also have the tegnùe aquarium showing the ecology and creatures of the Venetian lagoon
which is way more interesting and topical than if they'd done the usual aquarium displays of pretty tropical fish.
The lagoon for real, looking back at Venice from the railway bridge.
but that hasn't been possible for ages because of industrial disputes between Austrian and Italian railways that meant it was always replacement buses which, as all train commuters know, are always hideous.
When we got there, it was amazing to find that it was Not Busy, well, not compared to usual, not even compared to Cambridge at the weekend. Evidently during Lent, when there are no balls, parties and festivities, Venice is extremely quiet, which is wonderful :-)
How often can you get photos in Venice that aren't full of random strangers?
Nice as it was to wander round peacefully, we headed for the Museo di Storia Naturale, housed in a 13th palazzo
Like South Kensington's Natural History Museum, they have dinosaurs, whales, abundant 19th C taxidermy, gemstones and minerals, and fossils, which are more inventively displayed than they are in London, as many are in display cases built into the floor, so you are seeing the trilobites slithering over the landscape.
Ok, displayed in a more conventional case makes for easier viewing, but - particularly in somewhere as rooted in the past as Venice - it was good to see exhibit designers doing something new with their collection.
They also have the tegnùe aquarium showing the ecology and creatures of the Venetian lagoon
which is way more interesting and topical than if they'd done the usual aquarium displays of pretty tropical fish.
The lagoon for real, looking back at Venice from the railway bridge.