On our final day in Venice we pretty much had a free day, with the exception of holding a lunch reservation at a famous local restaurant. So we chose to wander around again starting with the Rialto Market which was steps from our hotel.
Such a beautiful selection, and on more than one menu we saw the restaurant specifically name that their fish of the day came from the Rialto Market.
It was nice to see them support a local market rather than a seafood consolidator.
Fresh peppers sold by the bouquet!
We continued walking and found the Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo.
The basilica was completed in the 1430s – nearly 600 years ago – and the interior contains many funerary monuments and paintings, as well as the Madonna della Pace, a Byzantine statue situated in its own chapel in the south aisle.
The basilica also has a foot of Saint Catherine of Siena, the church’s chief relic. We didn’t know that, and didn’t knowingly see it, but the cathedral was beautiful.
Afterward we walked over to our lunch reservation at Al Covo. Reservations are required, even for lunch, which was all that was available when we booked. The restaurant was featured on an episode of the PBS show “Somebody Feed Phil”. Lunch was terrific!
As we left, we saw these two gents, Venice policemen, on their foot patrols. Don’t you love their stylish uniforms?
Close to the restaurant is the famous Bridge of Sighs. It is known as that because prisoners who were sentenced in the Doge’s Palace were lead over the bridge to the Venice prison. The prisoners saw their last glimpse of Venice, and freedom, as they crossed the bridge and sighed as they were taken away.
Here it is from the other direction. The prison is on the right.
Our last cultural activity in Venice was to visit the Museo Correr, which is tucked away in a corner of St. Mark’s Square.
The most interesting things we saw related to globes and maps.
They really were beautiful and it took all of our strength not to spin them. Hah.
They were all from the 17-18th centuries and it was interesting to see how they each depicted the Great Lakes.
This is a gorgeous map of Venice from the 1500s. It’s remarkable how similar a map of Venice from today looks like this one.
By the end of the day, and after four full days of walking around Venice, we wore ourselves right out. But we weren’t too tired to enjoy one more night of Venetian cicchetti at Bancogiro.
Looks like a lot of other folks were looking to get away from the family after Christmas. Tomorrow we leave for Florence!
