Hopefully you've been to Venice before. That way we won't feel too badly about not pointing out the most famous attractions of the Venetian islands.

Here we give you 5 of our favorite attractions (not in any order). This is sightseeing that has nothing to do with most of what you've read or heard about. Special, oddball, nostalgic or just a different "take" on what Venice offers. Enjoy!

#1 Go to St. Mark's Square late at night or at the crack of dawn, when the pigeons & most everybody else are sleeping. And for those who've already done that, visit the square when it's snowing. A rare occasion, so a very rare treat.

#2 Go see La Donna Partigiana. A life-size bronze statue, created as a memorial to all the women who were killed fighting in World War II. See her lying on the steps of the embankment of the Riva dei Partigiana, outside the public gardens in the Castello district. But venture there at low tide because only then will you see her magically appear as though she had been washed ashore for the first time. Eerie to say the least.

#3 Walk by the curtained front doorways in Burano midday. Ladies sit right behind them doing lacework, cutting vegetables or just chattering in a whisper. Odd to walk by these homes where privacy is obviously important, but where a real door would certainly do a better job. You'll want to get closer for a peek into their Venetian homes. But don't. Just listen as you pass by the brightly painted houses.

#4 Check out the Lido beach any time but July & August. Not for the swimming, but
for the pure nostalgia of better days gone by. Like those in the early 20th c when the Lido's Adriatic shoreline was Europe's most stylish seaside resort area. See the Hotel Excelsior. Its grand Moorish character & the savvy bathing huts that line the beach. And see too, the Hotel des Bains, where Thomas Mann wrote his famous novel, "A Death in Venice." Ahhh...those were the days!

#5 Torcello is strange. A backwater place that really looks boggy, forgotten, and mostly uninhabited except for the 60 or so residents. Everyone goes to Torcello to see the only real attraction, the Church of Santa Fosca. But Torcello will stick with you long after the vaporetta whisks you away. Not because of the church but because this tiny island is so meloncholy. Like it's lost in time. And so vastly different from the Venice we all know.