"The Ponte dei Sospiri was given its English name by part-time Venice resident Lord Byron, who wrote in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage : "I stood in Venice on a Bridge of Sighs, a palace and a prison on each hand." Byron's travelogue nails it: When you stand on the famous crossing, the Doge's Palace and a public prison are on either side. A local myth (that turned into the plot line for the film A Little Romance ) says that lovers who kiss on a gondola at sunset beneath the Bridge of Sighs will be granted eternal love. Access to the bridge itself is through the Secret Itinerary tour of the Doge's Palace."
Relaxing into a Week in Venice
Photo by Peter Probst / age fotostock