Entrance into the Basilica San Marco is free; summertime visitors pay the price of admission in time wasted standing in line, but since it was off season we wandered right in! No pictures are allowed inside the hallowed halls, but the view from the top of the church offers plenty of amazing panoramas. Here we're looking to the East out to sea. The winged lion is the symbol of Saint Mark and is nearly as ubiquitous as the pigeons in the square!
The dark bronze of the horses made for some dramatic pictures in contract to the warm glow of the winter sun on the surrounding buildings. A tip for anyone visiting - entrance fees are charged to get into various portions of the basilica. The horses are the first "for a fee" part of the tour and are to your right as you enter the church; up a long set of steep steps. We got suckered into paying to see the small cramped treasure room before figuring out the system. Some cool stuff in there - including some dead guy's bones (St. Peter's), but we wouldn't have spent the Euro's had we known the drill.
View of the bell tower (Campanile) from the basilica roof. The tower went crashing down into the square, killing a cat but hurting no one else, in 1902.
One more of the horses - I couldn't decide whether I liked this one or the other one better - what do you think?
A lone gull reminds us of our proximity to the Adriatic sea beyond the island of Lido to the East.
Back on the ground, the unusual details of the building catch one's eye. Here a quartet of Byzantine styled Saints guard the Southeast corner of the building.
A self-portrait outside the train station. Notice the "Hotel Bellini" in the background. :) We never did make it to Harry's Bar for the original Bellini, despite the very good recommendation from my coworker Rob. Guess it's just another reason to return someday.
Looking toward the bridge near the train station (Santa Lucia). One of only three bridges allowing foot traffic across the Grand Canal (Accademia and the famous Rialto being the other two).
An ornate facade of what appeared to be a state building of some sort - seen from the bridge shown in the last picture. While on this bridge, we watched a conscientious young American woman "pick up" after her dog while a local woman gaped in disbelief and disgust as genuine as our own when we later watched an Torinese man pause for his dog to deposit a steaming pile in front of a sidewalk cafe on a busy street in Torino and then continue on without a backward glance. A vivid illustration of cultural differences!
View of the canal below our hotel room's balcony. We had a great time just drinking wine and watching the passersby from here one evening. A very nice couple from Mexico took a bunch of photos of us from the bridge below and promised to email us a copy. I hope they do!! Mozart used to live in the pink building across the way, so we also saw plenty of gondola traffic in our little canal, pointing out the sites. I enjoyed waving at them as they slipped by and it was nice to wake up to accordian music each morning.
Continue to page 3 of Venice photos.