Venice

Hello! Tiny Luther here again. This time from our last stop in Italy, Venice! It was a HOT Friday, a burning 32°C! (90°F)

Venice, as you may know, is the capital of northern Italy’s region. It is built on 118 small islands in a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. The Adriatic Sea is a mixture of salt and fresh water. It is a part of the Mediterranean Sea positioned between the eastern coastline of Italy, and countries of the Balkan Peninsula, from Slovenia, south through Croatia. Montenegro, and to Albania.

Now Venice has no roads, just canals – including the Grand Canal thoroughfare – lined with Renaissance and Gothic palaces. The central square, Piazza San Marco, contains St. Mark’s Basilica, which is tiled with Byzantine mosaics, and the Campanile bell tower offering views of the city’s red roofs.

We learned that there is a bit of controversy in Venice over cruise ships. As I'm sure you can imagine, the water displacement created by the presence of the huge cruise ships creates quite a few water level issues for a city like Venice.

Despite this, I am happy to report that we did take a cruise of our own as we took a gondola ride! It was everything you would hope it would have been, minus the gondolier singing to us ;-). The waterfront palazzos, palaces, and churches made drifting down the Grand Canal feel like cruising through a painting.

We also visited the Palazzo Ducale, or the Doge's Palace. This palace boasts of having the largest room in Europe while also being a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. It is also an impressive structure composed of layers of building elements and ornamentation, from its 14th and 15th century original foundations to the significant Renaissance and opulent Mannerist art. The structure is made up of three large blocks, incorporating previous constructions. The wing towards the St. Mark’s Basin is the oldest, rebuilt from 1340 onwards. The wing towards St. Mark’s Square was built in its present form from 1424 onwards. The canal-side wing, housing the Doge’s apartments and many government offices, dates from the Renaissance and was built between 1483 and 1565.

Lunch was on our own today while dinner was back at the hotel.

As you may well know, Venetian glass is world-renowned for being colorful, elaborate, and skillfully made. We were blessed to go to a glass blowing demonstration and view the gallery afterwards. The talent and master craftmanship was a treasure to behold. Right in front of us a master glass blower made a vase with a stallion on top. Ad a gift to the children, the shop GAVE glass horses (well packed) to the four children on the trip.

St. Mark's square is where we gathered and regrouped throughout the day. St. Mark is portrayed as a lion, which became the symbol of Venice as the gospel writer is said to be buried there.