There’s one thing about Venice that would appeal to any tourist: getting lost among the alleyways and coming across random bridges every now and then that can be crossed but with a dead end immediately on the other side. For a town like Venice, it is simply that element you as a tourist can call fun. It wouldn’t appeal to you in any other town. I found it quite amusing when I first spotted an “uncrossable” bridge. You think that you can continue along some narrow path along the canal on the other side, but upon reaching the centre of the bridge, realise that there is nothing but a locked door on the other side.
This chapter of my Venice Recollections will look at my random walks around the main island, which in particular involve San Marco Square, the Rialto Bridge and other bridges in the area. I also decided to take a Vaporetto (the water taxi for those who haven’t revised your vocabulary yet) along the Grand Canal and observe the scenery.
Did some walking the day I arrived. Dropped by stuff off and strapped the tripod to my back and the camera ready for action. I set off into the busy streets of Venice, where human traffic can literally be an issue some times.
A dash of Venetian culture. These masks are worn during Carneval, probably the most famous festival in Venice. I may write a word or two about it in a future post if I have a better read of it. These masks have gained worldwide fame, you’ll find them in any costume shop around the world and it is THE mask to wear for Masquerade balls.
In Venice, buying such a mask takes more than simply walking into a shop and picking one. You can buy the original Venetian hand-made masks, which are strong and simply original, or if you’re unlucky or just need a bargain, can get a “Made in China” version (which you would probably not bother about much since you could buy it anywhere as I’ve mentioned before).
For those, who are wanting to look a bit more wealthy or just have spare change, have a go at these masks, they’re pretty pricey!
Could use a V or Joker mask? You can get an ORIGINAL Venetian hand-made Hollywood mask too! I was tempted to get a whole costume, would certainly come in handy for those costume parties. Thought against it though, one thing held me back (how was I going to transport it all back to Melbourne without breaking it!?).
San Marco Square, THE most famous tourist spot in Venice, where Pigeons absolutely do not know how to fly and where you’ll also pay an arm and a leg if you sit down in the square for a coffee. Standing and listening to the music performances at the restaurants is free though so long as the waiters don’t notice you 
Did I mention pigeons? Yes, trust me, I have never seen any other place in the world where pigeons have been this incompetent in flying. There are so many of them around (too many to count and I think the government has actually started fining people for feeding them). While walking, don’t be surprised if you feel a pair of wings scrape the side of your head. I had fun dodging incoming pigeons, who could not read the wind and were heading straight for me. And yet they get their own fountain!
The actual square, wonder how much Skechers paid for the billboard spot! There is a lot of renovation going on and to cover up the scaffolding, the government has allowed companies to advertise their brands. Wasn’t too happy though as I other pictures I took required some skill to hide the billboards!
San Marco tower, it too has its fair share of history, having collapsed in the past, rebuilt a few decades later and under constant refurbishment. This time around they blocked off a small radius around the tower base to strengthen the foundation. The tower was open to tourists and I had the chance to go up there on my last evening. You’ll hear about it soon enough.
The lion symbol has a highly significant historical background in Venice and apart from the engravings in some buildings, you’ll find some columns with miniature lion statues. This one is next to the tower, the other one is near the Doge’s Palace.
Embedded in the bell tower, a clock showing the Zodiac. Above the bell down are two mechanical guard statues operating a bell, which chimes every hour.
The Basilica San Marco, sadly under refurbishment. I have a sketch of this building and would have loved to have gotten a picture of the full facade. It is an amazing structure with multiple domes on its roof. You’ll get a better view of it from the tower.
There’s two of the domes and the extremely intricate facade, which you can stare at for hours and take numerous pictures of. Lion carvings are also present.
And finally, the Doge’s palace. A massive building where the Doge of Venice resided. You can find a detailed history here at Wikipedia. I walked along here to the water edge and continued on around the building.
I should mention that what makes a lot of these historical structures in Venice so fascinating is that they were constructed out of heaps of marble. The palace for one and the Rialto bridge, which you’ll see shortly are two such examples. Personally, to see such intricacy carved into the facade must have certainly taken ages too.
Take one look at this picture and you’ll notice something. This is the over-used shot angle of hundreds of posters, book covers and whatever other multimedia. I don’t blame them for using this. I stood there and enjoyed the view: gondolas in the foreground, Isola de San Giorgio di Maggiore in the background. The isle hosts a marina, where small yachts can dock. Did not have a chance to go see it, certainly something to add to the future visit sightseeing list.
There was one bridge that piqued my interest: Il ponte dei Sospiri, the Bridge of Sighs. Funny name, ain’t it! It connects the old prison and the interrogation room of the Doge’s palace and looks pretty awesome in that it is completely sealed, preventing the prisoners from escaping.
Unfortunately, modern technology has improved the “sealing up” of the bridge. Refurbishment works have once again prevented me from a splendid view of this funny bridge. The boards, in fact, made it a lot more difficult for me to find the bridge. It was thanks to my Italian (recognizing the word ‘Sospiri’) that led me to the bridge. Here is the bridge anyway. For a picture of how it looks like when not cluttered in advertisments, here’s a link
Looks like Google Maps also didn’t get a good chance to get the uncovered shot as well with their angled zoom view option!
Continuing along the edge of the island, you’ll come across several hotels and stalls selling food and souvenirs as well as massive human traffic. This was in the morning, so it wasn’t as bad.
Kept walking along crossing small bridge after small bridge until I then decided to turn around and head in a different direction.
If you haven’t felt it yet, take another look at the pictures above. Yes, it was very hot. A nice cool drink was always nearby and I spent quite a bit of loose change on bottles of water. Drinks are stacked in a tower with a little waterfall keeping them cool. Saw one with piece of sliced up coconut and bottles of water too.
My walk soon turned into a random journey within the Venetian maze as I looked for the Rialto bridge. You tend to cross a lot of miniature bridges and are always tempted of jumping into the canal. The motor boats passing by occasionally with carbon monoxide spewing out the exhaust may probably avert you from the idea.
A tip for those travelling to Venice: the key is to walk in the “general direction” and to NOT lose the “generation direction” until…
…you stumble upon a sign like this painted into a building… (there are some of San Marco and the nearest Vaporetti stop as well)… and once you’re done with your trip, you can buy such a sign at the souvenir shop to remember the good times when you had no idea where you were going.
Eventually found the Rialto. Took a good look at it the day after I arrived as all I cared about the day before was getting to the hotel. I crossed the bridge but really didn’t take much time to see it during the day until the next morning.
Hotel Rialto is of course next to the bridge and will accommodate your stay in Venice from anywhere between 140 to 260 Euros (depending on room size) per night. Alternatively, there is a cafe you can go to and have something to eat while watching the crowd go by. You’ll hear about it in a later post.
I decided to walk along the canal to get a view of the Rialto bridge from afar. You occasionally come across alleys where you’ll find Bridge of Sigh imitations Many of the buildings are connected and it is not surprising to see a bunch of bridges spanning between buildings. A clever advantage of placing the buildings in Venice so close to each other. Pity they don’t span over the canals.
A lonely gondola next to its dock. The wooden stakes in the water help in anchoring the gondola and other boats. They also serve as markers for parking lots since paint and water don’t exactly mix
The further you move away from the Rialto, the more you realise how wide the grand canal actually is and how huge the bridge appears to be.
Spotted a gondola coming out of a side canal passing under a very low bridge. The gondolier, who steers the boat while standing must have it tough to duck every time he encounters such a bridge.
If you want to get a feel for how wide the grand canal is, you can cross the Rialto. Was standing in the centre and had a view overlooking the canal.
The local market is actually near the Rialto and you’ll find an open square, which I believe is one of the local night spots to visit in Venice.
I must say that a lot of the walks I did during the day were pretty much around the San Marco area. I was either on other islands during the day or simply browsing the shops or riding the Vaporetto along the canal. What I however took full opportunity of was walking around the main island during the night with my camera. I will show you some night scenes of the mainland in a later post.
Let’s not move on to travelling along the grand canal. Boarded one of the main Vaporetto down at San Marco and took it all the way up to the last stop (Piazzale Roma). Took me a while to understand the crazy public transport route map, but once you go through the effort, it’ll all make sense in the end.
You get a completely different impression of San Marco Square when passing by out in the lagoon. Some advice to travellers in your twenties. I recommend you get a “Rolling Venice Card” at the tourist office near San Marco Square as it entitles you to get a much cheaper multi-pass for the Vaporetti. Saves you money, the time spent on constantly getting tickets and also allows you go crazy riding the Vaporetti around Venice.
The first bridge you’ll pass under is the “Academic Bridge”, the Ponte del Accademia, probably my number one favourite photography spot. You’ll find out why soon. The bridge differs from the Rialto in the material it’s built with.
Giant cigarettes “in” a giant chair, cannot be found anywhere except for the art museum. An amusing sight, because of its randomness among the similarly old houses.
Every building is similar, yet differs almost completely from its neighbour. It’s fascinating how you can think you know where you are, but completely not know where you are. I have had that experience in Venice several times where I thought I knew where I was going, but ended up mindlessly walking through alleys.
Approaching the Rialto bridge again, this time from a different angle. I stayed on the Vaporetto and went right under it.
I didn’t mind the Rialto, but it wasn’t a favourite spot of mine to visit because there were simply way too many tourists crowding the top of the bridge. No personal space and the constant picture taking made it difficult to enjoy the views of Venice.
I got off at the railway station stop (the penultimate stop on the line) to inquire about tickets back to Innsbruck, because I hadn’t managed to do so yet. Indulged in a scoop of chocolate gelato while I was at it! For a hot day like the one I was experiencing, it was much needed “yum-ness”.
Ponte della Costituzione, a modern bridge opened in 2008 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Italian constitution. The Venetians refer to it as the Calatrava Bridge. Didn’t get to walk over it (surprisingly) but went under it enough times to get a good look at it. You will pass by this bridge between the railway station and the final Vaporetto stop on the grand canal, at the bus depot.
A Vaporetto ride along the grand canal is probably the best thing you can do to get a feel of the size of Venice. You may get annoyed at the constant stopping at each Vaporetto station, but if you’re on holiday and are not in a rush, it shouldn’t bother you. Observing the architecture was one thing I constantly did while sometimes standing on the crowded deck and other times roaming around the boat.
While riding the Vaporetto, constantly breathing in sea breeze gave me an appetite for seafood. Saw this nice looking crab at one of the restaurants. Didn’t want to blow that big a hole in my wallet and thought that a picture would be good enough to savour a mental taste.
I can post many more pictures of my walks around the canals as I simply went trigger happy with my camera. No matter how many pictures I post, it would not do the experience any justice. You have to simply be in the middle of it to really understand what I felt as I walked through the island.
Before I finish this chapter, remember I was talking about an “uncrossable brige” because of a locked door on the other side? These bridge are however useful for one thing: taking a photo of the bridge ahead and the numerous things happening within a narrow canal!
Will show you sights from Murano next!