VENICE

Rialto Bridge from the water bus

I went to Vicenza from Milan, for an official meeting। From there I went to Venice which was only abut 40 minutes by train. I had always dreamt of visiting Venice. From the station, I took the water bus to Rialto Bridge. I was very lucky as I had no luggage to carry .... only I had a small bag with official papers for the meeting. So I jumped out of my water boat called 'Vaporetti' and took a picture of the famous Rialto bridge.

Grand Canal View from Rialto Bridge

The sight of Grand Canal from the Rialto bridge is so beautiful. The weather was a little windy and extremely cold. I was finding it hard to stand still... so I kept walking all the time to generate some body heat. I went walking upto my hotel Bonvechiatti which was an awesome hotel. When I checked in, the hotel guy was surprised to see that I had no luggage at all.

Hotel Bonvechiatti - view from my room window

Within 5 minutes I was on the streets again as I had limited time and I wanted to see more of Venice. Venice is a city of canals. There is no noise pollution due to road traffic... so it seemed pretty quiet to me which was great. I went everywhere by water buses. I had heard about THE SQUARE. I checked at my hotel reception and headed towards The Square. It was only 5 minutes walk from my hotel. It was a majestic view.... beautiful sight.

The Square Piazza San Marco

Basilica San Marco

Basilica San Marco

On the way , I came across several small canals which looked quite interesting and to be frank a little scary to me like the one below.

A small canal

The restaurants served a great variety of fishes ... though I am a vegetarian ..but it was interesting to see beautiful decorations in several restaurants.


Below is a typical mask worn during the Great Venice Carnival -


The Gondola ride is a must if you visit Venice. These are small and beautifully decorated boats. There are several stands all over the city from where you can take a gondola ride.

Gondola Stand

Gondolas

Vegetable Market near Rialto

I had only 4-5 hours time to see around the city ... I was running from one corner to the other to see more and more places in the city. Although I couldn't see the islands nearby, but I am quite happy and satisfied with all that I was able to visit in Venice. It is a truly romantic and beautiful city.

View of The Square in the background