Sunday we drove from Rome to Venice, we made a couple of rest stops and still arrived ahead of our schedule. It was our first day of less than perfect weather, it was cloudy and cool but not raining.
To get into the city of Venice, you need to take a water taxi, so we headed for the docks where the taxis run all day long. All but 6 of us signed up for a canal tour. so their taxi ride would be a bit longer. June and I just taxied straight to St. Mark's Square and waited for the others.
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| Water Taxi to Venice |
This is Jean and Ed getting on their taxi/tour boat.
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| Water Taxi to Venice |
Everyone stood up to take in the views.
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| View from a water taxi |
Even in cloudy weather the views from a water taxi are unforgettable.
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| Rialto Bridge |
The famous Rialto Bridge.
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| Arriving at Piazza San Marco |
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| Piazza San Marcos |
Once off the taxi you are greeted by Piazza San Marcos, it is a site to see. It is so huge you can't capture it in a single photo.
We walked around the square for awhile before the others did their gondola ride. There is so much to see.
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| Bridge of Sighs |
The Bridge of Sighs was the bridge that prisoners crossed before being locked up in the Venetian prisons and from which, sighing, they could see the sunlight for the last time.
It is the third bridge in this photo, Jean would not smile, she only sighed.
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| The Allens on their Gondola Ride |
Ed and Jean set off on their Gondola ride while June and I went into the Hard Rock Cafe for a hot toddy.
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| Congratulations Sam and Stephanie! |
Venice is known for being romantic, a couple in our group got engaged on their gondola ride, Ed captured the moment.
Congratulations Sam and Stephanie!
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| Moist but smiling |
Ed and Jean enjoyed their gondola excursion.
After the Gondola ride, we walked the streets.
We came upon a 12th century church, San Salvador. Like most churches, it was open to the public.
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| San Salvador Church |
It is lent, so statues and crosses were covered in preparation of Easter.
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| Thankful for the safe return of Margarita |
June lit a candle and we all thanked the lord for the safe return of Margarita.
Lucky for us, the light rain that had started passed and we continued our walk.
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| Rialto Bridge |
We made our way to the famous Rialto Bridge, it was not nearly as busy as it was when we were last here in November of 2018.
We eventually were hungry and stopped at a nice restaurant for dinner, Osteria San Lio. We shared a meat platter appetizer and all had pasta, it was another excellent meal.
After dinner we had time to roam about before our pickup at Piazza San Marco.
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| Venice Canal from Rialto Bridge |
Venice is very picturesque.
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| Piazzetta dei Leoncini |
The girls liked the Red Marble Lions that guard the Piazzetta dei Leoncini. They are from the early 1700s and give the square its name.
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| The Bridge of Sighs |
As we walked to our water taxi we went by The Bridge of Sighs one more time. Having to leave Venice will make one sigh.
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| Leaving Venice at dusk |
We took a short bus ride to our hotel and called it a night; it was a long but good day.
Monday we will make our way to Austria.
Venice really is a beautiful city but the drizzle and cloudy weather put a “damper” on things. It is great to walk everywhere and not have to worry about cars…
ReplyDeleteWe did enjoy ourselves although the public toilets closed at 7:30 and we had to head back at 8; poor timing.
Gondola ride in Venice!! Who would think Ed and I would be doing this. Such a great trip.
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