Whilst on our Europe vacation package, our itinerary included a Venice day tour.
Mention Venice and the most memorable Venice Italy attractions that come to mind are the canals and gondolas. Not surprisingly since Venice is known as the city of canals and has more than a hundred small islands in the Venetian Lagoon.
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| Our first view of the city of Venice on our Venice day tour |
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| To Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Square) |
According to Wiki, Venice comprise 117 islands interconnected by 177 canals and 409 bridges. The main mode of transportation is by the waterways. Most tourists would identify the gondola with the city of Venice. Although the gondola is considered as the classical Venetian boat, it is now mainly used for tourists as well as for major ceremonies such as weddings and funerals.
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| Images of Venice |
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| See more leaning towers here... |
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| Doge's Palace on the left as seen from the Grand Canal |
The Basilica di San Marco, commonly known as Saint Mark's Basilica, is located at the Piazza San Marco or Saint Mark's Square. One of Venice's more famous churches, Saint Mark's Basilica boasts a Byzantine architecture.
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| Saint Mark's Basilica |
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| One of the doorways |
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| Mosaic ceiling |
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| Saint Mark's Campanile (bell tower) |
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| Saint Mark's Square (Doge's Palace and Saint Mark's Basilica in the background) |
The Palazzo Ducale or Doge's Palace plays an important role in the history of Venice. The Ducal Palace was the residence of the Doge and the centre of power from where the Venetian Republic was ruled.
The basement of the Doge's Palace used to serve as prison cells housing convicts awaiting trial whilst the 'new' prison was being built. The new prison is connected to the Doge's Palace via the bridge of sighs, so called because prisoners who crossed the bridge into the prison would catch their last glimpse of the 'free' world outside and sigh as legend puts it since they would not see freedom again for a number of years.
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| Doge's Palace |
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| Palazzo Ducale |
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| Doge's Palace |
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| Architecture of the Doge's Palace |
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| Bridge of Sighs |
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| The canal where the Bridge of Sighs is located - see the Doge's Palace on the left |
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| Sculpture of raider on the horse in Venice |
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| Does the tower seem to be leaning? |
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| A common sight - canals all over |
A visit to Venice is not complete without going on the famed Venice gondola ride. Since our Venice day tour includes the gondola ride, it was a bonus to us.
Here you can see that some of the gondolas are quite comfortable with velvet seats.
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| Gondolas - traditional flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boats |
There used to be about 10,000 gondolas, but today their number is just around 500. All gondoliers have to be licensed and have a dress code. The gondola ride lasts approximately 40 minutes and each gondola can take up to six persons.
Holiday Travel Tips:-
According to our tour manager Ricky Tiang, once your gondolier is away from the starting point, give him a small tip and ask him to show you Mozart's house, etc... That usually gets them talking or else you will be bored stiff and will not find the ride interesting. If you are lucky, he may even sing for you as one of our tour group members experienced.
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| Going under the many bridges in the gondola |
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| Best Western Hotel - where we boarded the gondola |
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| Mozart's house as seen from the gondola - courtesy of Carol Nickerson Wright |
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| Another house where Mozart stayed in |
After the gondola ride, we visited the
Murano glass factory where we were given a short demonstration of a master craftsman creating a vase with the glass blowing technique. A very interesting and memorable experience indeed! We also had a little time for souvenir hunting and saw many interestingly designed
Venetian masks.
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| At the Murano glass factory - master craftsman holding up a vase that he just completed |
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| Venetian masks on sale |
An interesting Venice day tour, though we would have liked to have a little bit more time to check out the various shops in the many alleys.
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