Water water everywhere...and lots of wine to drink! Today our group discovered Venice in the best way possible, with 5 hours of free time to explore and get lost in the canals and streets and bridges. We awoke this morning in our hotel in Monticatini and loaded the busses for the 4 hour trek to the city. We stopped at another Autogrille for lunch and restroom break and again I was blown away by the quality of food there. I had a great chicken sandwich and a lemmon tart that again I just pointed at cause it looked good not knowing at all what it was. I have yet to be dissappointed by anything I've had to eat or drink here.
Unfortunately our bus was not equipped to traverse the water so we unloaded the buses to take a private water taxi to the actual city.
Our guides showed us to St. Mark's square and along the way we passed Vivaldi's church. You'll have to excuse my musical dorkiness in this post but there is so much history in this city and so much that affected music as we know it. I can't help it
After a brief orientation to the city and where some things are we were set lose in the city. There was a large group of us that wanted to experience the quintacential Venice experience and took a gondala ride. Our wonderful tour guides had already reserved these ahead of time so we walked right on to the boats and set off for a 35 minute tour through small canals and under beautiful bridges. We saw Mozart's apartment and an old opera house that had just been restored. It's interesting here that they always seem to be restoring or cleaning these buildings. For instance there was a large scafolding in front of St. Mark's basilica but they screen print a tarp that looks exactly like what's underneath. Much nicer than looking at ugly scafolding.
After the gondala rides we had a few more hours to get lost in the city. My little group made our way to St. Mark's bascilica as did most everyone else at some point. I was in awe at the amount of ornate and intricate mosiacs that covered every surface from the ceiling to the walls. There was a golden glow throughout the whole interior. This church was slightly different because we weren't allowed to just roam around as we pleased, there was a roped of path for us to follow. The floor was very uneven from the moving and settling of the foundation (which is really just some wooden polls stuck in the water and resting on the sea floor.) We saw the balconies that the composer Gabriellie made famous for his antiphonal brass pieces. He actually wrote them specifically for that cathedral and the incredible accoustics it provides. We were about half way through the guided path when the most unbeleivable thing happened. Someone started playing the organ. This church has been the sight of some of the most prolific and important musical performances in our history and to hear the actual pipes that Vivaldi and Mozart and Scarlatti heard was a magical experience. I stood there, not moving just listening to the sound reverbarate through the corners and cieling and domes. I actually started crying as the organist played full volume and full pipe that quite literally shook the ground. Again this is one of those experiences that I am so lucky to have and am so fortuante to be a part of this organization. It's going to be very difficult to find something to top this...ever.
After that unbelievable event, I did as most of us did and got lost in winding allies, small dark passage ways, and gorgeous bridges. Venice is known for their glass and their paper products and we happened upon a book binder's shop. This small little establishment tucked into a side ally off a random piazza was filled with beautiful leather bound books and paper covered journals. Some of my party purchesed ink pens. And these aren't the bic ball points...these were actual tipped pens you have to dip in a tub of ink. He also had quills and even monogrammed stamps for making wax seals. Very nice guy that showed us his hobby...building scale models of gondolas and ships. Just an remarkable find in this weird little city.
We found some food and ate the most delicious gnochi (potate pasta) with pesto (my favorite sauce). Italy has not dissapointed again!! My friend had seafood spaghetti which he swore was the best thing he's ever eaten.
Now at this point I don't think Magellan or Marco Polo himself could have found me on a map so we meandered to the closest piazza where they have figured us tourists would need the most help. Every building has a sign with an arrow either pointing to San Marco's piazza or to the Rialto bridge. We eventually found the square in a completely different way from how we travelled the first time. As we waited for the rest of our group to take the boat back to the buses, we all treated ourselves with gelato...Italy's version of ice cream and I must say far better than ours! (sorry America!)
From there we returned to the comfort of our buses which have become our second home on the trip and now we're all checked in to the Seraton in Padova. The lobby is currently packed with everyone soaking up the free wi-fi and trying to figure out plans for the night. You're all probably also getting messages and facebook notifications tonight too. Thank you Sheraton for being in the 21st century with fast and reliable wifi. Tomorrow is another parade for the MDB and a performance at the music conservatory here in Podova with the wind ensemble. It promises to be a packed but exciting day! Ciao for now!
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Location:Venice, Italy
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