Venice's Grand Canal & Rialto Bridge

When we were planning our trip to Venice, we knew what we wanted to be the focal point of our stay.  We wanted a hotel that was close to the Grand Canal and the Rialto Bridge, two Venetian treasures. 

The grand canal is the major waterway that snakes its way through Venice, one end at the lagoon and the other at St. Mark's Basin. 

The canal is about 2.5 miles long, 100-300 feet wide and 16 feet deep. The architecture, palaces and churches along the way are built straight out of the water.  Many with no pavement surrounding them, islands of their own. 

Most of the traffic has always been along the waterway, so until pretty recently, there was only one bridge that crossed the canal, the Rialto Bridge. 

Over 1,000 years ago, at the narrowest point along the canal there was a floating bridge and later a wooden bridge.  After numerous collapses, the city leaders decided to take commissions for a more permanent solution.  The Rialto is now one of three bridges that span the canal but certainly the most beautiful.

The commission was awarded to a Swiss-born Venetian engineer and three years later a marble bridge connected the San Marco and San Polo districts of the city.  The two ramps lead up to a center point to allow taller boats to pass.  

The bridge has a wide center walkway with shops on either side.  There are two smaller walkways on the outside along the marble railings. The spectacular views of the canal and the bridge were the highlight of our hotel room.

This was one of the wackiest hotel rooms we've ever stayed in.  In fact, we actually contemplated a last minute change.  We booked our weekend as a flights & hotel package and the location of the Hotel Locanda Ovidius was perfect. 

We arrived pretty late and were led to our room by a friendly receptionist.  But you should have seen the concerned looks Matt and I were giving each other as we were led to our room.  We were sent up an elevator the size of a phone booth and met with a thin wooden cupboard door. After inserting the ancient key we dragged our suitcases straight up a narrow, steep staircase to a landing (with a nice bathroom) and then up a very rickety spiral staircase into our attic room.

You'll notice the duct tape and the railing certainly didn't fill us with confidence as it gave quite a bit if you opted to use it.  A pretty precarious entrance and exit to our room.  I made a mental note to watch the wine intake each night. 

Matt couldn't even stand upright in half of the room because of the slanted roof.  There was a skylight, when opened he could stand up straight with his head poking out above the tile roof.  After wondering what we'd gotten ourselves into, we decided what the hell.  With views like this, who cares.   I was afraid that every time I forced open this ancient window it was going to tumble down the roof and into the water below.  But I had to keep it open.

The bed was hard and the pillows were as flat as pancakes, but the place had character and it certainly felt Venetian.  The breakfast room was heavenly and the perfect way to start each day.  I'm glad we decided to stay and as Matt said "We'll always have the story." 

And we'll always have the memories of glorious Venice.

Okay.  So that's my last post on Venice.  I'm actually a little sad.

Guess we'll have to plan a return trip.  Although I think Florence will be next.

 

Where's the wackiest hotel room you've stayed in?

 

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