“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” – Ralph Waldo Emerson (Courtesy HAL) This aptly describes our walking tour, we left a photograph trail for you to follow. JWC
Our hotel provided a full buffet breakfast, so before heading out for the day we had a leisurely filled our tummies. Today we are full of confidence that we can “conquer Venice” on our own terms. So our first priority is to visit San Marcos Square before it gets too crowded with tourists. Who were we kidding, I doubt that famous Icon of Venice is never empty of tourists.
San Marcos Square
Until our visit I did not realize that the “square” is actually in the shape of an “L”, something that I have never seen before in travelogues.
San Marcos Square
When we arrived at our Vaporetto dock we made sure we chose the correct boarding dock, and got Barbara seated on the open bow. As our skipper deftly weaved his craft in and out of traffic we reviewed what we had seen the previous day and just sort of kicked back and enjoyed the ride, of course with Barbara snapping photos at every turn. Arriving at our destination we threaded our way through the hordes of tourists, made our way (slowly) past the souvenir stands descended a canal bridge and ….. there it was, in front of us in all its gleaming glory – the Doges Palace with Saint Marks Cathedral in the background. IT was one of those moments where you just can’t take it all in. To know some of the trials it has been through over the centuries, yet there it is…standing on ancient trees in the middle of a shallow Lagoon. It is truly one of the great wonders of the world, when you think of what it took to build it where it stands, with every piece being transported by boat, after being quarried in some distant stone pit….no … boggle the mind doesn’t do it justice.
If there is one city in all of our travels that I would want to re-visit, it would be Venice. Not only to see Saint Marks Square, but to re-live “Our Venice”. Only in the attached photos can I describe the working, living breathing daily life of this place. Travel now as we exit the Square through large doorway at the top of the square and make our way through the twists and turns to explore a part of this city that is rarely shown by Rick Steves, or other famous travel writers.
Our Venice
Above, I have added four red “push-pins. The bottom one is the start of our “travel on foot”. The one above that is the Rialto Bridge, the one to the left is the maze of streets and canals we worked our way through. and the fourth one is where we boarded our bus back to the hotel. It you calculate the distance using the scale, it probably is no more than two miles…..two miles of "Kodak Moments” at every turn. I have doubled the amount of attached photos and to limit it to just that few was an arduous task, but there they are, enjoy?
Next: The Final Installment of this fantastic adventure; The Trip Home.
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Cummings Family Adventures 
Oh how I wish I could have been a mouse on your shoulder & wandered thru the lovely old city with you. Just amazing — so, a question—along the canels, you see all these little boats anchored. There is nothing to show a way to get to them except to “jump down” or slide down those posts from above. How do they get to their boats? Looks like there could be some interesting “traffic” jams at times!! You could have put all your pictures up—I would have loved seeing them all!!! 🙂 Connie
Thank You, Jack, for another awesome album! One can feel you and Barbara’s love for this magnificent city! I can’t wait to visit Venice in the years ahead.