A wonderful post. It is depressing what has happened there in the last several decades; enjoying the experience of visiting Venice is much more difficult than it should be. I was there with friends for a week in May. We also rented an apartment, but had a fabulous experience: a top floor in Dorsoduro with a spectacular view of the Salute dome. Cooking in as the way to go; we went out only once and regretted it. Venice is best experienced from dawn to about 8:30 in the morning and then again late at night. Midday was devoted to cooking and resting. We took wonderful walks, explored the nooks and crannies of Venice. We lucked out and get into the Frari at 8:00 in the morning - admiring the Titian and 'worshipping' at Monteverdi's tomb with no company. Sunday morning I was the first in the Accademia when the doors opened and had the place to myself for about 45 minutes. Luckily, a large percentage of tourists have no imagination and sleep late. Venice is a challenge, but there is much to be enjoyed if you time it right.

[...] yet once seen, those billboards are difficult to forget, and even harder to stop talking about. Just as Venice seems to invite [...]

[...] di quello che oggi la pubblicità nasconde. E si sentono nemmeno troppo vagamente presi in giro. In questo post, uno sconfortante resoconto di una vacanza veneziana. E da residente posso solo dire che [...]

They cover scaffolding, even though many of us doubt whether there is somebody working behind many of them. Living in Venice has never been an easy business, but I must admit that it has never been as difficult as it is now. I wrote few posts about the ads in my blog. If you are interested, the last one is here:
http://winckelmann.wordpress.com/2010/10/09/basta-che-paghino/

Thanks for posting this - I am happy to hear your enjoyed the Fondazione Querini. I lived in Venice a short time as a student, and performed there several times at the Foundation as part of the Scuola de Musica Antica. It is indeed a little-known treasure in that city, which apparently is becoming more and more one big tourist cesspool. I am so disheartened by the photo of the Ponte dei Sospiri! Are the ads covering scaffolding, or are they there for no other reason than to pollute? I'll be back this Spring and perhaps I won't even bother to go by.