Dusty & CJ went for walk first thing Monday morning, finding Piazza San Marco in a few minutes. Dusty had CJ pose for a number of pictures as the sun rose slowly over the nearly deserted and nearly pigeon free square (none of these pictures turned out very well - not nearly enough light). We then walked west and circled north until we reached the Rialto bridge. Past the Rialto bridge we discovered a tunnel that lead to a deserted dock just around the bend from the bridge. The dock provided a great view of the Grand Canal. A little ways further north we watched people streaming down a small alleyway and followed the crowd. The alley lead to the Ca’ d’Oro (Palace of Gold) ACTV stop, and these folks were all on their way to work via the boats. We then headed back and eventually made our way back to the hotel – we had to cheat once and use the map. Walking through Venice is simply magical – no cars, no bikes, just canals, bridges, boats, and other pedestrians in a centuries old gorgeous setting.

After breakfast we all went to San Marco Basilica. The line looked long, but only took 15 minutes or so.  There was another line for the tour groups to enter.  The Basilica is free, but there are 3 pay exhibits – the treasury, the Pala d' Oro, or Golden Altarpiece as Rick calls it, and the Museum up on the second floor, with the 2,000 year old bronze horses and roof with the view of the square (it was cloudy out when we were up there, so my pictures from there are nothing special). The treasury was an amazing collection of priceless artifacts Venice stole from other cities over the centuries, but unfortunately the audioguide did its best to make it kind of boring. Perhaps because of this Karin and Kathy initially decided against paying to see St Mark’s tomb and the amazing Pala d' Oro (click the italic [The Pala d' Oro] link 2/3 of the way down that page for a picture - I don't seem to be able to link to it directly) . After seeing the Altarpiece we told the ladies what they were missing – Karin hadn’t realized this was ‘the’ St. Mark (how many St. Marks are there? :) and they backtracked to pay their 1.50 euro and see the show. Upstairs we saw the ancient bronze horses - over 2,000 year old - and the view of the Square. Yet another reason not to join a tour group - they don't get to see the special exhibits at the museums, since there are too many people in the group.

After lunch we went to the Correr Museum, which fills the entire second floor of the 'new' (17th century) offices, the building on the right of the picture above. It houses an amazing - too large - collection from centuries of Venetian history.  This is one museum where it would pay to have a good guidebook to tell you what to skip and what's cool.  They had a Lucian Freud art exhibit that cost extra (we didn’t go). The kids then fed the pigeons, which seems to be their favorite Venetian activity and provided a great photo op. Ironically Bob and Karin’s complex in Denver faces a similar pigeon population problem, and the recommended solution in Denver is to throw rocks at the pigeons. Rick’s book indicates the pigeon food in Venice is spiked to prevent even more pigeons.

We had dinner at a completely forgettable and grossly overpriced ‘restaurant’ on Campo San Maria Formosa. After dinner we all went for a walk to the Rialto bridge and found Michelangelo’s gelato (listed in Rick’s book). Venetian gelato is not quite as good as Florence gelato, but it’s still better than any ice cream. One minor regret from our Italy trip in 2003 was we were always so exhausted by nightfall we never went back out. With that in mind, later that evening Dusty and CJ decided to head back out to see the nightlife on Piazza San Marco. We encountered an unforgettable mix of people, live music, and seawater gurgling up into the Piazza due to the high tide. We rushed back to the rooms to collect the rest of the family. One of the three live orchestras performed a Sound of Music medley, which was ironic considering our next stop was Salzburg.

Basilica San Marco - those are copes of the original bronze horses, which are inside.  Venice is full of winged lions.