Oof. Worst. Sleep. Ever.
It was too hot with the windows closed, so we opened the windows. There was a cool breeze that did help, but my pillow was far far far too thick, and the open window meant we could hear every little sound reverberating around the alley. Which even for a quiet alley had a LOT of noise. We were still awake for the midnight bells in the tower right outside our window. And let's not mention the mosquitoes.
hmmm
Breakfast was ok. No hot food (it's quite a small hotel) but an ok range of other stuff.
But I was a complete zombie. It was also our first full day in Venice and I hadn't really done any research. We wanted to get skip the line tickets for the Bell Tower and Doge's Palace, but the museum website was being a big fat poo. You need to choose a time for the palace *and* for the Correr museum, but it would only let me pick one ticket for the Correr museum not both. I was way too tired to be dealing with this crap. So I tried them one at a time, and couldn't get the same time for Mum - looks like there must have only been one ticket left for the other time and I got it. So our tickets were ten minutes apart. #grunt. In the end we probably spent a good hour of daylight fighting with stoopid websites. All to get timed tickets that we probably didn't actually even need (later we found the queue and the bell tower was pretty short, and Doge's wasn't much longer). hmmm 10:15 by the time we got out the door.
First stop was a ferry across the Grand Canal to Salute to see the spot where Indiana Jones and Brody get off the ferry to meet Dr Schneider.
View across the Grand Canal (where Indiana Jones first arrived in Venice)
Next another ferry to Accademia to see the bridge and the view.
Gondola and Ponte dell'Accademia
View west along the Grand Canal from Ponte dell'Accademia
Then another ferry to Rialto to see the bridge and the view.
Ca' Rezzonico
Palazzo Balbi
View southwest along the Grand Canal from Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge)
Again with the hordes of tourists destroying the romance
From there we walked back to San Marco. Easy, just follow the signs on the alleys heh.
View north along Rio della Fava from Ponte de la Fava
Piazza San Marco
At San Marco we found somewhere selling wraps, so got one takeaway and took it back to the hotel to eat it. As much as I hate this hotel, the location sure is convenient.
Basilica di San Marco (St Mark's Basilica)
Ponte dei Sospiri (The Bridge of Sighs) at midday
At 13:00 we went to the bell tower. As noted, the queue wasn't very long, we could have just turned up and not really lost any time. But with timed entries it means you're locked into that time. So couldn't just wait til later because it was still pretty hazy. #grunt. But the view north at least was pretty cool.
Campanile di San Marco
View north from the campanile
View east from the campanile
View along the Riva degli Schiavoni and all the crowds
View to Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore
View southweast towards Fondation Pinault and Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute
Piazza San Marco from the campanile
Next we took a ferry to Ca' Rezzonico to go find the church/library and other canals that Indiana Jones and Brody and Elsa go to.
Torre dell'Orologio
Ponte della Paglia and Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs)
Campanile di San Marco and Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace)
Chiesa di San Barnaba where Indiana Jones and Elsa find the entrance to the catacombs
Ponte dei Pugni where Indiana Jones, Marcus Brody and Elsa cross the canal
Then another ferry to Rialto to see the bridge in afternoon light.
Palazzo Pisani Moretta
Gondola and palaces
Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge)
Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge)
They keep these trestle tables (passarelle) handy for when they need to lay them out to make elevated walkways when the tide (acqua alta) floods the island
And finally a ferry back to San Marco.
Ponte dell'Accademia
Palazzo Franchetti
A Number 1 vaporetto - we caught a bunch of these up and down the canals
A gondola in front of Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore
We got some ice cream from a street vendor which was ok.
15:45 was our timed entry for Doge's Palace. Pretty spectacular in places. We probably didn't really appreciate it as much as we could have with some sort of guide. Also got to walk across the Bridge of Sighs (twice) to and from the prisons.
Courtyard and side of Basilica di San Marco in Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace)
Sala del Collegio (Council Chamber)
Zodiac clock in Sala del Senato (Senate Chamber)
Swords and helmets in the armoury
Swords and helmets in the armoury
View towards Amerigo Vespucci from Doge's Palace
Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Chamber of the Great Council)
Sala dello Scrutinio (Chamber of the Scrutinio)
Prison rooms opposite Doge's Palace
View south from the Bridge of Sighs
View to the prisons from Doge's Palace
Gondola in Doge's Palace
I wanted to see the view from Accademia bridge in the afternoon light, so got another ferry. Although it was super full and we couldn't get a seat. And noone gave one up for Mum. Her problem is she doesn't look old heh.
View east along the Grand Canal from Ponte dell'Accademia
Walked back to San Marco again, this time past all the designer stores. Every fancy brand you can think of was there. Didn't really notice any signs this time, but it was simply a matter of following the crowds.
View along Rio de l'Alboro from Ponte de le Ostreghe
Chiesa Parrocchiale di San Moisè from Ponte San Moisé
Campanile di San Marco
Basilica di San Marco (St Mark's Basilica) at sunset
Had quite a nice dinner of pork escalope in creamy mushroom sauce.
Back in the room I had to fight with getting photos off my phone. It's still playing up and throwing out my whole routine of downloading and processing my photos. It could be because my laptop disk is almost completely full. I've had to delete some of the early days from the laptop (I have them on memory stick and external hard drive, as well as the original cards).
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