Ciao Venezia

We finally visited Venice on Saturday after a long deliberation on whether to go or not to go. We even almost missed the train to Venice, barely got in two minutes before it started. The place is so full of beautiful age old architecture that we kept taking snaps. Tastefully done buildings. One thing I like a lot about this place is that lovely flowers dot every balcony.
From the train station, we took a vaporetto to one of the islands called Murano. This island is famous for glass blowing. We saw some beautiful creations made in coloured glass. I will upload some pics when I get them.
Next stop was the San Marco Island. This has the famous St. Marks Square. We first visited the Palace Ducale (Doge's palace), paid an awful lot to see this (13Euro!!) This palace had gorgeous expensive paintings on the walls. The Armoury had a variety of weapons on display, some swords even reaching my height. Those warriors must have been very tall to hold them! Such weapons are seen in Indian forts too.
We walked on the Bridge of Sighs and took pics in front of it. This is a bridge that leads from the palace to the other end of a canal. Apparently, the prisoners, after being sentenced, used to be taken through this bridge to their prisons. The prisoners used to look out of this bridge at their last rays of freedom and sigh, and hence it is called the Bridge of Sighs. This reminded me of Count of Monte Cristo, in which Edmond Dantes, fights for his freedom when he is taken to the dungeon. That book is a masterpiece, in which every passage made an impression.
The St. Marks square was full of thousands of pigeons. We fed these pigeons and took snaps with them.
The basilica in the square was closed by the time we reached, so we couldn't see that. Thats a big regret as we were told that it is a must-see, and now I might not get another opportunity like this.
We then went in search of the Rialto bridge. Apparently, this is also very famous. We just did not know where to find it. So we reached these streets, which are basically waterways, and gondolas were passing through these. We were told that gondola rides are very expensive, and are meant for honeymooners and those others who have time and money to kill. So we didnt take one. In one of the gondolas, a man was singing "Ciao Venezia" to the tune of an instrument. Thats when the beauty of Venice sank in. So far, it was nice architecture etc etc. But we experienced the charm on listening to that song. Those 5 minutes were very beautiful. Venice has to be lived in, to experience it completely. We saw the Rialto Bridge when we took the vaporetto back to the station.
Venice was truly an experience of a lifetime.
Another thing I like here is the music. I will learn to play an instrument sometime in my life.
I wish we had more time to explore. We caught the last train back, which takes a longer route. Halfway through, the next coach caught fire. It was controlled immediately though. Happening trip :)
Yesterday, we took a boat ride to the downtown city. Roamed around, ate genuine pizza with tuna fish toppings (I love Tuna fish now) and icecream (Yummmmm).
Lovely weekend. :-)