Saturday 31st December / Sunday 1st January

Happy New Year everyone!
Saturday morning we headed for the island of Torcello, one of the first islands developed many hundreds of years ago. To get there took three boat trips - from San Marco to Punta Sabbioni, from P.Sabbioni to Burano, and from Burano to Torcello. It was a lovely island, still with many original buildings. By the time we returned to Venice it was mid afternoon. The next event was the Vivaldi concert. We arrived just as the doors were opening, as seats weren't numbered and it was a case of first in, best seat. Well we did quite well, getting a seat in the front pew of the church, and within about 20 minutes the church was packed. The performance was excellent, and the seven musicians were great - the pianist kept looking and smiling at his family who were sitting at the side of the church near us, the viola player looked like a tall version of Rowan Atkinson and had the facial expressions of Mr Bean to suit, the Maestro/violinist was really getting into it, twisting and turning and up and down, getting a very good,work out! And of course, the music was spectacular and even more so given the setting in "Vivaldi's church".
After the concert we headed off to have something to eat - our hotel had a special NYE dinner on for €150 per person, and it seemed most of the other restaurants were offering similar very expensive meals, but we returned to a little restaurant we had been to earlier in the week and were pleased to discover they had the same menu on offer, not some over-priced version. Sitting next to us were a French couple, Christine and Jacob, and after chatting with them for a bit, we agreed to catch up in St Marks Square at around 11.30pm to see the new year in, meeting near the big tower.
When we got there at around 11, the place was already filling up - they were expecting 70,000 and it must have been close to that, you could hardly move. Amazingly, we did spot Chris and Jacob and, as residents of the Champagne district in France, had bought a bottle of the local drop with them, which they kindly shared with us as the clock struck 12. And then there were the fireworks - and 70,000 people tried to move at once just around the corner to see the fireworks over the lagoon. Needless to say it was a bit of a crush, but well worth it when we eventually got around the corner and could watch the fireworks - they were wonderful.
The crush of people was even greater after that though, as everyone tried to make their way out of the area and over the little bridge at once. The usual few idiots who pushed and shoved, and a few tempers flared, but pretty good considering the number of people.
Today (Sunday) is our last full day in Venezia, and tomorrow we will take the ferry back to the train station and get a train to Firenze - the part of the trip I am most looking forward to. Limited services available today due to the public holiday, so we will have a leisurely day exploring a bit more of Venice.
Photos today are from the concert, the scene in the square earlier in the night, and then later when the crowds started filing in, and us in the square.