We walked to the water taxi to ride to the area of Venice that we would tour on foot.
On the boat, Igor pointed out Elton John's home on the canal. A yacht owned by a lady in the crystal business always seems to be parked here, he said, as we went by it. Cost $360 million and has been for sale for awhile. Geez, at the bargain price she probably has on it!
Walked across a couple of small bridges-up a bunch of steps and then down a bunch of steps. Here we go with starting the count for the day!
The first stop was the Doges Palace. The Doges was like the head of state in Venice. One section of the palace was built in 1300, the other section in the 1400s. The palace has been added onto many times. It served as a justice center, the Doges' residence, and the city prison, all at the same time.
Next, we viewed (later walked over) the Bridge of Sighs. It was named for the feelings of the prisoners. On to the newer prison (still hundreds of years old). The cells still have grafitti on the walls.
Walked up many stairs to the magnificent rooms with the ceilings and walls covered with paintings of people, Christ, Mary, and St. Mark. There was usually a lion shown with St. Mark. It became his symbol and, later, the symbol of Italy.
Only 3 days ago the rules were changed, allowing "no flash" pictures to be taken in here! We were all glad. Lots of "photographers" in our group. Several took many hundreds more than Tom's hundreds.
We passed the stairway that the Doges used in the palace-it was made from gold.
On to St. Mark's Square and Church. Once again we had been one of the first groups to arrive. Now the square is full of people. Two soldiers are walking around with a policeman. Almost hidden behind the people in the line to enter was a woman beggar. I saw one of the soldiers nod his head to the policeman, who told her to leave the area.
Inside this beautiful church, our guide said notice the sign which says no pictures are allowed inside. So we all abided by the rule. Of course many others didn't, including a group of nuns! Digital cameras don't damage paintings, so it is aggravating. We can't remember not being able to take pictures in any of the many churches we visited in Europe last year, but it happened most of the time here in Italy.
The beautiful, original mosaic floor is still in good shape.
The Murano Glass Factory
A glassblower demonstrated placing a bulb of glass on a pole and inserting the pole into a 1000 degree oven. Very soon he removed it and starting forming it into a medium sized vase. It probably took him less than 4 minutes, using tongs, blowing into the pipe, etc. The glass was 800 degrees while he was working on it. The narrator put a piece of paper next to it, immediately starting a fire. Then he made a small cat figurine. They were both placed in an oven to temper for 24 hours. If they didn't do this step, they would break when they cooled and the air hit them.
In a showroom a man dropped an expensive piece onto a piece of glass to show that their glass doesn't break easily, if at all. The workers spend 10-15 years, maybe a lifetime, to become what they call master glass makers.
Walked through the showrooms with beautiful clear chandeliers, other smaller ones with colored glass-one was $3200. Animals, plates, goblets, dish sets, Every color imaginable. I bought a small pair of their glass earrings.
We passed a Clark's and Disney stores. By this time we had all walked about 450 stairs. No one else counts, so they were amazed, though we knew we had gone up and down a lot of them.
Some people in our group went to a nearby area. We had decided to just browse around the city. We took 2-3 hours to walk back to the hotel. Bought a cute, glass wine stopper in a store and a fan, which I used right then, with pictures of Venice on it. Then to a produce stand for some fresh raspberries. We had a good pizza and some beer from a brewery that has been in business in Italy since 1854.
Very crowded sidewalks. It seems like Venice is one huge shopping area. There are hundreds of small stores and boutiques. Then vendors have tents many places. Then the illegal sellers (no license) have the same stuff displayed on a rug or blanket on a sidewalk or street that we have seen in every city-knock off purses, toys, belts, hats, paintings. As soon as someone sees a policeman, they quickly gather everything up and run off.
Italy is famous for lace and there were very beautiful items in lace stores.
Saw a man walking with a t-shirt of a parrot in a bar. It said "Prepping for the bar exam."
We saw many beggars again today. Many appear to be the Italian gypsies. We are constantly reminded to be cautious of them. If they see where you pulled money from, they or someone nearby knows where to pick your pocket. They almost lay down on the sidewalks, arms outstretched, with a cup in front of them. And they always have such heavy clothes on. They often are mumbling, or have their hands folded, as in prayer.
Venice's Mardi Gras lasts months. We are so surprised at the number of stores that sell nothing but masks. Some are so beautiful. They are made from paper, fabric, glass, feathers, with many being very elaborate. We never went inside to see prices.
Tom had a screw loose. We all knew that, right? Actually, it was on his glasses' ear piece and no one in our group or at the hotel had anything small enough to fix it. He used dental floss that morning to hold it together. It worked! We found an optical shop and the man fixed it in a minute and wouldn't let us pay him.
870 steps today-an all time record for this and last year. Ugh.
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