Third Day in Venice

September 22nd, 2008

Day 3 in Italy was our last full day in Venice, so we tried to see as many famous sights as we could. Our first destination was a ride down the Grand Canal. We walked from our apartment back to the bus station, following a different route through the city. We bought a 24 hour, unlimited use pass for the vaporetto, because we planned to take a bunch of rides today. Boarding from the vaporetto stop at the bus terminal rather than the getting on at the stop by the train station is a good plan, because the other tourists (just like us) grab the front seats, so by the time people at the train station get on at the next stop, all the seats in the front are taken. Riding the #2 Vaporetto is best because it has outdoor seating.

The ride down the Grand Canal to Saint Mark's square does not take too long. There are ornate buildings on both sides of the canal. I used the Rick Steve's guide book to identify some of the buildings, and the following website was useful to identify some of the other pictures. Click here for Grand Canal description . Riding down the Grand Canal is terrific fun. We had a nice day with blue skies, it was an ideal tourist event. No wonder everyone loves Venice.

At Saint Mark's square, we met up with Mom and Rose. Together we got in line for Saint Mark's tour. I really loved Saint Mark's basilica. The outside of the building is covered with beautiful marble and wonderful mosaics. Every inch of surface of the building displays some fine example of an artist or a craftsman. I can't imagine how long it must have taken to build such a lavish structure, though I guess work on the building continued off and on for centuries. It looks as if the Venice rulers wanted to display every type of marble on earth, because so many of the pillars are different colors.

The ground floor inside of Saint Mark's is free, but it costs €4 to go upstairs to the balcony. Visiting churches in Italy is supposed to be free, so they justify charging a fee by calling the upper level a museum. But four euros is cheap price to pay for wonderful views in the upper level. In the Rick Steve's guide, he comments that the interior of the cathedral is illuminated between 11:30 AM and 12:30 PM on Mondays through Saturdays. I forgot about that comment, but while we were upstairs, they "illuminated" the inside of Saint Mark's. This means they turned on the lights - and it makes the brilliant mosaics even more shiny and sparkling. It is a huge cathedral, and every corner is covered with mosaic or sculptures. In the 11th century, it was known as Chiesa d'Oro (the Church of Gold).

Also upstairs, you can walk to the outside balcony and look down on Saint Mark's square, or walk around to the side and see the Grand Canal and the Doge's Palace. The copies of the four horses are on display on the balcony, the originals are inside, sheltered from the elements. We saw both sets of horses - originals and copies. The horses are neat because they are so old, apparently stolen from Constantinople.

Inside the museum are examples of mosaics and sculptures that have been replaced. Follow the steps down a half flight and then back up again to reach the old banquet hall. This huge room is now filled with tapestries and illuminated medieval books. Also, this area gives you a closeup view of the Tree of Jesses mosaic.

Back on the ground floor of Saint Mark's, we walked through the marvelous building. Marble, sculptures, carvings - it is an terrific place to visit. We paid another small admission to see the Reliquary. Relics are preserved fragments from dead saints - for example, a bone or a tooth of Saint X will be displayed in a fine ivory or gold case. People apparently believed that possessing, or touching, these old bones would confer spiritual or healing powers.

We also paid the small fee to see the Golden Altar. This is a screen behind the main altar which is a sheet of solid gold that is encrusted with jewels and filled with figures of saints. This one piece of art has 1900+ gems; it is an astonishing display of the wealth of Venice at the height of its powers. I don't have pictures of a lot of the wonders inside Saint Mark's because they don't want you to take pictures inside the church. Click here of a published image of the Golden Altar.

After our tour of Saint Mark's, Rose and Mom headed for the boats so they could ride over to the islands of Murano and Burano, which are famous for their glass and lace manufacturing. Melanie and I headed for the Correr Museum, on the other side of Saint Mark's square. The Correr Museum has a bunch of stuff, like coins and paintings, from the glory of Venice, but I think I was feeling jet lagged and wasn't patient enough to read all the explanations of what was on display. The Correr Museum also does not allow pictures inside.

We used our vaporetto passes to ride to the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. This is a large church which pretty much occupies an entire little island out in the bay. It has a bright, understated interior; radically different than the elaborate mosaics that fill Saint Mark's. The best part about San Giorgio is riding up to it's Bell Tower (€3 per person). From the bell tower we saw excellent views of the city of Venice and the surrounding islands. It was a beautiful day, so this was a great visit. Lots of pictures taken here!

After we rode the #82 vaporetto back to the main island of Venice, we took a long walking tour through the north and eastern end of the city, just looking at the old buildings, crossing bridges over canals, and (of course) stopping for a gelato. We saw the entrance to the arsenal, which is the fort/factory where Venice built its fleet. We wandered by some more churches and shops until we found ourselves on the northern end of the island. We decide to ride a vaporetto around half the perimeter of the island, rather than walk back to the apartment. It was evening by the time we returned and had dinner, but Rose and Mom did not return until much later - they must have been on the last boat back from Murano.