Venezia, day 4 – a gondola ride and a last wander round

We decided to do the touristy thing on our last day and took a gondola ride from just past the Rialto bridge. Here’s the gondola stand:

And me with Mr B in romantic surroundings.

We headed out to the Rialto bridge.

And it was quite exciting going under it.

Next we turned into the little side canals. I noticed how many molluscs were encrusted onto the side of the houses, and you can see the water line from the winter.

I also loved the reflection of the water under the bridges.

Our gondolier was very friendly

but it was slightly spooky that he looked very much like my dad (maybe two years ago, before he went into residential care). He showed us the oldest house in Venice, which was apparently 1300 years old.

Then Marco Polo’s house.

Then Casanova’s house (which is now a bank).

Then a monastery building (now used as a telecoms office).

The gondoliers use the walls to balance, as brakes and as a way of changing direction – and at one point we were in a 7-gondola jam!

More panini and ice cream afterwards, a last bit of wandering round (apparently it’s an old wives’ tale that the two different-coloured columns on the loggia of the Palazzo Ducale - seen here in the centre - are that colour because they were soaked by the blood of traitors executed there). We walked back along the Grand Canal from the Palazzo Ducale and spotted two ladies in carnival costume.Then we bought a small watercolour of the square as a souvenir, and went back to the hotel to pick up our luggage.