Europe 2014: Venice before ferry to Croatia

Tuesday 24th June 2014 - to Venice by train

A little over two hours on the train and we arrived in Venice at 1pm. The intention was to get a vaporetto (water bus) to the nearest stop to our hotel and walk 400m but as its only 2km total and the weather is not too hot, AR is keen to walk and see the city. So we set off on foot and come across our first bridge crossing and it was over the Grand Canal so it had many stairs. Okay, deep breath, lets go, we grab hold of the luggage and start. No sooner had a couple of stairs been taken and a very fit young man insists on taking SR's luggage for her. She repeatedly says no she is fine but he already has the bag off her and as he couldn't possibly be about to do a 'runner' with it, she relinquished control of it and accepts the gallantry.

Gondola rides 80 euro ($A 120) for 45 minutes (+ 50 for a guitar and singer)

After a few steps however, the long length of the bridge comes into view and SR remembers how easy it is on the first day of being in new city to be suckered in to 'paying' for what is initially, naively, considered a kind gesture. Oh well, those steps are looking long, and this guy has never had to deal with getting a tip from AR so what the hell, SR simply makes sure he has no opportunity of making off with her case. We get to the other side of bridge, offer profuse thanks, take possession of the bag and leave our muscle bound knight in shining armour behind grumbling about 1 euro and what a lousy tipper. Well he was warned...if we wanted a porter we wouldn't have said no initially!

That was the first of many bridges, the short distance wore on and we realised it was a grave mistake taking a 'walk' with luggage in Venice. The effort however, was offset by the romantic beauty of the canals and decaying buildings and the sea breezes softening the warmth of the sun. Even as we haul our bags through the maze of streets and little stairway bridges, we are falling in love with Venice's charms.

We visited the usual tourist highlights, and made sure we also went to the Frari Basilica, a little more out of the way but you can never visit too many churches can you? At Doge's Palace we paid extra for the audio guide and I don't think you could have really appreciated the Palace without it, despite the displays having explanations in English. To save queueing you can buy the 16 euro tickets the day before after admissions close like we did or get them at the sister museum (no queues) at the other end of St Marks square as the ticket includes both museums.

We also discovered some free audio downloads available on the internet from Rick Steves and have started making use of them. His audio tour of the Frari Basilica was really good, as was the one of the Basilica Di San Marco (St Marks Cathedral) and we finished our last day off with a trip down the Grand Canal on the local vaporetti appreciating Venice's buildings and activity from the viewpoint of the Canal where each track on the audio guide relates to each vaporetto stop for the 45 minutes number 1 route to St Marks.

Every place we go AR says "this is just fantastic" as if it is even better than the last place we have visited and Venice was no exception - what an amazing place.

Floating fruit shop

St Marks square the centre of the universe

A band to entertain you and your 10 euro ($A15) coke in St Marks square

Palazzo Ducale - Residence of The Doge who was the elected head of the state of Venice.
This palace was his house plus where the government met and even the jail. Originally, St Marks Cathedral was his own private church and the Palace has its own private entrance to it.

Rialto bridge - once the only bridge across the grand canal

Doge's palace senate room

Doge's palace - even the ceilings of the staircases were amazing

Even great fireplaces

Another Venetian island

Main hall at the Doge's palace

All the elected Doge's have a picture around the great hall. This Doge was a bad boy and has a curtain covering him

Massive painting with amazing detail

Jail cell

Bridge of Sighs linking the Doge's Palace where justice was metered out and the jail that was rebuilt as before the cells were in the cellar/ceilings anywhere they could fit. The romantised name stems from Byron's poem suggesting a prisoner as he crossed the bridge would look out at Venice and it's beauty and sigh knowing it would be a long while, if ever, before he saw it again.

The prisoners view as he crossed the Bridge of Sighs

Not many gardens in Venice

Painting of Venice

St Marks square with it's pigeons, bands and cafes

Fixing up some bricks

St Marks Cathedral - mosaics everywhere

St Marks cathedral wavy floor as the ground has shifted.

Rick Steve's free Audio Guides are fantastic there are hundreds of them

Ambulance

Unloading by the Rialto bridge

Basilica di Santa Maria del Frari was fantastic too

Frari church tomb depicting slaves

More Rick Steve's free audio guide - 45min trip on vaporetto route 1 and a new track at each vaporetto stop to keep the timing right. We got on one stop early at the bus station rather than the train station where the audio guide starts so we could get a seat for the 45min and preferably up the front and on the LHS.