Warning: Long post ahead! I think this might be the longest post yet...
I have to start off by saying we loved Venice! The week before we left, our doctor told Les that he really enjoyed Venice, but we didn't have great expectations. Canals, bridges, and gondolas were about all I knew. We were pleasantly surprised with our visit, and happy that our ship docked overnight here!
Our Cruise Director, John, told us that we would be sailing in to Venice at about 6:00 in the morning. For the first time on our vacation, I was awake early without an alarm clock. I slipped on my robe, grabbed my camera, and stepped out on our balcony just as we made our way up the Giudecca Canal. I
thought I was taking pictures of Venice, and technically I was, but these pictures are actually of the island of Giudecca, which is across the Giudecca Canal from Venice.
We passed the Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore, commonly known as Il Redentore. It was built as a votive church in thanksgiving for deliverance from a major outbreak of the plague that decimated Venice between 1575 and 1576, in which some 46,000 people (25-30 per cent of the population) died.
Every year the Festa del Redentore remains a major festival in the Venetian calendar, celebrated on the third Sunday in July. A huge firework display on the previous evening is followed by a mass procession across a pontoon bridge. Boats are "parked" across the canal so everyone can just walk from Venice to Il Rendentore.
(Image taken from Venice tourism guide)It was so peaceful as we made our way up the canal to the Port of Venezia. It was mostly quiet with a little "traffic" on the canal. We docked next to the Princess Ruby, another very large cruise ship.
We booked an excursion for the morning - "Ca'Rezzonico, Doge's Palace, and Saint Mark's Square." What we got was an amazing history lesson and walking tour of Venice. Our guide was Rafael and he was fantastic. His knowledge was extensive.
We noticed this bell tower. It is the Campanile of the Church of Santo Stefano, built in 1544. Because Venice is an island, much of the land is unstable. I think this tower is on unstable ground, how about you?
After a vaporetto ride from the port, our tour went in reverse of how it was listed, so we started in Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square.) The first St. Mark's Basilica was a temporary building in the Doge's Palace, constructed in 828, when Venetian merchants stole the supposed relics of Mark the Evangelist from Alexandria. This is the same Mark who wrote the Gospel of Mark and traveled some with the Apostle Paul. Our tour did not take us inside the basilica, so we walked around the square and took pictures of the outside of the basilica.
The Horses of Saint Mark were installed on the basilica in about 1254. They date to Classical Antiquity; by some accounts they once adorned the Arch of Trajan. The horses were long displayed at the Hippodrome of Constantinople, and in 1204 Doge Enrico Dandolo sent them back to Venice as part of the loot sacked from Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade. They were taken to Paris by Napoleon in 1797 but returned to Venice in 1815. After a long restoration, since the 1990s they have been kept in St Mark’s Museum (inside the basilica). The horses now on the facade of the cathedral are bronze replicas.
The Doge's Palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme authority of the Republic of Venice. We climbed the Golden Staircase. The "common" people were not allowed past the first floor, never climbing the Golden Staircase. We were not allowed to take any pictures inside. Once inside we understood why - the paintings were amazing! This is where Rafael's expertise truly shone. He was able to point out paintings from the Renaissance era (14th to 17th century) and the Baroque era (late 16th to early 18th century).
Since the 16th century, the Doge's palace has been linked to the prison by the Bridge of Sighs. This is the only bridge in Venice that is enclosed. Prisoners would leave the prison and cross the bridge to face their execution, so naturally the government didn't want anyone jumping off the bridge.
Executions took place in an open area by the canal, between the towers of St. Theodore and St. Mark. The Venetian saying for "between a rock and a hard place" is "between Theodore and San Marco."
We left St. Mark's Square and walked to Ca'Rezinnico. This was a wealthy merchant's home. On our way we saw many shops from top designers (Prada, Versace, Bruno Magli, Gucci).
We also saw Venetian masks. They ranged from cheap paper to very expensive porcelain. As with everything else in Venice, the closer to St. Mark's Square, the higher the price! Some of these were in the 150-200 Euro price range!
Rafael pointed out signs that would direct us around Venice. Two were very important - "Piazza San Marco" and "Piazza le Roma." Our ship was docked near Piazza le Roma. If we wanted to ride a vaporetto, we could get on one at Piazza San Marco and get off at Piazza le Roma. This would be very important information for the next 24 hours as we discovered much of Venice on our own!
The final stop on our excursion was Ca'Rezinnico. The site was previously occupied by two houses belonging to the Bon family, one of Venice's patrician families. In 1649 the head of the family, Filippo Bon decided to build a large palazzo on the site. The house was not completed due to Filippo Bon suffering a financial collapse. The unfinished palazzo had been bought from the impoverished Bon family by Giambattista Rezzonico and was completed in 1758. Again, we were unable to take pictures inside. We did get this shot of a very old gondola. The paintings and sculptures inside were simply amazing.
We said Ciao to Rafael and headed out on our own. We saw this flyer on a church. The word Pentecoste, of course, grabbed our attention:
Loosely translated:
Burning Bush prayer for a new Pentecost
A time of prayer of praise and intercession in the presence of Jesus in the church to rely on a new Pentecost for the Church and the world.
The meeting is open to all those who wish to share this moment together with groups of Renewal in the Holy Spirit present in the diocese.
I think they were on to something!
It was time to have lunch, but first we needed to find an ATM for more Euros. During our search, we spotted a restaurant we wanted to try. We finally got our money and headed back the way we came. Venice has many alleys and narrow streets. There are 150 canals with over 400 bridges. We came to an alley and Les said, "Let's take a shortcut..."
This turned into about 15 minutes of making left turns when we wanted to go right, crossing bridges and circling our way around the maze that is Venice! We finally made it back to Pier Dickens where we were seated outside. We had to have Italian pizza! We decided to go with pepperoni for a true comparison, but when I ordered it our server said, "That's vegetables. If you want meat, order salami." So salami it was!
It was about 2:30 by this time so we decided to make it a combined lunch and dinner. We also ordered pasta with bolognese sauce. Again, we wanted to compare Italian cuisine. Both dishes were very good! We enjoyed ourselves immensely.
We already knew we wanted cannoli for dessert but it wasn't on the menu. We were told we could find excellent cannoli at any Pasticceria, the local bakeries. We found our Pasticceria...
and we each had our own cannoli!
We spent some more time walking around Venice, then caught a vaporetto back to Piazza le Roma. We got cleaned up and headed back out a few hours later for our Evening Gondola Ride...
