Venice Day 2 as Our Vacation Finale

Our second day in Venice and I think it was our best day of the entire vacation, restoring our spirits from the less than thrilling experience of yesterday.  When we awoke, the weather forecast was for rain - a 90% chance - and that forebode another so-so day.  It, however, was not to be as the weather was rain-free and, occasionally, sunny right up until our last half hour in Venice.  

The relative cool temperature (high 60s) and the threat of rain caused a conundrum as far as what to wear today.  Shorts and t-shirt?  Jeans and a sweatshirt?  Raincoat?  I opted for the percentages and took my rain coat, with jeans and a t-shirt.  The jeans were a nod to the online posting about dress code at St. Mark's Basilica which called for knees and shoulders to be covered and I'm all about honoring God so I abided by the rules.  Turned out to be a fortuitous decision because that last half hour and boat ride home were cold and rainy.  

We started the day with our Viking-provided breakfast and there was literally 1,000 choices.  We've fallen in love with the coffee machines that offer a touch interface to select from a wide variety of options so we'll be on the lookout for a step up for our Keurig coffee maker when we get home.  Our tour was set to begin at 11:15 a.m. so we planned on leaving after breakfast, about 9:15.  The hotel provides a complimentary water shuttle to St. Mark's Square, but runs from the hotel only when it isn't high tide which it seems like it always is.

Down to the shuttle departure dock in the hotel's basement we went and, of course, we were informed that today it was high tide (which doesn't allow their shuttles adequate room to go under Lido Island's bridges).  Just as we were set to trudge down to the Casino dock about 15 minutes away, a lovely couple from Buffalo was sitting there and advised us that they were planning on taking a water taxi (which does have enough clearance even at high tide).  Very understated, the gentleman found out that Cheryl was a nurse and insisted on buying our ride (even though we had offered to split it).  One can only protest so much before we gave in and thanked him for his generosity.

Across the lagoon we went in the water taxi and landed in St. Mark's Square with about 30 minutes to spare before our tour of St. Mark's Basilica and the Doge Palace begin.  What to do?  How about a double espresso for both Cheryl and I!  The plaza in front of the hotel restaurant was largely uncrowded, so for 30 minutes we enjoyed our hair-standing-up double espresso, watched the crowd and listened to the terrific piano player.

At 11:00 we went to our meeting point and met our guide who took us, first, to St. Mark's Basilica which she told us was originally a private chapel for the Doge (the "president" of the Venetian empire).  Construction began in 828 AD and continued with modifications for most of the next 1,000 years.  Everywhere you looked were fabulous frescoes, trimmed in gold-leaf, and so many tributes to God and the Apostles.  

St. Mark the Evangelist's ossuary containing his bones was placed under the altar.  If like me you weren't certain who he was, turns out he was St. Peter's disciple (so not an original Apostle), but the author of the Gospel according to Mark. . . a heavy hitter in Christianity.  The story of how his bones got to this place was very interesting.  He was interred in Alexandria, Egypt but was disinterred by emissaries of Venice and smuggled out under a load of pork chops!  And, for nearly 1,000 years his remains have resided in this beautiful cathedral.

Aside from the beautiful frescoes, St. Mark's also contains four bronze horses that originally graced the space above the front entrance.  Napoleon, who conquered Venice in the late 1700s , liked them so much, he spirited them away to park them atop the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. But eventually they were returned and stand inside on the second floor, just inside the terrace which graces the second floor and provides magnificent views of the Square's clock tower, the lagoon, and public square.

We were simply gobsmacked walking around this beautiful cathedral and kept using words like "magnificent", "spectacular", "unmatched", and the like.  It was truly deeply moving, but the magnificence of the day had only gotten started.  We went next to the Doge (Presidential) Palace which was attached to St. Mark's Basilica - remember, it was once the Doge's private chapel.

Our guide faithfully recreated the government of Venice which lasted as an empire for 1,100 years, and was centered on this magnificent palace.  We've been to some beautiful palaces (e.g., Catherine the Great's palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, Buckingham Palace in London, Versailles in Paris), and this was as stupendous as any of them.  We walked from room to room which, again, were highlighted with unbelievable artwork and gold-leaf trim. 

After about an hour, the tour began winding down and we crossed the Bridge of Sighs as it passed out of the Doge Palace, and into the prison beneath it.  The Bridge of Sighs is a short bridge attaching the palace to the prison, and gets its name because prisoners who had been sentenced traversed the bridge on their way to prison.  Windows in the bridge showed them what was usually their last look at life outside, and they would sigh over the experience.  To me, the words "Bridge of Sighs" connotes the Robin Trower song from 1976.  Along with Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" it never left the stereos on our floor at Ohio State.

But wait, the coup de grace was coming - a gondola ride.  Turns out the approaching bad weather meant
we were getting the last ride of the day.  Our guide Igor was terrific and narrated the 40 minute ride around the canal system of Venice.  It was everything you might think it could be - romantic, entertaining, educational, and a lifelong image burned into our minds.  The first bridge he went under was shorter than the top of the gondola so he advised us to lean to the right (and not worry about sinking) while he ducked down to go under it, using his leg to push off a wall.  

Our gondola ride ended too soon but the sky was getting black and beginning to spit rain.  We quickly hurried to the hotel's water shuttle slip and, after a mere 5 minutes of standing in the growing rain, we boarded for the return to Hotel Excelsior.  We're hoping our clothes fully dry before we have to pack them - our suitcases have to be in the hallway for pickup by 11 p.m. tonight, and we depart for the airport at 9:30 a.m.

Today was simply fabulous.  We're ready to go home but it'll be with a smile on our face.  I'll write one final blog after we get settled back in Pickerington and give you a brief summary of my thoughts.  Thanks for following along with us as it has been a wonderful adventure in the lives of Cheryl and J.D. Mace.