The bells rang ...

16th
Today we got up and ate some buns we bought from a Venetian bakery yesterday covered in nutella and peanut butter. We managed to grab the 1100 bus down to Venice and proceeded to walk towards the only bridge in Venice that has stores all across the bridge called Realto Bridge. From here we headed straight for our now favourite gelatto place. Straciatella is by far my favourite and Sarah raves about the chocolate. As we Sarah worked on hers I led us towards San Marco, OR the direction I thought was towards San Marco. Many small alleyways and bridges later we ended up.... INFRONT of the Gelatto store 10 min later. Sarah took another attempted at it and lead us right to the square. We toured the Doges Palace, which is immense and ornate. The palace contains one of Europes Largest rooms, with floor too ceiling painting and elaborate gold coated wood and depictions of biblical events and various Doges lining the ceiling. Traveling across the bridge of Sighs, famous for as it was the bridge that connected the Doges Palace and the prison on the other side of the canal. We grabbed some cheap 2 Euro Pizza before heading up to the top of Campanile Bell tower, which overlooks the whole San Marco Square. The View is Breathtaking and worth the 8 Euro to take the elevator. We arrived just before 6 in hopes to hear the bells, but one by one the towers around us went off and Campanile remained silent. Also in the square is the Torre dell'Orologio, which has a lovely blue clock which displays the time with one hand, as well as in numbers which change every 5 minutes. Above the top of the tower is a large bell and two men holding Sledge Hammers, the statues move to hit the tower. After being disappointed and trying to decide what to do from the top of the tower, we found our selves covering our ears at around 630 quiet a thing to see and hear. After we headed to the Academia, a building containing many large pieces of art, (which many were taken by Napoleon during the raid of Venice in the 17th century) This was very interesting for some pictures as they depicted sections of the bible which Sarah was more then happy to fill me in on. Sadly no air conditioning (or tops on the bathroom toilets...??) After we headed back near the Railto Bridge for dinner at another location recommended by Rick.