St. Mark's Basilica and Square

I'm going to take advantage of today's coach ride to step back a little and fill in yesterday afternoon. After we left the Doge's Palace, we stepped around the corner to St. Mark's Square and Basilica:

The horses above one of the main doors of the Basilica.

The story of how some Venetian traders stole to body of St. Mark from the Arabs of Alexandria, Egypt, so that they could bring him to Venice to become their patron saint. Our local guide, Emmuellia (sp?) told us this story quite proudly.

A picture, taken without flash from inside the Basilica, of the tomb of St. Mark.

Looking out across the square. An amazing crowd. Check out the billboard down at the far end. Recognize anyone?

Scarlet Johansson selling sparkling wine. I love the 16x zoom on my new Lumix camera.

Using the full 32 x using optical and digital zoom. This is the first camera where the digital zoom seems good, usually it's pretty grainy. OK, just one mor St. Mark's Square shot.