Venice- March 6-7th

Everyone's first experience of Europe should be flying into Venice and then immediately boarding a water taxi through the water canals of Venice right up to your hotel private water dock.   It was breathtaking to say the least. 

Touring in Italy with John and Pauline is not for the weak of heart, or feet.   We sat down our bags in our hotel rooms and were off immediately touring the city of Venice taking photo opts along the way.    We came back for a nice dinner at the Hotel and then to bed!    

  Bright and early the next morning our tour guide had us on a water taxi to tour a glass making factory.  These pictures don't do it justice but it was fascinating to watch the man take some sand, heat it up and then mold it into amazing pieces of glass art.

There are 7 working glass factory in Venice so when our tour guide discovered we were from Utah and told us how his factory  made all the chandeliers and stained glass in the Rome temple and visitor center we felt pretty lucky to have toured this particular factory.    I splurged and bought a glass dish that I fell in love with and will always remember it's made from the same place as the glass in the Rome Temple.  Bart also found a horse he liked that was similar to the example one the artist had made so we bought that too.

 After docking back at our Hotel we met up with a local and very informative tour guide who led us on a tour through Doge's Palace.    Some things I learned about Venice on this tour. 

• Venice was once a swampy Lagoon uninhabitable until the Barbarians came to destroy the Roman's and the Roman's to escape boarded ships because they were seaman and the Barbarians were not.  They came to a muddy Lagoon and built an infrastructure of wood and then lime stone and other stuff on top to be able to support buildings and in doing became Venetians.  
• Venice was not part of Italy until Italy became a country in the late 1800's.
• Venice continues to hold the record for the longest body of power due to it's location and it was the discovery of America that was the befall of its power.   It easily became the middle man for  importing goods.   Venice was a Republic and A Doge was the Chief Magistrate of Venice and once sustained was called for life.  Thus they often voted really old men to be the Doge.   This palace was a place that the senate would meet and decide laws.  Very wealthy people inhabited Venice as they were merchants and was often seen as heathens by the Catholic Church because they loved their money more than anything.   Our tour guide said that once the Catholic Church excommunicated the entire body of Venice.   Venice was committed to not having a king.  In one of the rooms are paintings of all the Doge's except one who decided he wanted to start a rebellion against the Republic so they painted over him with a black flag.  

• The art is a little different here than in other cities in Italy.    Because of it's location to the Venice was known for  material so most of the paints have clothes and they often put there efforts into making the Robes very life like.  

• Because of it's location in the middle of a sea Fresca's could not last so they painted on Canvas.  This painting below was on a massive canvas which being Venice made large Canvas' for ship sails it was no surprise they could produce this.   

• From the courtroom in the palace we took a walk across an indoor bridge/tunnel into the jailhouse.  They called this your final walk of freedom or something like this.  Here is one of the only small windows the prisoners could look through before being locked up often for life.  Venetians may have been slightly shorter than Bart don't you think?

• We then walked through St. Mark's Basilica.  Interesting fact is originally St. Theodore was the patron Saint for Venice but then it was decided they didn't want a b lister Saint so some Venetians went and stole or like Italians like to say "brought back a souvenir" of the remains of St. Mark and buried them under this Cathedral.  Or they built the Cathedral over it.  I can't remember which came first.  

 

• Sometimes when the ocean is at High tide during the winter St. Mark's square will flood.  So the city puts down planks and people go about their business. Such as this picture.  

•  These shoes in a museum were interesting.  Not sure if they were for decoration or maybe the ancient people used them on flood days?  

• I was fascinated with the clocktower bell.  Mainly because these statues continue to move to ring it on the hour.   

 After our tours were over we ate lunch at a pizzeria we toured around Venice again for a while.  I came across this sign.   One thing is for sure I could live in Europe just for their shoes.  I'm a little obsessed with cute comfy shoes (harder to find than you think) and they are all over the place.  I guess it is to be expected considering Europeans walk so much and I tend to only buy European brand shoes.    So when I saw this sign I thought it was fitting!

• I  was all about going on a Gondola ride.  I was extremely surprised that John and Pauline had never done this before.    Before going to Venice I knew little about Venice except seeing Gondola rides in the movies and I wanted to partake.    It was everything I expected.  So enchanting.   Our Gondola driver was hilarious.  He had earned his license just three months prior. He practiced for seven years, through the canals of his home island, to gain the skill to qualify for his license. There are over 400 gondolas for rent around Venice and each is decorated differently.  Starting price for a Gondola is 30 Euros and up depending on the decor.  Prices are set by the city so there is no need to barter.  He was hilarious as we boated through the canals telling us that if he sang to us it would rain.    

 

Later that night we set off in search of a restaurant John had eaten at before.  It was my first taste of Italian orange Fanta.  I would have drunk it for all my meals if my stomach could tolerated C02 better and it wasn't like 4 Euro for a normal sized can.  On the way home we tasted our first Gelato of the trip.