Bridge Forty-Six - Ponte de l'Abazia

The significance of the petite, less-than-one-hundred-year-old Ponte de l'Abazia - bridge of the abbey - really faded once we stepped out of the narrow, dark calle leading up to it, and onto its few wooden steps to the crest.  That's because in front of us lay one of the most magnificent views in all of Venice - the towering Santa Maria della Salute church, its white stone facades, richly decorated,  glistening in the sun.



To the left we see the shimmering waters of the busy Grand Canal, and on the opposite bank the palaces lining the edge of the water, leading up to the two familiar columns at the entrance to St Mark's square with its domed Basilica and tall Campanile.

We have in front of us the classic Venice scene, in fact, a film buff once remarked that there isn't a film set in Venice that doesn't include a canal view of the Santa Maria della Salute church. It's the quintessential and classic Venice glimpse, the building that gets immortalised every time a boatful of tourists passes it on the canal. Doesn't matter for how long a visitor stays - a few hours or a few days - everyone leaves the city with at least this one image in their minds they'll still be painting in words or showing off in a photo album to their friends and family until the end of days.