What a stunning city! So much beauty and character in one place! We started our day with a vaporetto ride from The Lido back to the city. Arriving at Piazza da San Marco we saw the Doges Palace and the Bridge of Sighs so named because prisoners were walked across it to meet their doom! The Piazza was full of people and pigeons! We went inside the Basilica of St Mark to see the beautiful mosaics but they appeared tarnished and dull after we saw San Vitale's mosaics yesterday. We stopped for a minute to take a group photo Just as a Hugh ocean liner passed by the Piazza. We then headed off to see an exhibition on the artist Gustav Klimt at the other end of the piazza.
We wandered through the narrow lane ways and connecting bridges past picture perfect vistas and gondeliers (for the rich at 280 euros for one hour!) to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art where we saw many famous artworks from the 20th century. Our lengthy stay at the Guggenheim prevented us from seeing the Accademia which closed early.
We wandered back through the narrow streets of Venice stopping to appreciate the work of local glassmakers and see a range of venetian masks, all of which tell a story.
We boarded a vaporetto to do the loop of the Grand Canal to see the restored palaces and majestic homes of the wealthy, some of which have now been converted into hotels and museums. Our sunny, warm balmy day, which started off misty and overcast, came to an end with a downpour of rain from threatening looking clouds. Off to the islands tomorrow to see glassmaking on Murano and the beautifully coloured buildings of Burano before coming back to the city to investigate the Rialto Bridge area.
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