When in Venice, do as the Venetians. Right? Even though the boats are steel and butt ugly, the vaporetto (Venice's buses) are the way most Venetians get around. Line 2 is the fast boat that zips down the Grand Canal to St. Mark's Square in about 25 minutes. Jim and I opted to jump aboard Line 1 which takes about 45 minutes to reach the Square, but which stops at 'every' stop. The Grand Canal is Venice's main street and we wanted to experience it. The vaporetto are hysterical really. When approaching a station, the captain big-time powers the boat in reverse, water flying everywhere. The landing crew throw ropes over the station docks and the boat jerks to a sudden stop, clanging onto the docksides. Standing passengers struggle to regain their balance. The gates open, streams of people rush off and streams of people squeeze aboard. Now I know what it is like to be a sardine in a can. we laughed the whole way to St. Mark's Square. We couldn't see a damn thing!!!
Piazza San Marco is everything and more than you see in photos. It is surrounded by historically significant buildings - St. Mark's Basilica, the Doge's Palace, Correr Museum and the bell tower (Campanile). The piazza is immense! Napoleon once referred to it as "the drawing room of Europe". How appropriate! Grand cafes surround the piazza. Orchestras play (even in the morning)and white jacketed waiters serve. This was too much for Jim and I to resist. We took a seat at Cafe Florian which has been in business since 1720. The orchestra was playing old Italian favorites, our capuccinos were served on a silver tray by a white jacketed waiter, thousands of pigeons sat on the arms of happy tourists feeding them in the centre of the piazza and, to tell you the truth, I could have happily remained there all day.
But that was not to be - we had serious touring to do. Our first was the Doge's palace, where the Doges lived and ruled Venice. This opulent structure was built to show off the wealth and power of Venice and intimidate foes. For me the most memorable part of the tour was crossing the canal, to the 17th C. prisons, over the covered Bridge of Sighs. This infamous bridge's name is taken from the sighs of the prisoners stealing their last glimpses of freedom as they made their way to dank cells or the executioner's block. Our tour of the prisons left the hair standing up on the back of my neck and a huge desire to "get out". Emerging from the palace, we were stunned by the line up for the Basilica. Later! We headed off along the magnificent promenade to the Naval Museum, only to arrive at 1:15 and to find it closed. And so......we continued to walk to the end of the peninsula, enjoying the breezes and views.
At 4:30, we had reservations for a Grand Canal Tour, leaving from the Royal Gardens beside St. Mark's Square. With an hour to kill, we visited the famous Harry's Bar for their renowned Bellini, a wonderfully refreshing concoction of chilled white peach juice and Prosecco. Yum! It was delicious! Harry's Bar looks the same today as it apparently did in the 1930's. Rather plain and ugly, but functional. They have served Maria Callas, the Aga Kahn, Ernest Hemmingway and Woody Allen. And now they have served Jim and Daphne Lockett! Go figure!
Our tour of the Grand Canal was truly some of the best money we have spent. We departed on a glorious wooden launch with driver, tour guide and only 6 other passengers. We slowly wound our way up the Grand Canal in the late afternoon sunlight. Architecture, history, stories of movies and stars, and specific sites were all part of the tour. Any questions were glady answered. Arriving at the top of the Grand Canal, our driver then returned to our point of embarkation, winding through the back canals of this glorious city. What an experience!
It was then back onto the " sardine vaporetto" - number 2 this time - and home to our hotel. Dinner was a relaxed meal - along the canal, of course!
Arriverderci!
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