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We caught the 8am ferry into Venezia. We were told to get in early as the queues for Basilica San Marco were extremely long. As it turned out the doors didn't open until 9:45am.
We went up the tower in San Marco Square & got a Birdseye view of Venezia. San Marco Square was huge; the Basilica was massive & stood proudly up one end. Differently coloured stone & marble was used to create patterns & shapes on the outside. Paintings in full colour were shown in the semi-circle arches over each doorway. Unfortunately we didn't get to see it in its full glory as one half of it was covered for renovation.
Venezia is massive - my geography is crap - I thought there were a few canals & the buildings were on the mainland. Well I saw more buildings & canals of all shapes & sizes in the middle of a lagoon spread out through the various suburbs surrounded by water. There were boats of all sizes, cruise ships & the mandatory gondolas.
I was blown away by some of the architecture. The churches are grand. The palaces are beautiful & some of the villas / houses / hotels are extremely well maintained, others are quite sad looking - as if they are not loved anymore. All the restaurants proudly cover their tables with at least one or two cloths with most off the chairs placed to provide a view for all the patrons. There are restaurants in squares, on the edges of canals, in hotels & on the edge of Canale della Giudecca overlooking all the big boat action.
We walked and walked along the unforgiving stone and marble walkways & bridges.
We felt a bit peckish & I spotted a butcher one side of a lane & a bakery on the opposite side. So in to the butchers we went and purchased freshly sliced leg ham & teamed that with olive focaccia & sat in the shade & loved every mouthful.
When we got home at about 2pm, we had cold showers & a siesta. I was told by the Italian mini market attendant at Fusina that Italians DO NOT have siesta. I wonder what they do when their shops are shut for about 3 hours every afternoon.
For dinner we drove down alongside the river until we found a restaurant & had a yummy meal with too many icy-cold Italian beers. No room for dessert tonight.
After dinner we caught the ferry out to Venezia again to see the city at night with the lights & evening hustle & bustle. It was gorgeous. The building & canals were alive with activity.
Today was a great, busy & tiring day. We saw George (a shop window photo) - he is Mr Omega in Venezia.
I worry about the future of Venezia as many of the front doors are located just no more than 1m above the water & at high tide the water laps the front concrete porches.
- comments
Angela Callea Venice has been sinking for years....they appear to keep it upright just like the leaning tower of Pisa in typical Italian style ...the vita bella.....almost like no worrries....life is beautiful! Glad to hear you are stalking George. I have just watched part one of Ahn Do in Italy! Envy is real !!!Glad to hear you are keeping the italian economy afloat buying their beers.............someone has to do it! ciao Angela
Chris HART If you check the map for this blog it is wrong. It should be showing Venice not some place near Bologna