Sono Su Una Barca

This summer, Kevin and I decided that rather than get birthday/anniversary gifts for each other, that we should go on a trip.  We bided our time, waiting for a good flight deal (we didn’t care where we went).  Eventually, one of the fantastic Ryan air sales came around, and we booked tickets to Venice (120 pounds total for 2 round trip tickets).  I’ve wanted to go to Italy since I saw my first Roberto Begnini movie (Life is Beautiful…although my favorite is still Johnny Stecchino).  We flew from Liverpool to Treviso (Ryan Air’s terminal about 50 minutes from Venice) and arrived late Friday night, managing to find our hotel on the first try (Venice is a maze of tiny streets and alleys made even more difficult by the many canals running through the city). 

Needless to say, I awoke extremely excited to see the city on Saturday morning.  We decided to visit the biggest tourist destination, Piazza San Marco, first thing on Saturday morning, intending to get breakfast on the way.  Now, I had forgotten that breakfast is an American/British thing, so we had an extremely hard time finding somewhere to eat.  We finally decided to be tourists and get a cappuccino and croissant at one of the outdoor cafes in the Piazza.  30 euros later (seriously – it was 30 Euros for two cappuccinos and two croissants), we were ready to start our day.  Of course, I immediately started taking picture after picture.  While I’m sure that I annoyed Kevin, at least I don’t disappear like Don!

 

    

Recognize this?  They filmed part of Casino Royale here.

One of the buildings that makes up Piazzo San Marco is the Palazzo Ducale (or Doge’s Palace in English).  The Doge of Venice was the elected Chief Magistrate of the city of Venice by the aristocracy.  However, this did not make the Doge the “King” as his power was checked by the city’s wide range of officials.  Thus, the Palazzo Ducale was the official residence of the Doge while in power.  As soon as the current Doge died, the family had only a few days to clear out his personal belongings in order to make way for the new Doge (once he was elected).  Not only did the Palazzo house the Doge, but it also contained a great number of political institutions (seat of government, city courtrooms, a jail, offices for various parts of government). 

The building itself is a wonderfully preseved example of gothic architecture.  The palace, as it looks today, was constructed between 1309 and 1423, although a building has occupied this site for much longer.     When the last Ducale  abdicated in 1797      (because Napoleon took over Venice), the building sat unused for around 100 years until it was restored and turned into a museum.

Interesting facts about the Palazzo Ducale

• The facade of the Italy building at Epcot is an exact mirror image of Palazzo Ducale.
• Mark Twain toured the Palazzo when visiting Venice in 1867 and even includes a description of the building in The Innocents Abroad

 

“Bridge of Sighs” – Prisoners would be transported over this bridge from the jail to the courtroom, and legend has it you could hear them sighing.

After we finished touring the Palace, we decided to see the city by boat.  However, we were too cheap to use the traditional method of seeing the city – Gondola (they want 80 euro for 45 minutes – that almost 160 dollars!) so we decided to use our previously purchased water taxi tickets and just ride the water taxi up and down the grand canal.

The Grand Canal is the major waterway through the center of the city

The Grand Canal has always been the major waterway for the city of Venice and thus, prime real estate for Venetian aristocrats.  Extravagant Palazzos line the canal.  Many of the palaces have seen better days, but you can imagine what they must have looked like in their prime and it is amazing.

I was fascinated by the barber poles (to tie boats up to) and stairs leading right to the water(to access your boat from your house)  In many of the more grand houses, there was a gated doorway into the bottom story of the house that was filled with water so you could park your boat right in your basement.  

Ha Ha suckers! Hope you are enjoying your 80 Euro ride!

We rode the water taxi, or Vaporetti, to the end of the canal and decided to ride it back all the way to the other end of its route, Lido, and get some lunch.  However, by the time we got there, it was 3 o’clock, which in Italy is similar to the Witching Hour.  Shops all close up and Italians disappear, leaving two hungry Americans to ride the boat back to Venice and beg a cafe to serve them a sandwich.  So if you are ever in Italy – make sure you eat between 12 and 3 or you will be sorry!

 

By the time we were done eating, the sun was starting to set, so I once again got sucked into taking some pictures of the sunset before Kevin could drag me away.