“It’s so easy for me to get caught up in the feeling of a city like Venice, where everything is just beautiful colour and gorgeous buildings that are so peaceful. You can roam around and get lost in the labyrinth.” – Nanette Lepore

Oh Venice… who wouldn’t fall in love with you!
It is a beautiful Italian gem and it is totally unique with its bustling canals, its impressive bridges, hidden alleys, romantic gondolas topped with a whole lot of history.

St Mark’s Basilica is one of the most popular attraction in Venice, especially for any first timer like us. The facade overlooks to the Piazza  and has in its lower level, five arched portals with marble columns.

Next part are a number of arches depicting the life of Christ.

On the upper portion, you can see the Horses of Saint Mark, a line of staues and at the centre is a golden winged lion which is a symbol of St Mark and of Venice.

The basilica is connected to the Doges Palace which was formerly a residence and was the seat of Venetian government and is now a famous museum. We were standing there for a long time admiring its smooth soft colours, its beautiful stone carvings, and its amazing Venetian Gothic architecture.

Opposite the Basilica, in the heart of he Piazza San Marco is the St Mark’s Campanile which towers over the square at about 99 metres. After queuing up and forking out a few euros we were not at all disappointed.

What an amazing 360 degree view of the lagoon from the top of the Campanile. The bell tower was initially used to see approaching ships and protect the entry to the city. Today, this bell rings twice…at noon and at midnight. Unfortunately, we got to the top exactly at noon so it was just surprising that we didn’t suffer from any ear damage 🤣

Lunchtime was at the Piazza San Marco. Nothing grand…just a taste of a simple pizza and tomatoes on bruschetta. It was lovely, as the ingredients were so fresh. But guess how much the Iced Tea cost? Don’t ask 😳

Then we continued on with more walking… to cross its many bridges…

To see the famous Bridge of Sighs, an enclosed baroque style bridge with stone bars. Legend has it that it got that name because of the heavy sighs of the convicts when upon crossing this bridge knew that this was the last time that they will be seeing Venice.

The Victor Emmanuel Monument II Monument (king of Italy since the 6th century until his death in 1878

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It was such a warm September day, so hubby and I decided to sit down for a bit on one of the empty chairs…. but NO… we were told off, because we were not allowed to sit there if we weren’t buying anything. So although I had a bottle of water with me, I had to buy one so as to be allowed to sit and rest.
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Then to continue with our walk …

On the sidewalk we saw a lot of colourful masks being sold as well as ladies in full fine costumes. Later on diid we find out that the wearing of masks in Venice dates back to the 12th century. Nowadays there are two categories of masks being used in Venice- the traditional one that is being used during the Carnival and the character mask which cover only half of the face.

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These are extraordinary times. Some information may have changed due to Covid-19, always check for updates. Stay safe.

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