Day 16- Saturday April 29 - Venice Italy

By Ellen Outten

 


Today was one of our easier days.  We signed up for the "included" tour, A Glance at St. Marks".  It was the same 1 1/2 boat ride from Chioggia to Venice this morning.  We didn't leave until 7:45 am.   We got to sleep in.  NOT.  

Once there our guide took us on a nice 45 minute tour which included some back streets, or "cali's" which helped to avoid the amazing amount of people in Venice on a Saturday.







I told Wayne, when I was there Thursday without him, about all the crowds.  Saturday would be worse and it was.  I was tempted not to go today with the expection of the crowds.  But we braved it.   We arrived about 9:30 and by 10:15 am we were on our own to travel and wander.  We had to be back at the boat to take us back to the ship at 12:30 so we had about 2 hours to wander.  Wayne had been to St. Marks square many times.   


Dogi's Palace

Basilica di San Marco







When he was there, there were massive amounts of pigeons.  I told him when I returned from the gondola ride Thursday night, he didn't have to worry about pigeons, they were gone.  They were replaced by hoards of people.  You could barely walk in the huge square.   The entire square is at least 2 - 3 football fields.  I doubt you could find much empty space at all.  The lines to get into the bell tower or Dogi's Palace or the Basilica were huge.   

I wanted to see the "Rialto" Bridge.   Google maps said it was a mere 550 meters or 7 minutes.  Today my google maps and GPS on this crazy Italian phone I have WAS working!   I left Wayne in St. Marks square and went off in search of "the bridge".  Boy, one can get lost in Venice.  But there were lots of signs for the bridge and I went walking through these tiny little Cali's.  It felt good to trust to my map and just go.   My first bit of bravery in a while.  It is famous and I was told I had to see it.

The Rialto bridge is one of the oldest of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal in Venice.  It connects the sestieri of San Marco and San Polo.  It has been rebuilt several times since its first construction as a pontoon bridge in 1173.





It did only take about 10 minutes to find it and get some pictures.  On the way back, I found a trattoria and bought a sandwich - made with prosciutto and cheese.  The owner warmed it; cut it into two and after finding my way back to St. Marks square I found Wayne where I had left him.   He was just about to leave; so my timing was good.

We had our little picnic right there on a marble bench he found in the square and watched the hoards of people.  

We made our way back, over the four bridges (over the canals) to our boat pick up place.  The fourth bridge, closest to Saint Marks square is Ponte della Paglia.  It is a landmark stone brdige dating back to 1360 and offers views of the Bridge of Sighs.  This bridge, the bridge of signs, is the bridge over which prisoners going off to jail were marched.






There was a cafe right next to the pier so we had a cappuccino before boarding the boat back to Chioggia and our ship. 

7,521 steps so far today and it's early.  I'll get more just walking forward to the port talks and then aft for dinner.  

  

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 29, 2023 at 5:43 AM

    Wow! A picture of my sister!😀🙃❤️

    ReplyDelete

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