Again, this trip actually began on Wednesday but Thursday was our first full day in Venice. We spent two nights and most of three days there. Venice is Sarah's favorite city and she was very eager to show me around since I had never been there. She had planned our trip pretty well, and since there were so many things that she wanted me to see we had no time to spare. We were exhausted most of the time we were here. That seems to be the theme in Italy. Hot and tired from all the walking around in 95 degree weather. Luckily this hotel, unlike the last, had air conditioning.
The approach to Venice on the train from Vicenza.
In case anyone doesn't know, yes, Venice is the place with H2O for roads. There are no cars, buses, delivery trucks, or even bicycles. Everything is done either by foot or by boat. There are some giant parking areas when you first get to the islands, but other than that it's all water. There are little boats and gondolas for getting around. Instead of buses they have the vaporetto, a kind of bus on water. The police and fire department are on boats and all the morning deliveries for restaurants and shops are by boat.
A typical Venetian street. Most are about this size. Then there are some canals that are larger, namely the Grand Canal which we will see later.
This is the alternative. While many of the paved alleys are wider than this, they're usually not much wider. It was a lot of fun (sarcasm) trying to work through thousands of tourists on these little streets. Venice is quite confusing to get around. These little streets usually end up opening onto a little piazza.
Here are some views of the Grand Canal. This one is from the Rialto Bridge, which is Venice's most famous. For some reason I think I only took one picture of it.
Another view of the Grand Canal.
This is the campanile in the Piazza San Marco, along with 7 million tourists.
Us at the top of the campanile. A campanile is a free-standing bell tower. I'm on the left, with the man-purse.
A shot of the city from the campanile.
Again, here are the symbols of St. Mark (Venice's patron saint) and St. Theodore (their old patron saint). This is in Piazza San Marco facing the lagoon. The Doge's Palace is on the left and the campanile is just out of the picture to the right.
This shot of the piazza and campanile is from the Doge's Palace. It was built around 1400 for the Doge, which is their word for the Duke. The Basilica of San Marco is on the right.
This is my best attempt at recreating Canaletto's famous painting. Again, you can see St. Mark's Square, the campanile, and the Doge's Palace.
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