Cruising the Grand Canal in Venice
Pinching myself yet again, while I experienced this surreal moment!!
From gondolas and gliding along the narrow canals of Venice, being serenaded .. to cruising the Grand Canal in Venice in a speed boat !!!!! I presume it’s called a speed boat and not a launch .. it had the capacity for half our group. The other half were in another. I will call it a speed boat 🙂
Stepping off a gondola and straight into a speed boat. At a faster pace !! Wind on our faces … the odd splash or two …
Unfortunately we didn’t have the advantage of Antonella with us (she was on the other boat) so we had no idea what we were looking at, but it didn’t matter. I just enjoyed the buildings, the water, looking down all the smaller canals as we passed, the boats … everything! It was amazing !!!
Ponte degli Scalzi …
San Simeone Piccolo – 18th century domed church based on the Pantheon in Rome ..
A water bus … so glad we weren’t crammed in there !!!!
Rialto Bridge ..
Ponte dell’Accademia …
Santa Maria della Salute .. the vast weight of this Baroque church is supported by over one million timber piles. ” It was built in thanksgiving for the city’s deliverance from the plague epidemic of 1630, hence the name Salute, which means health and salvation.”
Punta della Dogana, a 17th century customs house, crowned by a golden globe and weathervane, is now a contemporary art museum. In the distance .. Church of San Giorgio Maggiore on the island of the same name ..
Opposite is Piazza San Marco ..
The Church of San Giorgio Maggiore … is a 16th century Benedictine church in classical renaissance style with a white marble façade ..
The island of San Giorgio Maggiore is now the headquarters of the Cini Foundation arts centre … hence the weird statue .. (frankly, I think it’s sad it’s been placed so close to a church)
We picked up the pace a bit here and sped off to Lido di Venezia ..
Part of our tour group …
Entering the waters around Lido di Venezia ..
… another mammoth post 😉 my apologies .. I wanted it to be all in one ‘package’
3 Replies to “Cruising the Grand Canal in Venice”
Such lovely pictures as always. Interestingly I like that statue, maybe because I know the woman’s story (Ali.son Lap.per) and watched a series where snippets of her life raising her son were shown.
Thank you, Mrs FF, your comment and enlightening me on the statue. I had no idea. I have since looked it up on the Internet. What an incredible woman Alison Lapper is. Very courageous.
Such an amazing place. Its hard to believe there are so much water around all these buildings. Got to be a real experience to see the place when its flooding. Pity you didn’t have your guide on your boat though but still great to just see it all