Day 20 - A Walking Tour of Venice

From now on the weather was very favourable and we took advantage of this to spend the day on a walking tour. We had brought with us a book by J.G. Links - Venice for Pleasure. His plan was to create a series of walks, four in all, that take the walker to some of the less well trodden paths which many tourists simply miss as they tend to concentrate on the "famous landmarks." He takes the visitor at a gentle pace, making stops at favourite cafes and restaurants. He also concentrates on giving a historical perspective and often takes you to the exact location used by the painters in the past.

The walk we did this day took us from the Rialto Bridge area where we were staying, to the Piazza di San Marco, east to the Public Gardens, and then back along the waterfront to the Piazza di San Marco and then to the SS Giovanni e Paolo, to the Fondamente Nuovo (canal walkway) and back to the Rialto Bridge.

An unusual arch between buildings

Gondoliers plying their trade early in the morning

Early morning crowds in Piazza di San Marco

The bell on the clock tower in Piazza di San Marco

Decorative doorway at the Basilica Di San Marco

The location where Bellini painted his "Miracle of the Holy Cross"

A black and white version of the actual painting

View along the Riva degli Schiavoni towards San Marco. We had reached the long waterfront running east from the Piazza di San Marco. It was here that Canaletto painted the picture below

Our journey took us to the Arsenale, where the Venetians built their ships. There we saw the first Renaissance building in Venice (1460) with its triumphal arch. Outside the arch were statues of gods and goddesses and two lions. The left hand lion came from Athens. On it is an inscription in old Scandinavian put there in the eleventh century.

Entrance to the Arsenale

By now we had worked our way back to the Riva degli Schiavoni, the waterfront running from Piazza di San Marco. Across the water is the La Salute Church. This is a typical Venetian scene with cranes and sheet wrappings visible on so many buildings as restoration continues (for ever?).

La Salute Church

A waterfront panorama. San Giorgio Maggiore to the left, La Salute Church towards the centre and the Bell Tower at the Piazza di San Marco to the right.

By now we had reached the Campo S. Maria Formosa

The Campo S. Maria Formosa

On old painting of the Campo

A grotesque mask on the wall of the church

A strange door knocker on the Palazzo Van Axel

The Campo SS Giovanni e Paolo

A painting of the same Campo

Verrochio's statue of Bartolemo Colleoni

This statue was paid for by Colleoni himself who left enough money for the statue as long as it was placed in the Piazza San Marco. The sculptor Verrochio was commissioned to make the statue and had it practically finished when he died in 1488. Casting the statue had been a big problem and even five years after his death the casting wasn't complete. Only one other sculptor was thought to be able to solve the dilemma but he had been convicted of fraud and exiled from Venice. He was allowed to return and completed the project. However a new problem arose as to location. The idea of putting it such a prominent position as San Marco, Verrochio's condition, was considered preposterous. As a result it ended up in its current location, the Campo SS Giovanni e Paolo.

It had been a windy day the day before we arrived and the result was obvious!

We had by now reached the Fondamente Nuovo on the north side of the island. Stretched out before us was the lagoon and a view of the cemetery.

The Cemetery in the Lagoon with a vaporettto passing by

An old Palace with wooden eaves

Continuing on we reached the Grand Canal near the Palazzo Ca d'Oro. The fish market is on the right side of the next photo. We were standing at a traghetto stop. The traghettos provide a cheap way to cross the Grand Canal. They are gondola-like boats that you stand up in during the crossing. Not as precarious as it sounds.



By now we were nearly back where we had started from, the Rialto Bridge. It had been a lovely walk, full of interest.

The Rialto Bridge

Day 21 - Bassano del Grappa

One of our neighbours, Danny, is Italian and we asked him where it might be nice to visit if we wanted to leave Venice for the day and see a typical interesting town nearby. He suggested Bassano del Grappa. As a result we took the train to this small town in the foothills north-west of Venice.

The journey took us about an hour and a half and with no maps we walked to the local tourist office and equipped ourselves with some literature. Danny had mentioned a wooden bridge over the river as a main feature so we walked in the direction of the river passing through the town centre.

To prove we got there


In the Piazza Garibaldi


The Civic Tower


They really like their statues


The old wooden bridge, the Ponte Vecchio, over the River Brenta


The River Brenta from the bridge


On the bridge

Grappa is made from fermented grape skins and stalks, the unwanted rubbish? into a potent alcoholic brew with various flavour possibilities. There are two principal distilleries, Poli and Nardini. Many shops sell the product and Poli has museum showing the process. We bought a bottle for Danny from the other maker, Nardini.

The Poli Museum


Nardini's shop window. showing the different colours of the product


Time for afternoon tea


The train home with the usual heavy graffiti

We had a really nice day in this little town.

Day 22 - The Second Walking Tour of Venice

Today we started out on another or Mr. Link's walking tours. This one started at the Rialto Bridge and took us north and west covering new ground. The area we were entering is one that most tourists never see. On the day we were there we did meet a few and at a lunch stop we met a couple from Tamworth in the UK Midlands clutching "Venice for Pleasure". Lunch was at a pleasant small restaurant on the usual fondamente by a canal.


We passed by a house that Tintoretto had lived in. On the outside wall were two stone figures

One of the stone figures outside Tintoretto's house

A second stone figure with Moorish influence

The Maselli Palace

A sculpture on the palace wall, a man leading a camel

The Church of S. Alvise

Detail of the church architecture

A very beautiful doorway at the church

Are we feeling peckish?

Or even really hungry?

By this time we had made our way back to the Grand Canal, its usual bustling self.

The Grand Canal

We then picked up the route of another of the walks that took us to Piazza di San Marco and then down to the Giudecca Canal that runs by the main island with the island of Giudecca opposite.

The Piazza di San Marco

The Bell Tower in the Piazza

One of the features of the Piazza are the "dueling orchestras". These are cafe orchestras on the sides of the Piazza and they take turns to play for their customers trying to be the best to attract more people.

One of the dueling orchestras

There is always someone willing to take your "we were really there" photograph

We then left the Piazza and made our way towards the Giudecca canal passing by the church of S. Moise. Described by John Ruskin as "the frightful facade of S. Moise" and "one of the basest examples of the basest school of the Renaissance" Not sure why.

The church of S. Moise, so hated by John Ruskin

On the Grand Canal, the Palazzo Barbarigo, owned by the Venezia Murano Glass Company which has many decorative mosaics on the walls.

The Peggy Guggenheim Museum is next door. Peggy Guggenheim (1898 -1979) was a very wealthy American, heiress to the Guggenheim fortune who made her mark as a patron of modern artists. She introduced Europe's avant-garde to a skeptical America. She retired to Venice in 1948 moving into an unfinished Palazzo on the Grand Canal, which is why the building only has one floor. She placed her large collection there and it is now a museum with one of the world's best collection of 20th century art. She is buried in the garden!

The Peggy Guggenheim Museum on the Grand Canal

No were are not in Pisa, the leaning bell tower of the Church of S. Stefano

The building to the left in the picture is a museum dedicated to Vivaldi, who is the big man in Venice. Situated in the de-consecrated Church of San Maurizio it contains a very large collection of musical instruments from the time of Vivaldi.




The instrument collection in the Church of San Maurizio

We crossed the Grand Canal on the Accademia bridge. Accademia contains a magnificent collection of paintings, the greatest museum anywhere for Venetian Renaissance art. We passed by because it was one of the places we had visited on the previous trip.

A view of the Grand Canal from Accademia Bridge.

Continuing on we reached the Giudecca Canal which separates the main island from the island of Giudeccia. This is the route that cruise ships use when arriving or leaving Venice Cruiseship Terminal.

The church of San Giorgio Maggiore on its own island

Redontore on Giudecca

We have dinner on the fondamente overlooking these wonderful views. A cruise ship went by leaving Venice. It was well into evening by now and we were treated to a great sunset to the west. It was our last evening and we went home after another excellent day.

Goodnight Venice

Day 23 - Last day in Venice and back home

We weren't leaving Venice until late afternoon so we decided to revisit a place we had been to before, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, often called Tintorettos' "Sistine Chapel". Tintoretto spent the last twenty years of his life working virtually free driven by the spirit of Christian charity the Scuola promoted. It really is an amazing experience. The paintings, some very large, adorn the walls and ceilings of the two floors of the building spread over three rooms. no photography was allowed and there are, in fact, no photographs from the day. Not quite sure how that happened.

We wandered back thought the maze of streets and canals. It is very easy to lose one's sense of direction in Venice as many tourists readily find out. However, we managed to trace our way back in the direction of the Rialto Bridge.

We had managed our money well and had enough cash on hand for the rest of the day because we knew we could use credit to buy tickets to the airport. One misjudgement then occurred. We had lunch and for the first time on the whole trip the restaurant didn't take credit and we didn't have enough loose cash to pay. We did have some UK pounds but changing it to Euros wasn't that easy. We found put that banks don't change money, you have to go the the money changers (crooks?). So it was a scramble to find one of these outlets where the remaining Sterling was just enough to pay the bill. It was a bit of a mad chase through the street maze to find the money and get back. Fortunately Robin remembered the name of the Campo where we had lunch and after a few slight missteps all was well. Exchange rates for the money changers being what they are it turned out to be a rather expensive and not too marvellous a lunch. We had now lost some time but we hurried back to collect our cases and got to the vaporetto stop in reasonable time.

They are special boats from various places on the island to the Marco Polo airport. Once clear of the land the boat becomes a bit of a speed boat, very exciting. There is then a short walk to the terminal. Check in was quick and efficient and we boarded Easy Jet to Gatwick. It was partially clear and we could see Switzerland quite nicely. We were in to time and the baggage collection was a little more speedy this time. We had booked into a pleasant B and B near the airport. We were collected and taken to the house. After a bit of essential shopping - Marmite - we had a pleasant dinner in a pub near by which was doing a roaring trade.

Up early next morning to check in with Thomas Cook and a direct flight to Vancouver. We had a short wait there before we caught the Comox plane, a long day with the eight hour time change.

The whole trip went very well. Walking in Cornwall was wonderful and Paris and Venice were equally wonderful.