and then while wading through San Marco in boots after an aqcua alta, I bumped into someone I used to buy flowers from in San Francisco sitting outside the Florian.

Coming down the stairs inside San Marco when suddenly the choir started singing and the church was fully illuminated for a TV special. All the gold mosaic shimmered and the music was soo rich it made the air vibrate. Absolutely breathtaking...I can still see it.

Also, the first time we walked into the square we approached from the side of the Basilica so I had not seen the full frontal view. One of the orchestras was playing 'Strangers in the Night'. We kept walking towards the center of piazza when my husband kissed me and turned me around so I could see the beautiful church. Still in love with Venice and still in love with him:)

Good morning, Neil Top experiences in Venice are many and have listed a few below. It covers about 30 years of returning to Venice...
1. View of the Pza S. Marco from the West entrance facing the church at evening.
2. Lunch at Locanda Cipriani on Torcello.
3. The evenings after dinner in the Pza. S. Marco.
4.Walking the city during the day to various destinations, trying always to use a different route without a map.
5. A night at the opera at La Fenice,
6. the view from the Campanile at noon, being on top when the great bells
ring....
7. the little bars and ristorantes where yoiu can relax during you daily travels....
8. the nights where streets are deserted except for the late traveler and the street sweeper, the noises of the night...
Love Venice, Richard of LaGrange Park, Il..

Two things come to mind.

Late evening (around 11:30 PM), we noticed that the usually-crowded vaporetti were emptying out and you could actually get on board, walk to the stern and sit down on one of the eight stern seats for a leisurely, unimpaired viewing tour. So we did -- on the main Route #1 all the way from Rialto past San Marco out to the Lido, returning on the "graveyard" boat (all to ourselves). The lack of canal traffic at that hour made for quite a display on the waters.

We love champagne in all of its forms, but hadn't tried Prosecco until a couple hours before our train left for Vienna. Went into a tavern/wine shop (the kind that pours wine from their barrel into your jug) where we bought two $4 bottles of Prosecco for the train. They were wonderful. Spent the rest of our time in Europe looking for Prosecco in stores.

In Venice everything comes in and out on boats. Sand, wood, cement, food... It was amazing to see men working on buildings and repairing the calle's and seeing their supplies carried over the bridges in wheelbarrows. I know that this is not as romantic as a sunset on the water, but I found this aspect of Venice very interesting and seeing this activity made me appreciate the people who live and work in there.

In the Frari, the huge brick basilica in the San Polo sestiere, is a very striking sculpture. It's the tomb of one of the Pesaro family members and has four huge black men -- Moors, according to the Rough Guide I was using -- in ripped clothing straining under their support of a large beam. And the looks on the faces of these men are riveting, especially the one of the right who is glaring down at you. Very powerful. Very cool.

We also <i>loved</i> taking the traghettos, the older gondolas which cross the Grand Canal at about six different locations. They're fun because it's traditional to stand up in them while crossing so you can try out your canal legs.

I think it's time for Faith and Bambi to chime in....