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Venice by Day |
September 05
Stashing our luggage at the motel, we hop a bus for a 20-minute
ride to the famous island.
First look
The plan is to explore the town on foot, then take a boat ride back down the Grand Canal. Even with a good map, negotiating the maze of streets and alleys proves quite a challenge.
An unobtrusive-looking church
It's a different story inside
Not everyone is on vacation
Our gondola-like taxi ride across the canal costs
2 euros for 2 minutes — each
The Grand Canal
The only such courtyard we would see today
Grocery delivery
Eventually we find a water closet that is open — 1.5 euros
for 1.5 minutes. An eagle-eyed woman attendant
watches carefully to see that I don't jump over the turnstile.
This landmark is visible from all over
Playground of the richies
One church features a nice museum of musical instruments, and recitals are held there:
Traffic jam
Yet another church
In the big square, Piazza San Marco, apparently anything goes:
She could be regretting her purchase of pigeon feed
Basilica di San Marco
The four bronze horses were looted by Napoleon in 1797, but were returned by someone else in 1815. The line to visit the church's interior is a hundred feet long, so we pass on that.
High performance from Ferrari
High fashion from McDonald's
The Ferrari store is just like the Harley Davidson outlets —
miscellaneous worthless items at inflated prices. Of course, everything
is grossly overpriced in this town.
We finally head for the waterfront, because at least there we won't need a map. (I would find out later why I was so constantly confused about direction; every time I glanced at the map, it was turned south-up.)
She wants you to pose for a photo with her
Eventually, we board the Vaporetto (water ferry) which, after a couple of
stops, becomes standing-room only. Dave is able to grab a nice
seat right away, but I have to wait until nearly the end of the ride for one.
We're on the boat now
That's quite a window box
Colors galore
The famous Rialto Bridge
That's one big hotel
