Although it did not seem like it would be at the beginning, today turned out to be a fabulous day! We took the bus into Venice proper and purchased a 12 hour pass to ride the vaporetto. We wished we had figured out the vaporetto pass thing sooner…it would have saved us a lot of money on getting around in Venice! We boarded the water bus headed to San Marco along with about 200 of our closest friends. Actually, many of them were not friendly at all. Nonetheless it was a packed water bus and we were at the back. When our stop came, we could not get to the front and of course, you guessed it…the bus kept going and we missed our stop! By this time, we had firmly decided we hated this place. We shoved our way off the next stop and proceeded to walk about one and a half miles in the blazing hot sun back to San Marco, where our tour was to begin. We stopped along the way to eat at an outdoor café, as much for the shade as for the food!
We met up with Charles and Jackie to go on our tour “See Venice in a Day”. This was not the best tour we had, mainly because our guide, Anatella, did not use headsets and we could not hear her very well. The tour took us through St. Mark Square (Piazza San Marco) where she showed us Dogge Palace, St. Mark’s Basilica, the entry columns of the square, the bell tower, and discussed the general architecture of the square, which once served at the seat of government when Venice was its own state. We went into Saint Mark’s Basilica and it was gorgeous. This church was once private and served the nobility of Dogge Palace. The ceiling is completely covered in art made of glass and gold leaf mosaics. This church was completed in about 1090 AD, and once again, I could hardly wrap my brain around how this place was built with such detail and precision in a time when machinery did not exist. Next Anatella took us into the different areas of Venice, which I sort of related to areas of Atlanta, like Buckhead, Virginia Highlands, Midtown, etc. Our tour ended, near Rialto Bridge, which is a big shopping spot. So Jackie and I shopped while Andy and Charles found a café to sit and have a beer. I was most excited about a mask that I purchased from an artist who makes the masks. He makes masks as props for many plays and movies. He made the masks used in the movie “Eyes Wide Shut”. He signed it and gave me information about his website where I can see the process he uses to make his masks. Very cool!
We met up with Charles and Jackie to go on our tour “See Venice in a Day”. This was not the best tour we had, mainly because our guide, Anatella, did not use headsets and we could not hear her very well. The tour took us through St. Mark Square (Piazza San Marco) where she showed us Dogge Palace, St. Mark’s Basilica, the entry columns of the square, the bell tower, and discussed the general architecture of the square, which once served at the seat of government when Venice was its own state. We went into Saint Mark’s Basilica and it was gorgeous. This church was once private and served the nobility of Dogge Palace. The ceiling is completely covered in art made of glass and gold leaf mosaics. This church was completed in about 1090 AD, and once again, I could hardly wrap my brain around how this place was built with such detail and precision in a time when machinery did not exist. Next Anatella took us into the different areas of Venice, which I sort of related to areas of Atlanta, like Buckhead, Virginia Highlands, Midtown, etc. Our tour ended, near Rialto Bridge, which is a big shopping spot. So Jackie and I shopped while Andy and Charles found a café to sit and have a beer. I was most excited about a mask that I purchased from an artist who makes the masks. He makes masks as props for many plays and movies. He made the masks used in the movie “Eyes Wide Shut”. He signed it and gave me information about his website where I can see the process he uses to make his masks. Very cool!
Next we caught the vaporetto to take us where our gondola ride was to begin. We were there very early, so we walked about and found a little store to buy wine for the gondola ride. Penny, Michael, Kim, Stennis, Pam and Bo came also and we boarded our little piece of Venetian culture called a gondola. There were six gondolas travelling together with an accordion player and an older Venetian gentleman who belted out some serious Italian tunes. Andy and I enjoyed a glass of wine and soaked in this special occasion. It was something very special and the ultimate ending to our day in Venice.
After the gondola ride, we ate dinner at a restaurant where the others in our group had eaten twice and highly recommended it to us. We were not disappointed…the meal was fabulous! It started to rain at the end of dinner, but we didn’t mind. We made our way through the rain back to Piazzale Roma where we caught the bus back to our hotel. As we rode, we reminded ourselves of the vast array of places we visited and all of what we saw and did on this trip. It has been the trip of a lifetime for us and we are so happy to have had the opportunity. Tomorrow we go home. It is bittersweet…I am ready to go home, yet I will leave a little piece of myself here among the olive trees, vineyards and Mediterranean waters. Viva Italia…Arrivaderci! Cindy :o)
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