last day in venice

On my last day in Venice, I spent most of the day wandering the streets, taking more pictures and savoring every minute left in Venice.

(rush hour traffic on the Grand Canal)

I started off my day going to the Rialto fish market as well as the adjacent vegetable market.

(Rialto fish market and vegetable market)

(where the fish market takes place every morning)

After leaving the fish market, I wandered in a few stores on the way back to San Marco for one more walk through Piazza San Marco. I took a lot of pictures and then took a traghetto across the Grand Canal. The traghetto is like a little gondola that costs half a euro for the quick ride to cross the canal. You can either stand or sit - most locals stand.

(traghetto ride as I crossed the canal)

I wanted to get up close to the huge church that is pictured in so many pictures of the Grand Canal/San Marco area. The church is called, Santa Maria delle Salute. It was closed when I got there but the views of the church close up and the San Marco area across the canal were well worth the stop.

(views from San Marco of Santa Maria delle Salute)

(bride and groom going to the church - Santa Maria delle Salute)

(view from Santa Maria delle Salute of San Marco)

After taking more pictures, I took the next vaporetto not sure where I wanted to go. I decided to get off a couple of stops later to head back to Campo Santa Margherita to have lunch and another gelato. Since I was so close to the Accademia Museum and I had never been there, I decided to take a quick look. I was pretty tired from all the walking I had done and so I don't think I was in my "best museum" mood. It was also very hot outside and also inside the museum. I didn't stay that long and instead for some reason continued to walk instead of taking the vaporetto (I had an all day pass so getting a ticket was not in issue).

I walked back to the Santa Croce and San Polo sestieri and took more pictures along the way.

I finally stopped in the Palazzo Mocenigo which was very close to my hotel. This is now a fabric and costume museum. It was almost closing time and since a world cup match with Italy playing was starting, I think the museum might have closed earlier than most other days. I had to rush through the rooms. I could hear the roar of the people outside when Italy scored. After leaving each room, the woman closed the door to close that part of the museum. I would have liked to spend a little more time there...maybe next time.

The 3 most popular things sold in Venice are glass, lace, and masks. I had spent time in glass and lace shops on this trip, but not any mask shops. I decided to walk over to this little mask shop that was located not too far from my hotel called Peter Pan. I had walked by it a few times during my stay. The woman in the shop was extremely nice. She told me all about how she makes the masks by hand in this shop. I wanted to buy one but could not figure out how I could carry it during the rest of my trip. I also could not decide as there were so many different types of mask. I really should have visited the shop earlier in my stay as I could have shipped the mask home through the mail but really didn't think I would want to buy a mask before visiting this shop. I took some pictures of some of her masks, took her card, and hope to either some day order a mask or go back to her shop on my next visit to Venice.

I have definitely changed my opinion on Venice and hope to return again soon! I found the real Venice this time and have fallen in love with Venice.