29 Jan – Venice, city of lovers
Finally on my third trip to Venice (Tam), I came with my lover finally (and his mother). We had a very interesting couple of days in Venice. We arrived late on Wednesday and took a fast vaporetto to Piazza San Marco where our hotel was. We caught a glorious sunset that evening as we wondered the San Marco quarter, street stalls and expensive shops. We saw the famous pigeons hovering everywhere, but avoided the standard photo moment. That evening we went to Harry’s Bar (see previous blog) and then got lost (in a pleasant way) in the back streets of Venice, not hard to do!
Gondolas
On Thursday we went inside the spectacular Basilica San Marco which commenced construction in the 3rdC but was not completed until the 10thC. Its exquisite decorations in way too much gold leaf show just how wealthy the Catholic Church has been over the centuries. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take pictures in the actual church, but we managed a few in the entry portico. It gives you an idea of the opulence.
Basilica St Marco
Interior of Basilica St Marco
Next we took a tour of the Palazzo Ducale (right next door), also known as the Doge’s Palace. The tour guide had such an annoying voice; she made the character of Fran Drescher in ‘The Nanny’ sound melodious. She was quite informative but extremely rude and there were a lot of stairs everywhere, which was quite tiring for Roma as well as a heavily pregnant lady in our group. Again, there were no pictures inside the Palazzo but we took some in the inner courtyard.
Along with a lot of present shopping, we tried out some local cafes and took in a gondola ride as the snow started to fall! It was beautiful but altogether too cold to enjoy for long.
The travellers on the Gondola
Rialto bridge from gondola
We didn’t actually leave the San Marco quarter and Mark and I agreed it’s a place you need to spend more time in (perhaps 3 to 5 full days) to explore it all. But next time, it definitely has to be in Spring or Summer as I’ve only ever been in the depths of winter and three times is definitely enough in winter!
Gondolas
On Thursday we went inside the spectacular Basilica San Marco which commenced construction in the 3rdC but was not completed until the 10thC. Its exquisite decorations in way too much gold leaf show just how wealthy the Catholic Church has been over the centuries. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take pictures in the actual church, but we managed a few in the entry portico. It gives you an idea of the opulence.
Basilica St Marco
Interior of Basilica St Marco
Next we took a tour of the Palazzo Ducale (right next door), also known as the Doge’s Palace. The tour guide had such an annoying voice; she made the character of Fran Drescher in ‘The Nanny’ sound melodious. She was quite informative but extremely rude and there were a lot of stairs everywhere, which was quite tiring for Roma as well as a heavily pregnant lady in our group. Again, there were no pictures inside the Palazzo but we took some in the inner courtyard.
Along with a lot of present shopping, we tried out some local cafes and took in a gondola ride as the snow started to fall! It was beautiful but altogether too cold to enjoy for long.
The travellers on the Gondola
Rialto bridge from gondola
We didn’t actually leave the San Marco quarter and Mark and I agreed it’s a place you need to spend more time in (perhaps 3 to 5 full days) to explore it all. But next time, it definitely has to be in Spring or Summer as I’ve only ever been in the depths of winter and three times is definitely enough in winter!
posted by Most Liveable at 9:01 PM
4 Comments:
Once again photography amazing...also, food looks great @ harrys bar
K,D,&E
Tam - that would make an interesting threesome - i can see a book "the lover, the mother and me".
Iain
Miss you guys and looking forward to you getting back. Can't wait to see all the photos!
Oops, that was me....AJ
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