Venice Day 3, the Rialto and the Mercato de Rialto
After breakfast we walked up to the Rialto Bridge which was rife with selfies. The citizens of Venice were dragging their wheeled baskets and cases around and we were amused to see the rubbish being collected and placed in a municipal barge. The Mercato de Rialto lies just north west of the bridge. It has been on this spot since 1097 and is the reason for the bridge being the first permanent crossing over the Grand Canal. The stone version of the bridge was completed in 1591, and it was then thought that it would not last the test of time. The market was in full swim when we got there. It is the place to buy fresh fruit and fish. Feeding the seagulls seems a more acceptable sport in Italy than in the UK.