St. Mark’s Square/Cathedral in Venice, Italy was another of my Bucket List travel items to visit all eight great town squares in the world. (For a list of famous town squares click here.)
Through the years, I have managed to visit the following notable squares around the world: Trafalgar (England), St. Peter’s (Italy), Piazza del Campo (Siena, Italy), Tiananmen (China), Times Square (NY), Old Town (Prague) and now St. Mark’s in Venice, Italy. Shown here I am caught standing in the rain on St. Mark’s Square just last week when Pam and I visited there. (Fortunately the rain let up.)
Ok, so I only listed seven famous squares. What about the eighth square you ask? Why Leonardtown Square of course!
Some other photos from my visit to St. Mark’s Square:
The Square’s Bell Tower. Look closely and listen for the green/bronze dude with the sledge hammer doing his thing:
In front of St. Mark’s Square is the main waterway the Grand Canal running thru Venice. Gondolas are everywhere in this very popular tourist area.
If like me, you are wondering how St. Mark came to be the namesake for Venice’s most famous square, well, let’s just say some larceny was involved. The following is from the excellent travel-related blog History Maps.
Gives a whole new meaning to “bringing home the pork” doesn’t it? Adding to the controversy, there is also some conjecture that Alexander the Great’s bones were also buried along with St. Mark’s and relocated to Venice (click here.)
Musically, we have the band known as Venice named, not for a place in Italy, but for their hometown of Venice, California. Turns out that the founding members of the Venice band are the younger bothers of their more famous Lennon Sisters of Lawrence Welk fame. The One-an-a-Two man featured the ladies quite frequently on his show. (There are some among us who believe that they were the only good thing about the LW Show, but that’s another story for another day.)
Meantime, the band Venice is still out there performing (click here.)
And since it is a Twofer Tuesday, lets give it up for the sisters: