I returned to you Venice
I came back to you, Venice!
Normal breakfast in the morning and departure at 8-00. After breakfast, I still managed to run along the street and take a few pictures around the hotel. The weather in the morning was cool and damp, but we were on our way to Venice, and there we were promised sunny and warm weather.
Venice is 254 km away. , and already at 11 o'clock we board the boat to go to Venice. I must say that the whole group got on the boat, the boat is spacious and clean. While sailing to Piazza San Marco, everyone went to the second floor and took pictures along the way. The weather was indeed sunny and warm. The mood immediately improved.
Twenty minutes later we disembark on the embankment and go to the square. And here we are again in Venice! This is my fourth visit, and this time I have my own program for visiting Venice.
Marina announced to everyone that the best guide in Venice would conduct our survey: Xenia, and my husband and I, therefore, decided to go to the survey.
But the tour is scheduled for 14:00, and now it's only 11:25, so we're starting to carry out our program.
I did not have time to visit the Cathedral of San Marco in March on the carnival tour, so we are heading to the end of the queue to enter the cathedral. We stand in line for a very short time, as it is still quite early, and there are still few tourist groups. And compared to the carnival, there are much fewer tourists now, which, of course, pleases.
We immediately begin our inspection of the cathedral below. There is a mysterious twilight in the cathedral with a slight golden glow emanating from the walls. Having finished my unhurried inspection around the circumference of the cathedral, I decided to go behind the main altar, where a real miracle of jewelry craftsmanship is kept: the “Golden Image”. My husband stayed to wait for me in the cathedral. Entrance to the main altar is paid: 2 euros. No one wants to show the treasure for nothing! : ))))
I pay 2 euros, and I go through the turntable there. There are a lot of people there, the place is small, and the flea market here is decent.
Everyone wants not only to see the Image, but also to take a photo. I had to wait for a group of tourists to leave the premises in order to calmly, without interference, take a photo from different sides of this masterpiece.
I am not a big connoisseur of all the subtleties of the images on this Image, so I will write only about my feelings. And I felt, in addition to admiration for the wealth and beauty of this miracle, also delight in my soul from the fact that I finally saw it live, and not just in pictures. The size of the “Golden Image” is impressive: length 3.4 m, height 1.4 meters, and all of it shines with gold and enamel, as well as the whole is richly decorated with diamonds, emeralds, rubies, topazes. It has survived to this day in this form from 1345. None of the rulers of Venice even dared to covet this miracle for so many years!
After standing a little longer at the altar, I return back, where my husband was already waiting for me. First question: why so long?
Is it possible to explain this in words, and that I could stand there and admire for a long time, if I were myself. By the way, the entrance to the crypt and the baptistery was blocked with ribbons, and I never managed to go there.
We also plan to visit the museum of the cathedral in the upper galleries. Entrance there is also paid: 5 euros. We climb there along a narrow and very steep stone ladder. We start our tour with the famous 4 horses, copies of which are exhibited on the main facade of the cathedral. Then we go further through the museum, but there is no guide, and we were content only with a visual inspection of fragments of beautiful frescoes.
After visiting the museum, we go outside to the observation deck of the cathedral. The view from the height of the square and the Piazzetta San Marco is beautiful. My husband starts a photo session, I help him. Time flew by very quickly and it's time for us to go down to the square.
Before the sightseeing tour, we decided to go for lunch.
In March, I spent almost 60 euros for lunch and dinner in Venice. But that was during the carnival. This time we managed more modestly, lunch for two cost us about 30 euros. But I don’t like Italian cuisine, I don’t eat pizza or pasta, so I chose chicken chop with vegetables, and my husband fried sausages with boiled potatoes, and a bottle of mineral water for two. So it turned out pretty cheap.
After lunch, it's time for us to return to Piazza San Marco, where a meeting with our guide in Venice, Xenia, is scheduled near the column with a lion. Xenia really turned out to be the best guide I have ever had in 4 visits to Venice. And the route was not usual, and her stories were interesting. And she was with a microphone. And our route began again from St. Mark's Cathedral, where Xenia took the whole group, and there she began her story about Venice. Then we visited several more churches, I no longer remember their names, but all her stories were interesting.
Two hours flew by unnoticed, and here we are again back at St. Mark's Square. The group for an optional visit to the Doge's Palace was not enough, and we ourselves did not go there.
The gathering of the group for sailing is scheduled for 18-40 again near the column with a lion, and we again begin free time. We decided to take a walk along the embankment and into the park, and there we found such an interesting luminous ball near the pier. Then we walked through the souvenir shops, went to the nearest supermarket and bought groceries for dinner.
When we returned to the square again, cruise liners had just begun to depart from the berths. A well-known song of my youth immediately surfaced in my memory to the effect that “steamboats are sailing away, not at all like trains. ” A beautiful sight appeared before our eyes! Looking at these huge ships, in my heart there was a desire to feel like a passenger of such a luxurious liner.
Although I am very afraid of seasickness.
My fourth visit to Venice is over. Excellent warm and sunny weather favored us this time. We almost completed the planned program, but I left the visit to the Doge's Palace for the next time. I feel that this is not my last visit to Venice. Exactly at 19 o'clock we sail from Venice. A group from Russia is with us on the boat, they flew to Venice by plane. We share our impressions, and when they found out that we are going to Spain through Nice, they start asking us what kind of tour we have? And they regret that it is far from Russia to travel by bus to Spain, and they do not have such tours.
In the market near the bus stop, Marina gives time to toilet and buy souvenirs for those who have not yet bought everything. I also buy magnets with St. Mark's Cathedral here for 1 euro per piece.
This time we did not buy Chianti wine in Venice, because tomorrow we will have enough time in Genoa and we decided that it will be cheaper in Genoa.
We arrived at the San Guiliano 3 * hotel in Mestre at 20-00. The time was not yet quite late, therefore, for those who did not have enough Venice during the day, they could return there themselves after the settlement. But I don't think there were any. We also had no desire to go anywhere. We rest until tomorrow.
