After visiting the Basilica, we had reservations for a boat tour that left from near the Doge's Palace. But before the tour, we had a couple of hours to kill, so we headed toward the Rialto Bridge in search of food and shopping. We found the going tough, as this route at midday in the summer is a moving mass of tightly-packed tourists. Most of the shops along the way are expensive, so we saved our shopping energy for the shops and stalls along the Ruga degli Orefici on the far side of the bridge, where they are a little more reasonable.

After feeding ourselves and buying a few knick-knacks, we returned to the Piazza San Marco and continued through it to the waterfront, near the columns of St. Mark and San Teodoro. We were early for the tour, so for several minutes we just enjoyed the view, which was gorgeous in all directions. From the spot we were in (next to the Doge's Palace), we could see back into the Piazza; looking across the water, we were confronted with the small island of San Giorgio Maggiore (a former monastery), and to the right we could see the domed Santa Maria della Salute church. And moored directly in front of us were dozens of unattended gondolas.




We weren't sure exactly where our tour was going to leave from, except that it was on the far side on the Ponte della Paglia, a bridge that crosses a small canal behind the Doge's Palace. This bridge was very crowded, as it afforded a view of the famous Bridge of Sighs, a covered bridge across which convicted prisoners once walked to get from the Doge's Palace (where trials were held) to the prison across the canal behind it.

For some reason the bridge was surrounded by hideous advertising, which may have been there to cover scaffolding being used for restoration. The scaffolding probably would have looked better, though the advertising may have made some of the restoration possible.


Across the Ponte della Paglia, we couldn't figure out where we were supposed to catch the tour boat, but we eventually spotted a small tour cart amongst all the larger souvenir carts. We asked if they knew about the boat tour, and they indicated that we should wait near the cart. Other people started doing the same thing, and eventually a tour guide appeared and walked us over to where the boat was.