The challenge of visiting somewhere like Venice is to try and see things with fresh eyes. A friend commentated how refreshing it was to see something other than the traditional Canaletto views in my images. Venice offers beautiful scenes and vistas, and the crisp sunny winter weather and atmospheric foggy days to help my quest. Each link in the text takes you to a fuller selection of images.

Imagine the difficulties of the men and women who live and work in the city every Venetian working day, dodging tourists and navigating the challenges of moving everything by canal.

Tourist ‘must-sees’ are always difficult to capture but the Rialto Bridge from the old Post Office building is hopefully a ‘view less snapped’. Cloudless skies of Venice by day make the city picture postcard perfect

Exploring the lagoon and Murano, Burano & Torcello means longer Vaporetto trips, providing wonderful views that emphasis the uniqueness of the city, and the unique character of each island.

The lagoon setting seems to produce the most wonderful sunsets that turn to dusks of midnight blues and finally the velvet blackness of Venice at night, especially when it is foggy.

Venice is perhaps best known for it’s beauty and the canals, but it is also known for it’s wonderful food. Rather than dinner and a movie, in Venice it's more likely to be Dinner and the Opera!

Situated in the Laguna di Venezia, the local seafood and produce is wonderful. We ate at our favourite restaurants, Trattoria “Alla Rivetta, Ai Gondolierie and the Trattoria al Gatto Nero.

God is in the details, they say, and they can often offer insights into the character of a city that more traditional views often do not.

There are so many places to visit in Venice, that it is impossible to even try. Almost every church contains renaissance masterpieces, whether, paintings, frescos or ceilings. Museums such at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and the Museo Fortuny offer us a window into Venice's more recent creative past.

Truly, it is a city that must be experienced and given a little time - you would be doing yourself a disservice to spend a couple of days and issue you have 'done Venice.'

All images and text © Jonathan Dredge