7/27 Our second day in Venice began with breakfast in the courtyard garden, accompanied by a small flock of sparrows obviously acclimated to taking advantage of the setting. We were warned not to leave anything out on the table while foraging the breakfast buffet lest a sparrow land on your dish and sample the fare.
Hotel Flora's courtyard ... breakfast time!
hotel flora - front facade!
Our first stop after breakfast was the impressive Basilica San Marcos. After a short wait in a long line, we entered the twilight silence of the expansive interior. Every surface…EVERY SURFACE on the vaulted ceilings, archways and upper walls was covered with mosaics - a veritable primer of Christian belief, from Genesis and the Old Testament, through the life of Christ, the Acts of the Apostles and the lives and/or grisly deaths of saints and martyrs up to the (medieval) present day. The high mosaics included backgrounds of gold gilding that set off the figures in the minimally lit space. Besides the mosaics, statuary also adorned the spaces above, around and between the chapel altars that occupied the nave walls - biblical figures and saints juxtaposed with those of the rich patrons responsible for building the edifice - acquiring holiness by association? No photos allowed inside San Marcos (unfortunately!).
As we made our way around the interior we were drawn to a side chapel where a mass was just beginning. We entered and joined the congregation. As the familiar ritual unfolded we voiced our responses in english at the appropriate times - adding an international flavor to the Italian in which the mass was being said. Participating in the mass, with rituals that date back nearly two thousand years, amidst all the artistic expressions of the faith, in the massive church which has heard thousands of such masses over its thousand year history, was both humbling and inspiring. And when, during the Expression of Peace, we turned to share a brief gesture of shared hope with the family behind us, Africans seemingly, and they each took our hands in both of theirs and smiled widely, and then to those Italians and other tourists that occupied benches beside and in front of us, we truly felt the vision and appeal of a Universal Church. How blessed we felt to be here. We thought of our parents and especially Mom AVZ! - thank you!!! After mass and more craned-neck viewing of the ceiling mosaics, we worked our way over the equally richly decorated floor tiling of geometric patterns toward the exit and after a visit to the gift shop, back into the moist warmth of the piazza.
just one of the many cathedrals (chiesa) that is converted into a museum ...
a work of art by Oksana Mas - a mosaic of painted wooden eggs ..
a close up of the painted wooden eggs ...
The rest of the day was guided by three objectives, finding some desirably beautiful venetian glass jewelry, exploring as much of the island as possible, and riding a traditional gondola through the maze of canals. The first item was taken care of early as their were several shops off the piazza that offered the necessary selection - all that was left was to choose. The second goal was easily met as well as that was the order of the day - to wander. But first we used the second half of our round trip water bus tickets to return to the train terminal with the intent of meandering across the islands of Venice toward our hotel. The last objective was met in the early afternoon after a coffee stop in a little cafe off a tiny plaza that bordered a canal with a small bridge next to which were parked two gondolas. The gondoliers were drinking coffee at the cafe when we arrived. After checking the price and finding it significantly lower than the going rate at the more populous venues we had inquired, we told them we'd like a ride after finishing our coffees. No problem.
The ride was the highlight of our day. Our gondolier and guide, Massimo, played his part perfectly, providing historical information on the island, the sites, the craft - interspersed with outbursts of singing. Several times we interrupted his monologue to quiz him about himself and other curiosities - which he seemed to enjoy. We discovered he was a fifth-generation gondolier in a second generation boat. He has twin daughters which he doesn't expect to follow him in the trade even though the first female gondolier was licensed the previous year. As he guided our boat through the canal canyons, under steeply arched bridges, out into the Grand Canal for a stretch before turning once again into an empty inner channel, chatting, singing, greeting the locals - all of which he seemed to know - we felt completely satisfied with our immersion into this historic custom. Grazie' Massimo! And keep the tip for your twins!
The Gondola Ride .......
ahh ... Venice ...
such a delight ...
serenity ...
joy ...
music ...
Thank you Massimo ... our gondolier!
As we plied the old cobblestone we had discovered a chinese restaurant early in the day. A hunger for asian food made us determined to return to the restaurant come evening, so Joe led us on a circuitous route for several hours all over the island and ALMOST returned us to our destination, but like the moving staircases in some Harry Potter novel, the alleyways seemed transformed and required a grid search of the area passageways to rediscover the restaurant. It was nice to have some rice and fish for a change. We ended the meal with dessert - fried bananas had caught Lyn's eye, while Serge tried fried ice cream and Joe fried coconut, and out of shear curiosity we had to order "fried milk". Nothing was what we expected and yet we found enjoyment in all of it - a reflection of the joys of traveling.
We still had a long jaunt back to our hotel in the twilight, window shopping, enjoying the quiet sound of footfalls on stone, passing conversations, a distant church bell marking the hour, all without the background noise of traffic… very nice. Home to bed with one regret - we didn't have another day to spend here…
Goodbye Venizia and goodbye Italy for now - we will be back ... we can feel it in our souls ...
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