After a much delayed flight out of New York, we finally arrived in Venice. I must admit we were a little crunchy. The last leg of our journey was about 9 hours long. I was pretty happy to get off the airplane! We took a bus into Venice proper and then walked ourselves and our luggage about 10 minutes to the hotel. It turns out there are a LOT of stairs in Venice! Our hotel is on the left in this picture (look for a yellow building with flags). I took this standing on one of the three bridges that cross the Grand Canal. This is Venice's main street and it stays busy. We even saw a UPS boat zip by us today! There are no cars in Venice, so if it is going to be delivered, it is done by boat and by walking.
After a quick clean up and short nap, we set out to explore. I have no idea what canal/street this is, but I thought it was pretty and interesting.
After much walking, we finally found Piazza San Marco (Saint Mark's Plaza). The story is that St. Mark's body was smuggled out of the Holy Land in a barrel and settled in the cathedral in Venice. This is San Marco. Part of it is undergoing restoration, but what you can see is amazing. A lot of Venice is under restoration. The water and humidity are hard on architecture and art.
The marble and mosaics are unbelieveably gorgeous. The cathedral itself is dim, but when you look up the ceiling is all gold and glittery. The floor is an undulating quilt of marble patterns. Wave after wave of different patterns is underfoot. I thought the colors in the outside columns were amazing. You couldn't take pictures inside unfortunately.
For my chickeny friends- there was a gorgeous mosaic of peacocks along one aisle. Go, poultry!
Today we took a field trip to Vicenza to see the Teatro Olimpico. This theatre was built during the Italian Renaissance (1500's) by architect Andrea Palladio. The internet is slow here, so I'll post more pictures of it later. It was beyond breathtaking. Cate and I were both speechless when we walked in. After seeing pictures of it for years, it was mind blowing to see it in person. Cate got a picture of my stunned self. (Much like Forrest Gump my eyes are always closed in pictures...)
We took a water bus ride this evening to see the houses along the Grand Canal. It is FREEZING, but stunningly beautiful. I have no idea what the domed building is, but thought it lovely. This is my favorite picture of the canal.
After our boat ride we wandered the streets for a bit and finally found a hole in the wall restaurant covered up with locals. The food was amazing. We shared spaghetti and lasagne and finished up with gelato. I may be ruined for Ragu and ice cream when we get home. The pasta here is truly phenomenal. Thankfully we are walking all day or I would come home shaped like a globe!
I posted this one for my friend Brad who teaches theatre with masks. Canival is just around the corner here and lots of shops have these masks displayed. These are our favorites. Everything is just glittery!
Tomorrow morning we are going out to the glassworks on Murano island. We expect to fall in love with everything we see. thankfully it is really hard totravel with glass or I would likely come home with a suitcase full. Tomorrow afternoon we are off to Florence. Stay tuned for more pictures!
