Perched on the top deck of the Crown Princess, it was easy to see that Venice is an island, a relatively small island. Built on a marsh, it is sinking into the sea at about 9 inches per century. Vivaldi, BTW, once offered music lessons at the Hotel Metropole on the right.
We approached Venice by sea, as mariners have for the past thousand years. I was perched on the top deck of the Crown Princess looking down on the fabled island city with a sea gull’s perspective. Icy winds turned my traveler’s curiosity into a minor act of courage. A warm bar beckoned. But I was strong. There were photos to be taken and adventures to plan. We would be in Venice for the next day and a half and there was much to see. My next five blogs will be devoted to the city. Today’s blog is on my crow’s nest view. I will then write about visiting the area around St. Mark’s Square, admiring the city’s famed canals, getting “lost” among Venice’s confusing streets, and going window shopping.
Venice is justly famed for its canals… and for the bridges over the canals. Each seems to have a different personality.
Altogether, there are some 25 miles of canals. Each one invites exploration. The building just visible on the right is the city’s naval museum. Venice was once one of the world’s greatest sea powers.
The presence of gondolas suggested we were getting near the center of Venice’s greatest tourist attraction…
And we arrived. The building on the right is the Doge’s Palace. Next to it is the beginning of St. Mark’s Square… the center of Venice.
Looking down on St. Mark’s Square. The Campanile is on the left and St. Mark’s Basilica is on the right, behind the Doge’s Palace. Snow capped mountains are in the distance.
I found this building, the Emporio Dei Sali, interesting. Once it housed salt. Now it is home to one of Venice’s best rowing clubs.
This photo looks back toward the Campanile. The opening on the right is the beginning of the Grand Canal. The church with the onion dome is La Salute, which was built as an offering of thanks at the end of the plague of 1630 when one-third of the City’s population died.
A final view from my crow’s nest perspective. The hotel Pensione Calcina was once home to limestone sellers.
NEXT BLOG: The many attractions of St. Mark’s Square as it floods beneath the Adriatic Sea.
Wandering through Time and Place 
Thanks for braving that icy wind – the shots are gorgeous. Looking forward to more…
Thanks… and more coming! (grin)
What a stunning view… It really is as ancient and beautiful as I would have imagined.
Yes it is FeyGirl.
As a new picture taker, I would be dizzy with delight here.. The beautiful thing about Europe is there is beauty everywhere.. I have long been fascinated about Venice and how this city is surrounded by water.. how utterly fantastic.. these shots are gorgeous!
Thanks Lynne. Of all my knocking about over the years, this was my first trip to Venice and I was duly impressed. As for photography, we were blessed (and cursed) with our digital cameras. Half my blog time is spent figuring out which of the hundreds of photos we took in each location to use… and then processing them. Let’s see… this one needs to be cropped, this one could use more color, this one need some work on shadows, hmmm, how would this work in black and white… etc, etc, etc… Grin.