Venice - Day 2

 

After a delicious breakfast at our hotel in the morning, we hopped on a vaporetto and headed back down to St. Mark's Square for some more touring.  A view of the Rialto Bridge from the boat.

Beautiful Buildings all along the Grand Canal.

We started at the Correr Museum and bought a combo ticket that also included the Doge's Palace (and saved us from the long line at the palace).  The museum contains artifacts, artwork, and statues from Venetian history.  After all the museums we had seen during the trip, this one was a blur.  They did have a special exhibit with some Klimt paintings which was enjoyable to see. (No photos allowed, which is another reason I don't remember much of this museum.)

 

Then onto the Doge's Palace.  The lattice facade of the palace features this recognizable architecture of Venice.

The courtyard of the palace.

Again, no photos inside the palace.  Gorgeous lavish rooms.  Part of the tour includes the prison. You cross the Bridge of Sighs as you enter the prison and get your "last" view of Venice.  I snapped a few shots looking out the lattice work of the bridge.  What a view!

We then headed out into another area on the other side of the canal to visit a church and I totally have no idea what the name of the church was or what we saw in it! Truly, it all was looking alike at this point.  

The best part of Venice is getting lost as you wander the canals, bridges, and alleyways.  If/when (!) I go back, I will plan to spend more time when I am fresh, not exhausted, just to wander around.

In the evening we headed back to see St. Marks at night.  The square was lovely, but totally packed with dozens of annoying vendors selling these glowing balls that they threw in the air.  Totally killed the atmosphere when you were accosted every few steps.  We did enjoy standing along the fringes of the cafes listening to the live music.

I had read someplace that taking the vaporetto down the Grand Canal at night was pretty. Not so much.  First, the vaporetto was deathly hot and the windows were dirty, so unless you were lucky to get an outside seat it was not a very comfortable or scenic view.  Second, most of the buildings were unlit and looked like nobody was home.  Alas, many of the beautiful buildings along the canal are empty - too expensive to live in or to restore.