Our first day trip - Venice

Dear Family and Friends,

The first day trip we took out of Verona was to Venice. Venice is about an hour away by train. 

The amazing thing is that when you walk out the front of the train station....there you are.  Yep, this is Venice, no doubt.

The green domed building across from us is the Church of San Simeone Piccolo.  This is the first glimpse of Venice most visitors get.

We were amazed and overwhelmed by the scenery and the number of people.  

After we walked and dodged folks a bit, we ducked into a coffee stop that had a quiet patio in the back.  It was very serene and good to get out of the crowd for a bit.

This man was the only other person on the patio. I am guessing he is a local enjoying his morning paper and coffee out of the crowd of tourists.  We were lucky to find this quiet spot.

We walked a bit and enjoyed the scenery before taking a water taxi to St. Mark's Square on the other side of Venice.

The sights from the water taxi were great.  Here are a few.

A ship was docked at a pier. I don't know if it is always there or not.  Fun to see the tall masts.

The buildings were fun to see.  Maybe a hotel?

This church is Santa Maria del Rosario, which means St Maria of the Rosary.   

This church is Santo Stefano (St. Stephen).  It was founded in the 13th century.

And, finally we could see the prominent San Marco Campanile (bell tower of St. Mark's Basilica) from a distance. 

When we got off the water taxi we walked, shopped and had lunch.

There were many shops containing Murano glass.  Murano glass is made on the Venetian island of Murano, which has been a glassmaking center for over 700 years.  If we were there for more than just a day trip we would have gone to the island for a visit to the glass factory.

Masks, of course, are very popular.  There were many types to pick from.

Here is Chuck in front of the St. Zaccaria Church, across from the restaurant where we had lunch.

After lunch we walked toward St. Mark's Square enjoying the canals and gondolas with tourists.

We finally made it to the big attraction.  St. Mark's Square was more than crowded, it was packed.  

St. Mark's Basilica is the most popular attraction in Venice.  The bell tower was casting a shadow on the entrance. 

Here is a closer look at the beautiful entrance.

Nearby is the Torre del'Orologio (St. Mark's clock tower)

This is Doge's (King's) Palace.  Another very famous and visited building in Venice.  It is now a museum.

In front of the palace were gondolas parked in their slips.

From a church bell tower across the Grand Canal, Chuck took these great vista photos of Venice.

We took the water taxi back to the train station and returned to Verona after a wonderful quick trip to Venice.  

Love,

Nancy