Time in Venice

Venice is an interesting city. You probably know it is built on an island, or rather, a group of islands. It is criss-crossed by many, many canals, with the Grand Canal being the centerpiece. Walking around the city we go through wide piazzas and through narrow alleyways (some less than 6 feet wide), and frequently over bridges. There are street names, but they are almost useless, as they change frequently and nothing is straight for very long. There are fairly regular signs saying “Per San Marco” or “Per Ferrovia” that assure us we are heading in the right direction. But of course there are quite a few twists and turns that aren’t necessarily marked. 

Thursday morning we left soon after breakfast to visit the Rialto Bridge, a major landmark on the S curve of the Grand Canal. It is about 3/4 of the distance to San Marco. We walked on the north side of the canal, much of which was the same street we followed on our first day. We did eventually get there. We enjoyed strolling through the vegetable and fish markets. We came back on the south side of the canal. As we neared the station area, there were more and more people walking in the opposite direction from us. Evidently there are quite a lot of day-trippers and cruise tours who come into the city from 10 to 5 or so. We know the trains carry a lot of people here and they come frequently. It was a very pleasant walk, mostly shady and cool with some breeze. We are glad that the weather has changed from being in the 90s while we were in Florence to the 80s here. And maybe even the high 70s before we leave.

There are advertisements for concerts featuring Vivaldi’s “Four Season” everywhere. We looked at the brochure, but tickets were quite a bit more than we wanted to pay. We are happy just to walk around and look at things. The buildings are all built directly next to each other and jumbled all over. There are a few straight lines, but only a few! It is a trick to find a location on the map, even a good one.

Please excuse the haphazard photos, as I am trying to get everything uploaded during dinner!

Tre Archi bridge

Looking toward the mainland