4th of May 2024 - Mooching around Venice

We started our day with a tour of St Mark's Basilica which is the cathedral church of Venice dedicated to and holding the relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist, the patron saint of the city.

The floor of St Mark's Basilica dates to either the late eleventh century or first half of the twelfth century.

 

While in St Mark's Basilica we saw the Pala d'Oro which is the high altar table of the Basilica di San Marco in Venice.

 

St Mark's Basilica is located on the eastern end of Saint Mark's Square, the former political and religious centre of the Republic of Venice, and is attached to the Doge's Palace.

 

After leaving St Mark's Basilica we wandered down to the lagoon through St Mark's square to see the lagoon and the Bridge of Sighs.  The Bridge of Sighs is so named from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice through the window before being taken down to their cells.

 

The pigeons in Venice are most brazen as they will walk right inside the various cafés.  This doesn't seem to bother anyone.

We then walked though Venice up to the Rialto Bridge which is the oldest of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal in Venice.

 

The Rialto Bridge was very crowded so we didn't spend much time there before heading back to our hotel for a well earned break.

 

In the late afternoon we headed to the Hotel Danieli for cocktails as one of my must do items for our visit in Venice.  The Hotel Danieli is positively palatial and we had the most wonderful cocktails.