Our second day in Venice didn't start as early as the first because I was feeling a little bit of jet lag and needed some extra sleep, and the places I was going to see would not be as crowded. They are major attractions in Venice but were much smaller then what I had seen the day before. This would also give us more free time to just wonder around and see more of the real Venice.

After breakfast I headed to the water bus stop had headed for Santa Maria Della Salute which it the giant church you see across the canal from Saint Marks square. As you come down the canal and around a bend towards the church you are greeted by a spectacular view of not only the church but later by Saint Marks square as well and is one of the most photographed scenes in Venice. The water bus stop is almost at the entrance to the church making it a very convenient stop. The area around the church is very beautiful with many vine covered buildings which I took many pictures of. Once in the church I could see a similar but different style of paintings and overall church layout then what I saw in Saint Marks basilica making it feel like I wasn't seeing the same thing all over again.

After I was finished in the church our next stop was a little off beat museum called the Peggy Guggenheim about 5 or 6 block distance away. I was a little surprised with the museum because it housed a collection of modern art and I hadn't thought I would see anything like this in Venice although had I read the tour book more closely I would have see the museum description.

Once finished their and although I had planned everything I was going to see before I left for Italy, on days like this with a little free time I would tell the people at the hotel where I was going and ask if there were anything else in the area that I might like. I was given the name of a nice place to eat along with some different kinds of shops to see and a few jewelry stores where I ended up buying some beautiful earrings for our parents as souvenirs of our visit.

After I stopped for lunch I headed for Palazzo Grassi another art gallery just down the canal a ways on the other side from where I was but within easy walking distance to see more art, which I found a more to my liking because I am a fan of art from the past where modern art just doesn't seem to do anything for me.

The Rialto bridge which is the most famous bridge in Venice was our last planned sight of the day. As you approach the bridge on the water bus you see what a huge bridge it is in terms of width and even thought I had gone under it several times on our way to other places I didn't pay much attention to how big it was. When I first started walking up the steps of the bridge I thought it was just another bridge crossing over the Grand canal however once at the top of the bridge I discovered not only did it have steps on both sides of the bridge but also going down the center. On both sides of the center are many different kinds of shops selling everything from cloths and jewelry to candy.

Being the premier bridge in Venice and having a view of one of the widest parts of the Grand canal made it a very popular place to take pictures and I took many interesting pictures of the canal and buildings as well as pictures of ourselves on the bridge. Heading north west over the bridge you will find many more shops selling just about anything you want along with many souvenir shops selling sweatshirts and tee shirts and all the normal trinkets that are sold there.

I looked around the shops and area around the bridge till about 4pm and decided to head back to the hotel. Looking at our map I chose to walk back rather than taking the water bus and I was glad I did. Walking back gave us the opportunity see many parts of Venice I would never have been able to see by taking the water bus. Seeing many different kind of shops along with artists working on paintings of street views which we ended up buying one of his finished works. Arriving back at the hotel we took a short nap and went to dinner a few block away came back to the hotel checked our schedule for the next day and called it a night.

If you want to add Venice to your list of adventures all you need to do is start planning your trip to Italy.