Images: Doge's Palace; Canal and Gondola; Gondola Kiss; SL Canalside at Dinner
Quick, get out your bucket list. Check it. If visiting Venice is not on it, put it in NOW. Better yet, put a gondola ride in Venice on the list, cause you have to go there to take one. Unless it means bumping out attending a John and JB, or a Klaude and John (Thyme's Two) concert, put it in the top ten.
Venice is the most beautiful city in the world, and I challenge someone to knock it off the throne. According to legend, Venice was founded in 421 AD, and as we all know it is a city built on the water. There are no cars in Venice, just water taxis, water buses, boats and gondolas.
The city of Venice is built on a series of over 100 islands surrounding a lagoon. Early Venetians built in waterproof stone resting on a foundation of oak and pine timbers driven deep into the island subsoil to rest upon the compacted clay. This framework of wood was then faced with stone.
The Doge's Palace in Piazza San Marco is breathtakingly beautiful. While we were in the square, people were walking barefoot through several inches of water that bubbled up through the stone floor. The waiters just shrugged and said, "Il mare e oggi alto" - the sea is high today. The Doge's palace is a fabulous example of Gothic Venetian architechture, that, although it started out as a castle, has an incredible lightness about it. The beautiful mulit-couloured facades and lacy stonework gives it depth and airiness. The Bridge of Sighs, where it was said one could hear the sighs of condemned prisoners being led to their execution, gives it solemnity.
The gondola ride was unforgettable. We were told to kiss for luck under the bridges, including the famed Rialto Bridge. We floated down enchanting canals, past the now defunct women's prison - the first of its kind - past Casanova's house, past Marco Polo's house, past palaces and museums.
We ate sitting by the side of a canal. Starters of mixed antipasti. A piatto of pesche misti (plate of mixed grilled fish), grilled vegetables, cheese plate and tiramisu. Port to finish the meal and accompany the cheese and dolce (sweet). It was a lingering, romantic dinner that was one of the highlights of the trip.
A shout out to son Geoff, for advising us to stay on Lido island and commute to Venice, and to Carl and Linda for telling us about the 48 hour transit pass. We each took 6 ferry rides, including a long tour of the Grand Canal, and 4 bus rides, including the final one to the airport, all for about $60.
Tomorrow, a final post on the Lubert Adventure.
WOWZA! Venice sounds incredible. (My fave cities so far are Montreal and Salzburg...) The boys have been fascinated with Venice ever since reading "Thief Lord," which is set there. Guess what? Before reading your post, I had just prepared for facilitating my Shared Ministry Group tomorrow night and had decided that our discussion topic would be "My Bucket List!" Thanks and Love and Safe Travel to You, S
ReplyDeleteI really think that the "Bucket List" is a worthwhile exercise, and will be a terrific discussion starter for you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being such a faithful bloggee, Sand. Tomorrow's blog is meant to sum things up - maybe a bit philosophically, but my publisher is OK with it.
You would have gotten a chuckle out of my conversation with SL, who, while remaining Sweet, has NOT been following the blog.
So I casually let it slip that, as a part of the blog, I had been chronicling, in quite explicit detail, some of our more amorous adventures in these romantic venues. You can imagine the horrified reaction.....