Venice Trip 27 May – 28 May

After a hectic traveling for a day, we settled down to a hotel right in the middle of an Industrial area near Milan. The next morning was a bright sunny morning and we headed for Venice.

The bridge to Venice. Before the bridge there use to be a big ferry which would carry the cars across.

Venice is a city surrounded by water. There are two modes of transport there, the road for a small part of Venice and ofcourse the water. There are water taxis, water buses and yes the famous gondola. We got into the city just before noon and decided that public transport was the way around Venice for us. We took a 24 hours ticket for the whole of Venice. Getting on stops and getting back on was anywhere you want, we roamed the small streets of Venice.

“Yeh Galiyan yeh chobara” A typical street in Venice. There are normal street too but streets like this add to the facination. There are said to be around 400 bridges in Venice.

One of the many bridges of Venice. Next are the water transport used in Venice

If you overlook the canals and the Italian speaking people, Venice looks like Mumbai. Just like the people of Mumbai, the residents of Venice are warm people. We had Pizzas for lunch and the restaurant looked like an udipi restaurant in Mumbai. The tables, the waiters and the ambience everything reminded me of Kamat restaurant or some udipi restaurants in Mumbai.

Venice was like looking at Mumbai but maybe a little cleaner. We hoped from shop to shop tasting the Italian pizzas on the way. We did not try pasta because I don’t like pasta. We did search for an Indian restaurant but did not find one. Venice isn’t a big city to look and if you skip the gondola which takes a 90 minutes trip, the public transport is good.

The ’streets’ of Venice on one of its main shopping areas. The street looked similar to Mumbai street just a lot cleaner. If you have been to Girgaon area of Lohar Chawl in Mumbai, you may find street like these.

Below are the pictures from Venice. By late evening we had mostly seen most of the city and it was time to return back to Amsterdam. We would take another 2 days before we reached Amsterdam. This time we came back from Austria, then to Germany and then Netherlands.

The Piazza San Marco or the St. Mark’s Square is the Central Square of Venice. Its very popular with Tourist and Pegions. Lots and lots of pegions.

The St Mark Campanile is the bell tower on the St Mark’s Square. The tower is a prominent structure seen from all the parts of Venice

The St Mark’s Square and St. Mark Campanile seen from a distance.

The Doge’s Palace near St. Mark’s Square. The Doge’s Palace had many offices when built first.

Piazzetta Dei Leoncini near the St Mark’s Square. One of the two pillar at the mouth of the grand canal.

The famous Gondola rides. Remember Amitabh Bachchan in “The Great Gambler” enjoying the ride with Zeenat Aman. Below another view of the Gondola.

The Ponte Di Rialto, the most famous bridge in Venice. Originally built in wood, the bridge collapsed twice before made in the present form. Below a closer look of the bridge.

The canals of Venice. Also a path for the Gondolas.

The city as seen from the great canal and below another example of Italian architecture.