Florence, Italy: Venice Day 2 (City for Lovers)

I started today deciding not to repeat yesterday: if I couldn’t find something without looking at a map, then I’d wait until later to explore and find it. So without using a map where did I get to? The Basilica di San Marco. I’d heard it was pretty, but that doesn’t begin to describe it. When I got inside I looked up and the entire ceiling was golden mosaics. The ENTIRE thing. I decided to do a bunch of the mini-tours once I got inside and they were pretty cool too. When I explored the treasure room I used one of the audio-headsets they had. The only thought that struck me, besides how amazing some of the stone chalices were, was that most of the treasures were stolen from the Orthodox church when Constantinople was conquered in the Fourth Crusade, and yet the Venetians still get SO much money just for charging people to see them. If they’re not going to give the treasures back, which is obvious, then why don’t they do something for ecumenical relations and not keep charging people so much to see something they stole? Or better yet, donate the proceeds for a certain time period back to the churches they stole them from. I know, historically some would say it’s not stealing; but it is!

After I toured the ground floor of the Basilica, I went up top to the Loggia dei Cavalli, which has the life-sized (if not bigger) bronze sculptures of the four horses. There I also got to see over the crowds and pigeons in the Piazza and also look at the mosaics at eye-level.

Rivaling the art as the best things I saw during the day was an ingenious man walking across the Piazza San Marco. The Piazza is famous for having more pigeons than people. This man, however, had a force-field the radius of a leash around him from all of the pigeons. He would let his dog have a field-day and no matter where he walked there was this circle of pavement without the dirty birds. It was so impressive!

I spend the first half of the afternoon in the Gallerie dell’ Accademia. Since I didn’t have a tour guide showing me around, I did one of the audio headset tours. Among my favorites were the Tintaretto Room (VI) which had his huge pieces of work inside an even bigger room. Trying to imitate some of the original viewing atmospheres, some of his pieces were placed up high, which added to the effect. I also loved Bellini’s Madonna con Bambino tra le Sante Caterina e Maddalena. The shadows he painted were so deep. Inside of this room was also a couple in their late 50s kissing a lot. It was kind of sweet and funny at the same time.

For the rest of the afternoon I went to Maria della Salute, where I listened to the Organ Vespers. There were stringed instruments with the organ, I think a violin and cello, and it was so calming. All of the frustration I’d had from the weekend melted away (the inside of the church was kind of warm too) and the sounds filled my ears. There aren’t many ways I can describe it without being cliche. Maybe it was a cliche experience; it was so re-centering and peaceful though.

Before coming back to the campgrounds I found out that I was wrong about yesterday: one can get around Venice without having to walk on water or take a gondola. There was a large connecting path that went from the back side of Maria della Salute around the canal. It was a nice, sunny walk — just what I needed. The thing I’d been noticing all day and fully realized when walking that path, though, is that Venice is a city for lovers. I think I passed almost two-dozen couples in the short distance and two of them were heavily making out in the alleys. It wasn’t completely unexpected, since that’s part of what Venice is famous for, but it definitely stood out since for a time that was all I was seeing.

When I got back to the center, I had dinner on the canal, reading for my Classical Rhetoric course, and enjoyed the warm afternoon sun glow on the city. I wish I could have stayed to see the city when it’s lit at night, but that’ll have to be another time I guess.