Queen of the Adriatic

Ah, to wake up in Venice!

It's so good not having to get luggage ready. It's funny how such a thing as piling everything back into your suitcase can become such a chore when you've done it a billion times, give or take a million.

We boarded boats and headed to St Mark's Square. It was funny how we took boats there since it's technically 20 minutes walk and three bridges away from the hotel. Not that I'm complaining. If we had gone to Venice and never had boarded a boat then we'd have missed part of the experience. Let alone that all of us were glad not to walk any more than we needed to.

Every time we start off from somewhere Alison will point out some landmarks so we know how to get back. This time it was a clock on the corner of a building and the fact that it was five bridges from St. Mark's square. Sometimes it's a sign that says "chicken breast" or a yellow building, or even a name at the corner of every building. I guess it works since we never lost anyone.

The morning's first photo opportunity was the Bridge of Sighs viewable via one of the bridges along the canal. This bridge was given the name by Lord Byron. It was the last chance that a prisoner, heading for the cells, would get to see their loved ones, and sigh. They could peer through these little windows to the bridge we were standing on. I doubt they'd know if they'd been seen unless they called out too. How sad is that! The prison in question was the one that Casanova escaped by digging through the roof.

Along the way we noticed pink, or more accurately fuchsia, crocodiles. These were going to decorate the route of the regatta to be held in a couple of days. Also, the little stalls and stands weren't open yet so the bank didn't look as cluttered as it usually does. It was, on the other hand, impressive to find the statue people already standing on their pedestals, posing, holding out for someone to pay them so they can relieve that cramp they've developed.

When we got to St. Mark's Square it wasn't too busy, quite quiet. I think it was another of those tricks, ala Alison, to give us the best impression. I think she orchestrates more than we realise in order to give us the best experience possible.

In the square at daytime you can see more of the detail, like the shops surrounding the square, most of which weren't open yet. You could properly see the clock whose designer had his eyes gouged out to prevent him from making anything better. How disappointing a result for him, not being able to design things anymore! They were a little harsh back then. Moral of that story: Don't make clocks for people who are big on eye gouging!

I decided to go up the bell tower for a bit of a look. While I was up there, I got someone to take my picture but I made out I couldn't speak either English or Italian. Not that I can speak Italian but you get the point. I communicated via gestures. It was cool. The view from up there was quite good. You could see that the island we were on was actually very big and you could see some of the closer islands. The one we were on was covered in a sea of terracotta roof tiles. The view was worth the six euros.

I must have been day dreaming when we were given instructions about out next meeting point. Lucky thing though was that the meeting point was at the exit of the bell tower. I ran into Herb and Jane who also confirmed that we were meeting there in 10 minutes. I don't even have to try sometimes!

On to the glass blowing across the square... we squeezed into this little room on some steps so we could all see. The heat coming from the furnace was quite toasty. The guy made a small vase or something, I forget. The horse he made next, on the other hand, was memorable. It didn't take long to make either! Very impressive. They also explained that due to the risk of fire, the actual furnaces, etc. were on a different island. Upstairs we got to see some of the impressive things they had made in their showroom, like tea sets, animals, modern art stuff and mosaic vases - which to be honest were quite ugly to say the least. I think the vases weren't quite as bad as the chandelier that looked like a candy cane had procreated with some wild jungle flower. One of those god-awful things graced our hotel foyer. Why people? Why?

Anyway, we were given a map with meeting times written on it just in case we forgot... mine had 11:45 rather than 1:45 though, not sure what happened there. Maybe she was trying to give me the slip... hmmm. I was onto her plan!

Our next excursion involved a visit inside St. Mark's Basilica with our tour guide, Anna. The names Anna and Maria seem so common here. I think Alison was explaining it once, about how the firstborn of the family gets the saints name of the region and the next one gets Anna or something. Anyway, she was very pleasant. She was this short older lady who hummed songs to herself (and the rest of us via the Whisper system) and she would say "woo-who" as a way of directing us to her. She said she now does this out of habit since she'd been doing it that since before the Whisper system. It was warming.

While we were waiting outside to get in Anna told us about the king tides... something Alison mentioned to us the night before... that cause extreme flooding... we're talking significant heights... I forget exactly but it's like my height or something... which mean the first floor of people's homes are uninhabitable, let alone the shops and churches. I think it's all fine and well to say that you can then get around in boats but that kind of flooding would put a stop to many business while it's happening. She said though that they're used to the cleanup! Another thing she pointed out was that there were no cars and bikes on the island... I hadn't noticed that there weren't any bikes too... therefore, just like in times past, people are still only getting around by walking... amazing really.

Whilst in the church, those who are unbaptised need to make sure they don't stand still. You need to keep moving. At one point, Anna reminded some older women that it was forbidden to stand still. It is of note that apparently god doesn't want to see a woman's shoulders or anyone's legs from the knees up. So, scarves were turned into skirts and shawls and particular shorts were pulled down a touch. :-) Not mine! I hate shorts that high, or shorter. Knees are a good judge of length in my opinion. :-)

Inside the basilica of St Mark you find gold everywhere including gold mosaics. It was pretty impressive. It just looked like a church otherwise. Of note were the floors which had significant dips and bumps in them. This is where the mosaics on the floor helped in Venice since they allowed more movement. This reminds me about what she was saying about the foundations in Venice. Apparently, they are primarily a specific oak laid out in spirals. You see, wood provides for better movement, and provide more give, and thus you find most structures are wooden.

Next we were taken to the Doge's Palace, the symbol of Venetian power. Further humming from Anna. :-) I forgot to mention previously that although the Whisper system is brilliant, it was starting to drive me insane. Not the earphones but just having someone else's voice directly piped into my head. I've got enough thought going on in my head without additional sources. I digress... In the palace we saw many paintings on ceilings. The good thing was that Anna was selective and only spoke about the important pictures. Much of the palace was wooden, thus why so much had been lost in the past by fire. I personally thought the map room was interesting with its upside down map, as was the large room (notable for its use of trusses rather than pillars) where the murderous' Doge had his portrait painted over by a black veil. It was all very over the top. But I guess when you had power and money back then, you could do almost anything. We were then taken downstairs to the prison, this time seeing the Bridge of Sighs from the inside. The cells were like concrete and were really thick and the bars interlocked, the vertical bars alternatively going through the horizontal ones. The bars were quite ingenious, I pondered their construction at length but still don't know how you could achieve such weaving of thick metal bars. Back we went over the Bridge again, I took a quick snap out through one of the little windows of the bridge we were on earlier in the morning.

Anyway, we decided to get a snack before lunch... I think it was a panini but I forget. We then snuck a visit into the museum (i.e. Napoleon's Wall at the end of St. Mark's Square) before we had to get back to the clock on the wall, across the five bridges. I got separated from Fred & Dave 'cos I got distracted a number of times, like when I found a book by Dante Aligerie and in the sword room. Before I knew it, it was time to get out. I hadn't realised that the place was like a rabbit warren. The guards seemed to all recognise my confused look and silently pointed toward the exit.

When I got out, I was on the wrong side of the building and so the five bridges were more like seven. I ran for some of it 'cos I didn't want to miss the boat but as I approached the clock everyone was getting ready to get on the boat a little further up and Alison said it was too hot to be running.. too late. I was glad I made it though.

The boat took us to Burano for our late lunch/early dinner. On the way, we passed Casanova's house and other famous people's houses. We also saw the cemetery island... land is understandably scarce so there are specific arrangements with funerals... I forget the detail. Something about it being reserved or only for limited time. Whatever, you get the point. Speaking of limits, it's interesting that the speed of the boats is limited along the way, 20km in open water, 7 in other areas. What is impressive is how these guys can maneuver a boat as accurately as a car. There seems to be a lot of double parking though, I not sure how they keep track.

On to Burano. The island is quite cool, has a nice feel to it. The individual houses each have different colours. This dates back to when particular families had specific colours and of those, specific shades. This was quite fascinating and it has a very cool look about it. When we got off the boat, we walked around all these buildings, in back streets. On the way, we walked past a good view of their leaning tower. I also got the answer as to what all the little square lettered tiles were on the ground (I'd seen them previously on the other island)... as expected they're all the services... electricity, sewerage, water, etc. Alison explained that "everything is pumped out". How lovely!

On to lunch. I'm glad to say it felt like a normal lunch... I can't stomach seafood so I had the alternate meal... I had chicken, spaghetti, lasagne and dessert. It seemed I drank a significant proportion of the cola on the table... I felt thirsty. Then, of course, we were given these small bottles of alcohol... Well, you've gotta have your digestive!

At this point Alison also told me a bit about the masks and what some of the faces are and how the good ones are of paper machete, not pressed paper like the stuff from china. Interesting.

With a few minutes to poke around at the shops and a couple of happy snaps of the coloured buildings, we were back on the boat... I have to agree that a photographer would have a field day on Burano. I think I fell asleep on the way back. Any travel will have that effect on me. Once at the hotel, I had a bit of a nana nap then got the call from Dave that some were having a drink down the alley a bit so I joined them... it was a nice evening.

During the evening, I was asked when I was going to sing for everybody. (Hmmm, there's an episode I forgot to write about a couple days ago... I'll edit the blog for "Michaelangelo's David & the City of Florence" with the backstory later) Anyway, before I retired to the hotel I checked some stuff at an Internet cafe and tried to remember some of the titles of songs I used to sing... this was obviously gonna come up again.