"Bon Jono!" cried Mr C. "Check your passports, please. Today, we will drive 260 km to Venice. When we talk about Venice, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Yes. Gondolas. What else? City of Canals. Yes? What else? Floating City, yes. What else? Marco Polo, yes? What else? Casanova, Vivaldi, yes. What else? The Merchant of Venice? Okay. What else? No more? Well, here's something you don't know. Venice is the most expensive place to pee. Yup. it cost €1.50 to enter a public washroom." And with that, Mr C chuckled as he left us to mull over the wisdom of whether or not we should stay hydrated on so hot a day.
After going through some long tunnels, flat lands and pine trees lining the outer parameter of quaint farmhouses, we finally reached Venice..
|
|
 |
| St Mark's Square & St Mark's Cathedral (Piazza San Marco) Principal Public Square of Venice No Loitering Zone |
First order of the day was lunch where we will be served the Black Ink Squid Spaghetti.
| If you asked me whether the Black Ink Squid Spaghetti was anything to shout about, I'll hesitate for five seconds before describing my experience. So my plate came. The spaghetti was black so I gave half of mine away. I twirled the spaghetti with my fork and was about to tuck them into my mouth when I made the mistake of looking at the lady opposite me. |
Her lips were stained black. Her teeth were black and she smiled at the friend sitting next to her. Instantly, I thought about Calypso, not the Calypso in Homer's Odyssey but the one in Pirates of the Caribbeans. Yup! Click the link and see for yourself. I lost my appetite.
|
|
It was time for the gondolas! €25.00 pax. My mind was on The Tourist. I looked around me and wondered if I could find the spot where Angelina Jolie dropped Johnny Depp near the promenade. I never did. I should probably watch the movie again.
 |  |
I had expected our gondolier to wear his hat as he serenaded our group through the Venetian canals, That did not happen.
Instead, the gondoliers were engaged in conversation among themselves. Venice was crowded to the hilt so there were no short of gondoliers within a stone's throw to strike up a conversation.
|  |
Ours delivered a dreadful rendition of parts of a song, and upon seeing how badly the performance went, recommenced the animated chatter with his fellow gondoliers.
At the end of the ride, the gondolier stood to one side as we alighted from his gondola. He pointed fixedly at a spot near the front of his gondola without uttering a word. It was the missing hat, upturned and filled with coins.
The Gothic style Doge's Palace is something like the White House. It is home to the Doge (Governor/Mayor) of Venice. The Doge is elected by the people and held office for a life time. Mail slots/masks around the outside of the building in the shape of lion's mouth marked "For Secret Denunciation" are prepared for those who wanted to report individuals stealing from the State or violating laws.
A replica of the Doge Palace stood at Macao. as part of the Venetian Casino.
Inside the palace, one sees the mind-blowing gold walls, high ceilings, life-like paintings. This was a sight intended for the general public. An obscure little door marked the entrance to a different world, where the secret work of the Venice empire took place, The interior is constructed of wood floor, low wooden ceiling, few windows and sparse furnishings. The chancellor was the ruler of this part of the palace. He sits in a small room, dimly lit and cold.
It was said that prisoners were tortured in this part of the palace.
Upon sentencing, the condemned would be sent to prison. The prisoner's last bit of freedom was their walk over the bridge across the canal. The bridge had a couple of little windows where the prisoner could look out and see their family before heading into confinement.
It was said that you could hear the prisoner's sighs as they looked out through these windows at the Bridge of Sighs.
|
|
 |
| Promenade that sits on the water front at St Mark's Basin. |
The day's tour came to an end. We piled into the water taxi at the Riva Degli Schiavoni and headed for the mainland.
Ms Throw-Away-Her-Clothes jabber excitedly about something she picked up at one of the shops off St Marco.This had the ladies cackling all at once. The subject matter died down only after the water taxi reached the mainland where we piled into our coach for dinner and hotel.
No comments:
Post a Comment