After a two hour train ride from Florence, we arrived in Venice. We walked from the train station and hopped on a vaporetto boat and rode it to the far end of the grand canal. We got off at the last main stop and noticed right away that there seemed to be way more people out and about than there was in Florence. It would be hard to imagine that there are busier times of the year.
As we walked through St. Mark’s Square, I noticed something a friend had warned me about. Some of the buildings are wrapped in giant ads. This is being done to help pay for building restoration, but it’s a little strange. Some of them aren’t so bad since they only cover a portion of a building with a repeating pattern. It’s not like you’re missing that much. Others cover an entire visible side of a building. The Bridge of Sighs is a good example; compare the shot on Wikipedia with this one obscured with ads.
After getting our bearings on the square, we decided to check our bags and see St. Mark’s Basilica. No photography allowed in there, so not much to show here. This seemed like one of the oldest buildings we’ve been in so far; I’m not sure if that is because it really is older or if it just has not been as well-kept and/or restored as the others. There was a lot of intricate marble work on the floor and lots of mosaics on the walls and ceilings. We did not pay to see any of the extra sites inside the Basilica.
We exited the church and checked out the rest of the square before grabbing our bags, buying a map, and heading for our hotel. Navigating in Venice is confusing as hell. We struggled to orient ourselves with the map, especially since there seem to be plenty of streets not on there at all. For the record: including a map on the back of a business card seems helpful. Leaving out 3 streets so the restaurant looks like it’s around the corner at the end of the block instead of 4 blocks away – not so helpful. Anyway, we found the church closest to our hotel (with the same name), but it still took us another 5 minutes to find the entrance. The stairs in this building leave you feeling like you’re walking into the wall. Here’s the view from one of the three windows in our room:
Later in the day, we started taking Rick Steves’ advice and stopped paying so much attention to individual street names and simply followed the signs in the general direction of major landmarks. I knew there were no cars in the city, but some of the streets here are barely wide enough for two people to pass one another without turning sideways. Add in people with strollers and shopping bags, stopping to look into shop windows and it’s totally insane. We walked a lot more this afternoon and evening; at least it seemed like a lot.
We crossed a good portion of Venice, including a trek over the Rialto Bridge to see Frari Church. It’s filled with all kinds of artwork and everything has a permanent place inside the church. Again, no photos, so I can’t show some of the coolest statues.
After that, we spent longer than we really wanted trying to find a place to eat dinner. We’re both indecisive at times, and even though we were really hungry, we didn’t think any one thing sounded better than another. Many places open late, which made the choice more difficult. We finally settled on one, but of course we still had to wait for it to open. That place was an experience in itself, but it’s after midnight, so the story will have to wait.