Venice, Day 2

Wednesday, 4 July 2012

Since our nap cut into our sight seeing the day before, we got up a bit earlier on Wednesday so we could get into the city and see everything that we wanted to see.

Ponte di Rialto

The first place we headed was the Ponte di Rialto, which is a huge bridge that crosses the Grand Canal. For once, we didn’t get lost while following the signs, so we were able to walk right to the bridge. Plus, it was also a bit easier because streams of people were headed towards the bridge, so we just followed the crowed. I was a bit surprised to find that the bridge is actually a bit more than a bridge. Down the middle of the walk way, there are two long buildings that house shops, so if you walk on the inside of the bridge, you can shop at the same time. On the outside of these shops there is a nice façade so if you look at the bridge from down the river it is really pretty.

Basilica San Marco

After crossing over the Ponte di Rialto (which connects the island of San Polo to the island of San Marco), we headed back to the Piazza San Marco so that we could actually do the touristy things there. The first stop was the Basilica San Marco. The line was long, but we decided it was worth it because it was one of the only things that we wanted to do, plus it was free. When we got in, the made us wrap cloths around our waists because we were wearing shorts, and you’re not allowed to show your knees or shoulders in the church. The inside of the basilica was interesting, definitely not what I was expecting. It was really dark, so it was kind of hard to see everything, but it didn’t really matter because most everything was covered in gold, so that was easier to see. However, we didn’t get to see much of the inside of the basilica because everything besides the main room was an additional fee to go into. To see all the rooms would have added up fast, so we decided that the main room was enough for us.

View from the Belltower

We came out of the Basilica and literally walked across the street to the bell tower. The tower cost €8, but we decided it was worth it because we really hadn’t spent a lot of money on touristy things during the trip. So we got in line and waited in the heat to be herded into a tiny elevator that would take us to the top. But the wait and the heat were worth it because we could see the entire city from the tower, including the piazza below and the Grand Canal. Walking through the streets, I already thought that Venice was a gorgeous city, but seeing it from up above just confirmed it. Something about the architecture of the city combined with all the canals is absolutely striking. It is by far one of the prettiest places I have ever been

Belltower

After we came down from the tower, we set out for the Campo Santa Margherita, which was touted by one of the many travel sites I had read as Venice’s liveliest square. I had picked up a bit of a better map that morning in the hotel, so we decided to follow the map rather than relying on instinct. However, the map only comes in handy when the streets have names. One of the confusing things about Venice is that many streets don’t have names. And if they do, the signs aren’t completely visible. So, despite our best efforts to navigate effectively, we still ended up getting lost. When we finally found the right place, we realized that we had already walked through the Campo Santa Margherita several times without realizing it. Unfortunately, we think that the “liveliness” is more prevalent during the mornings, and as such, we did not really get to experience it.

Venice Canals

Disappointed, we set out across the city to the island of Cannaregio, where I had read that there were good markets/shopping. For the first time in our entire trip, we actually made it to where we were going without getting lost. I was able to navigate us from the Campo Santa Marghertia to the Jewish “Ghetto” in the middle of Cannaregio. That wasn’t quite as quite as exciting as we had hoped, but it was still neat to see. We then headed back into the rest of Cannaregio where we did some souvenir shopping and ate gelato.

Venice at dusk

By that time, we were exhausted because we had spent the entire day out in the blistering heat and humidity, walking everywhere. So we decided to head back to the hotel and rest for a few hours. Once we got hungry, we decided to head back into the city one last time and eat dinner there, rounding out our trip to Venice.