Bridges Seventy-Two and Seventy-Two-And-A-Half - Ponte de la Madoneta and Ponte dei Meloni

Ponte de la Madoneta is a broad, flattish stone bridge with a simple, love-lock-sprinkled steel railing over a narrow canal, and the presence on the bridge of two bored-looking gondoliers half-heartedly calling out to passing tourists (it was getting late in the afternoon) pointed to the fact that it's on a major throughway connecting this popular sightseeing area with the hub of the Rialto bridge.

After crossing it and walking on, we almost went right over bridge number seventy, the Ponte dei Meloni - bridge of the melon traders - without noticing it's a bridge, because it's completely flat, featureless and forms part of the street. We didn't think it deserves a full bridge count, so therefore it became bridge Seventy-two and a half. The melon traders have been replaced by a postcard and souvenir stand placed right on top of the bridge. Personally I would have been more happy with a trader handing out sweet-tasting samples of fresh melons, I think.

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