With only a day and a half to take in the sights of Venice, we decided to begin our tour by walking as much of the island as possible. At first, it was hard to get very far since every few steps was a photo opportunity, so we agreed that our first day in Venice would be a "land survey" day and would save the photo ops for a second loop around the island--not an easy task.
Since our hotel was located in the Cannaregio (the world's first ghetto), we started there and then headed toward Venice's most famous sight, Piazza San Marco, appropriately named by Napoleon, "the drawing room of Europe". An open courtyard sided by Basilica di San Marco, Palazzo Ducale, multiple museums and La Piazzetta (the real entrance to Venice); Napoleon's "civilized meeting place" has been transformed into a tourist hang-out. And rightly so. You could spend an entire day in this area alone.
We opted to visit the Palazzo Ducale, or Dodge's Palace which also gave us a chance to tour the famed prison connected by the Bridge of Sighs. Which if it was not for the cold, our two hour tour seemed two hours too short. We also toured parts of the Basilica di San Marco, lingered in the Piazza and laughed as tourists acted as landing posts for the pigeons. I had already been bombed by a pigeon in Florence so I kept my distance. |
