Walking Tour
I started my exploration of Venice around 0900, by roughly following the walking tour route in an old guidebook. From my accommodation, I walked south towards St Mark’s square, then west towards Ponte dell Accademia where I crossed the Grand Canal.
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- A canal in the area.
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- Queue to enter St Mark’s.
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- St Mark’s Belltower and the Doge’s Palace.
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- View from Ponte dell Accademia.
Here I explored the bank facing St Mark’s. There was Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, consecrated in 1687, which I went into briefly.
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- Looking across the Grand Canal.
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- Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute.
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- Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute.
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- Gondolas on the Grand Canal.
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- St Mark’s on the left and the island of San Giorgio Maggiore on the right.
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- Looking across the Grand Canal.
Crossing over to the other side of the island, which faces Giudecca, this was a very sunny stretch called Zattere. It was very pleasant in the sun but I had to turn inland or north and cross back to the other islands that make up Venice.
I made my way randomly through alleys, dead-end alleys which end up at canals with no bridges, past various churches before having a not-so-good sandwich for lunch because I needed their toilet. There aren’t many toilets around but there are a few pay public toilets in the busier areas.
As soon as I had eaten, the café next door opened up with more appealing options. Damn!
Nearby, I visited Basilica Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari briefly. This church was completed in the 1330s. It was nice enough but I found the choir stalls to be the feature that grabbed me the most. From here, I was back at the Rialto Bridge near my accommodation.
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- Inside Basilica Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari.
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- Choir stalls of Basilica Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari.
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- Rialto Bridge near my hotel.
The recommended route was supposed to take 6h according to the guidebook, excluding time entering any sights such as museums. It took me about 4h entering a couple of churches and no museums as I am not deeply interested in what they often have on display.
Visiting St Mark’s
I had seen the long queue for entering St Mark’s this morning. When I joined the queue about 1300 it was much shorter. Our vaccination was checked before we could enter into the ticketing area where the fee was EUR3 only.
The interior was stunning in gold mosaic, reminiscent of the Ayasofya in Istanbul, even though this church is considerably newer having been consecrated “only” in 1094.
At the far end, there was an option to pay EUR5 to see Pala d’Oro or a gold altarpiece which was stunning.
The final add-on was the entrance to the museum and front deck at EUR7. As I hadn’t paid for much today, I decided to this option as well.
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- Inside St Mark’s Basilica.
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- Inside St Mark’s Basilica.
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- Inside St Mark’s Basilica.
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- These horses once graced the facade of the Basilica but have been replaced by replicas. These originals now stand in the museum.
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- Inside St Mark’s Basilica.
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- From the front deck of St Mark’s, looking down at the square.
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- From the front deck of St Mark’s.
St Mark’s Belltower
Right across from the façade of St Mark’s was the belltower. I was undecided if I should go. I had been on my feet for a long time already and I wasn’t sure if it was by stairs or lift. As soon as I realised it was by lift, and as there was no queue, I was in.
With the ticket price of EUR10, we were given a higher-grade mask to wear. This is quite understandable as the lift-attendant is at risk from all the people they carry through the day. Fortunately, they seem to rotate the role amongst the staff.
From the top, we could see in all directions. The north and west looks out towards the mainland while the south and east look out to the Adriatic. However, there are some islands between Venice and the Adriatic and the open sea isn’t too apparent.
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- St Mark’s facade.
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- St Mark’s facade.
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- St Mark’s and its belltower.
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- St Mark’s belltower.
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- The view north is inland, including the airport. The bridge to the mainland is visible on the left.
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- The view to the east includes the Adriatic once you get past the islands.
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- The view to the south includes the Adriatic once you get past the islands.
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- The view west is inland
Dinner and Evening Walk
It had been a long day from 0900 to 1600 on my feet, except for a short lunch break. So, I treated myself to a nice dinner. There are many restaurants doing set meals and it’s pretty good value compared to having a simple pizza slice or sandwich. I chose a lasagne and also squid in black ink. Both were delicious. The waiter here, seemingly like many in Italy, is from Bangladesh.
Being a sucker for punishment, I took an evening walk after dinner. I wanted to circumnavigate the island that I was on but distances are quite small. I had overshot badly to the next one. With the rough directions on Google Maps, I took random alleys to return to my hotel.
The night receptionist at my hotel was on duty. Having my cuppa tea from the vending machine, I heard him speaking Arabic to friends. It turned out he’s from Jordan. We had a nice little chat thereafter.