VENICE IN A DAY

    We just got back from a full day in Venice.  Having been here before and spending time in the city yesterday, we were able to get to some of the things that we missed the first time. The quick train ride in landed us at San Lucia station.  We decided to do the perimeter of Venice

which meant starting in the old Jewish sector and moving around to St. Mark's Square.  This would mean not having to cross the Grand Canal.   Of course there must be a thousand bridges and an equal number of churches in Venice and I think that we saw them all.  It is hard to get lost but we managed to do it a few times.  We did not have a very reliable map to work from.  After about 2 hours walk we arrived in the Rialto Bridge area.  Our destination was the local market which we just found out existed close to the bridge.  Always an interesting place.  Then we proceeded to the first of our 3 real stops - Santi Giovanni et Paulo Church.  Large, impressive Gothic in nature does not begin to describe the size and scope of this church.  It is where many of the "Ducales" were buried so you can imaging the ornate features that were on display.  I hope the photos do it justice.  After that more wandering and more lost ways.  We finally stopped for lunch in a local shop before heading to St. Mark's Square.

     Interesting thing.   As we arrived the America's Cup races
was on (they had been here all week) but today the race took them into the beginning of the Grand Canal so we sat there as they raced by.   Of course with the races and the cruise ships that are in, it was wall to wall people again today.
     The second planned stop was the  Gallerie dell' Accadema which houses art that is not in the churches.  Of course every church is an art gallery in Venice but this was arranged in some type of order.  What can on say about art from the glory days of Venice?  It was very interesting but they did not provide a guide to the 23 galleries and only Italian on the captions.  Fortunately I had information from our Italy book but there was so much to see that it was impossible to really appreciate it.
 

    This was followed by a walk back to the Square where I went up
thetower to get some high shots.  Judy opted to stay on the ground as the temperature was dropping and the wind picking up.  Funny thing.  The last time we were up the tower it was basically the same conditions except then it was raining.  It got some photos and rushed back down.  Then it was the walk back to the train station and the quick ride to the hotel.  Tomorrow we check out and head back to Canada.  Avignon, Cirque Terra and Sienna are still to come!