Venezia: Parte Due

From the water taxi

My second day in Venice had a somewhat later start than it might have because I waited until 11 again so I could switch into another room, since that was the only option available when I made my reservation. The main goal of the day was to visit all of the principle attractions around San Marco, which I reached by taking the water taxi, a fun and interesting experience.

A furtively captured photo of the great room of the Doge's Palace

The Golden Staircase

I looked at going into the Basilica first, but the line was quite long. Because of this I went to the Doge’s Palace and found that, for the price of a ticket, the line was considerably shorter. The Doge’s Palace was frankly mind-blowing. I will confess I have not yet visited the Hofburg or Schonnbrun in Vienna, and I should compare the trappings of those locations to the opulence of the Doge’s Palace. Still, I was amazed at how much gold, gilt, and carving there was in this one building. From a historical perspective, however, it was also interesting to learn how over the course of several hundred years, the Doge turned from a real colleague, in terms of power, of other Dukes to an essential prisoner of the oligarchy, despite still serving functions for the city-state of Venice. He was even supposed to leave the Doge’s Palace only with an escort and only from the city with prior notification and only for a short distance and time period. I first was treated to a view of the Golden Staircase, so named for the gilding on its ceiling and created as a stunning entrance for guests. I then moved from room to room, almost all of which had some sort of richly patterned cloth on the walls and gilding and paintings on the ceiling. 

Not only did the Doge share, or perhaps give all of, his powers to the councils of the city, he also shared his building with them. Many of the rooms I visited were intended as meeting rooms for the various councils, as well as for the judicial councils responsible for meting out justice. A few of the rooms were also wear the Doge consulted with the councils. One has a painting of Jesus in a central position and it was therefore said that the Doge prayed for the council to accept whatever proposal he brought before them. The largest of these council rooms was mind blowing in its proportions. It was almost amazing that the ceiling could be supported with no arches or supports in between, much less have all the woodwork, gilding, and painting on it, as well. A less important room, one of the waiting chambers for these large council rooms possessed maps of the world in the 18^th Century. It was very neat to see what they thought about the world, and how much, actually, they really did know at that point. The maps were not confined to any region, and encompassed the majority of the world’s surface. There were also two of the largest globes I have ever seen, one for the world and one for the heavens.

Prisons!

Pointy-Things and Anti-Pointy-Things

After the tour of the Palace proper, I crossed the Bridge of Sighs into the prisons. I toured the entire section of the prisons that was open, looking into cells of various sizes and capacities and investigating the meager conditions to which prisoners would have been subject. Prior to this, I also toured an exhibit of arms and armor. Fascinated as I am by military history, this was a really cool exhibit to see. There were many perfectly preserved examples of maces, mauls, shortswords, daggers, longswords, and greatswords. There were also plenty of lances, crossbows, and guns. Accompanying these were breastplates, helms, and even armor for horses. At the end was a particularly nasty looking gun with many, many barrels. They are not things I particularly laud for their purpose, but it was fascinating to look at them and think what part they had played in history. Ah, also, they had the sword of lances or halberds that one thinks of arming guards in an area such as Venice.

Look! Advertisements and Tourists!

On my way back across the Bridge of Sighs I was on the correct side of it (as it is divided in half inside) to look out on the typical view. Through the stone bars I could see out to the massive cathedral across the water and also see all the tourists on the bridge looking up at the exterior view. The advertisements detracted here, as well. Byron may have been wrong in his assertion that prisoners were sighing because it was their last view of Venice before life imprisonment (as they were petty criminals likely to see daylight again and also they had little time to look through the relatively small bars of the bridge), but neither the misjudged quote of a Romantic poet, the advertisements, nor the crowds outside could significantly diminish the impressive view out of the lattice windows of the Bridge of Sighs.

The Basilica's gilt mosaic domes

My next stop was the Basilica, as it had grown quite late by this point and I wanted to get in before it closed. The amazing and unique thing about this particular cathedral is its gold mosaic work. Almost the entire ceiling (except where it’s accented to form even more impressive depictions of various scenes) is covered in gold-leaf mosaic. Out of different color tile, the entire floor is also done in a mosaic style. While the stuff between the ceiling and the floor might not have been quite as impressive, these factors alone made the Basilica gorgeous and stunning. It was nice, also, to be able to see some of the history of mosaic making in an upstairs exhibit and to travel around the altar to see the incredible golden centerpiece that is the focal point of the Basilica. Before leaving, I travelled up onto the Basilica balcony. This offers the best vantage point of Piazza San Marco, an elevated look at the Doge’s Palace, and a close up vantage point to see the murals adorning the outside of the Basilica. Even the roof, with its many domes and its worked stone, was impressive. I got great photos from up here.

Artistic shot of Piazza San Marco from the Basilica

Me on the Basilica

Me on the Basilica again

Venice from the Campanile

The Basilica from the Campanile

If great photos came from the Basilica, perhaps the most impressive were snapped from the top of the Campanile. The bell tower might not have the impressive gilt of the Doge’s Palace or the Basilica, but its sheer height and size made up for that. I was glad to be able to take an elevator to the top, imagining what it must have been like before the establishment of such modern devices inside. The top of the bell tower offered a panoramic view of the entire city, as well as a look down on the top of the Basilica, Doge’s Palace, and Piazza San Marco. It was cool to be able to see the whole of the island of Venice, with all its nooks, crannies, and secrets. It was also neat to get a layout of the whole lagoon and to have a very present reminder that while Venice is an island, it is not, in fact, the only island in the lagoon.

One of the bells ringing - very loud!

I was very lucky while in the Campanile to be there at one of the few times it tolls on the hour. The task has been relegated to the smaller gate bell tower to Piazza San Marco for regular tolling. It was very cool to see the many (perhaps as many as 5? 8?) bells of different tones ringing just above my head. I was trying to guess the intervals between them, and many were very close intervals (probably because it gets more attention…). Needless to say, these huge bells were also quite deafening. Still, if I’m going to have hearing loss, it’s experiences like that one that I’d like to contribute to the loss.

Once I was back on the ground I was hungry, but did not yet want to eat dinner. I therefore went and got three scoops of ice cream: Straciatella, Cioccolato, and Vaniglia. I can say, without a doubt, hands down, this was the best ice cream I have ever had. The Vaniglia was especially tasty.

A beautiful sunset view across the water from Piazza San Marco

After this treat, I did a bit more shopping before heading to a place I’d singled out the night before as a potential dinner location. I was a little worried when I inspected the menu more closely, but once I got inside I found I really liked the place; it was very cozy. I had two courses to make up a meal here. The first was my favorite: carpaccio on rucola. I must say that while it wasn’t hand over fist the best I’ve ever had, it was very good. To compliment this I had for a second course spaghetti with an olive oil sauce, garlic, and hot peppers. This was excellent.

The moon and the sunset off the Doge's Palace

My final task for the evening was going to get hot chocolate in the Piazza San Marco. I sat outside at a café and, to my grand surprise, found that cioccolata lavena was the high class Italian form of peppermint hot chocolate. While I kind of wanted to try the basic variant simply because it would give me the best sense of the hot chocolate itself, I figured I had to try the peppermint kind. Ten Euros later, it came out served on a silver platter, with a mint leaf in it, and a beaker of water to accompany it. While Starbucks peppermint hot chocolates are definitely good, this was a very different more sophisticated taste. Unlike the Viennese hot chocolate, it was, in fact, sweet. Here, like the ice cream, I think I have to say that this was the best peppermint hot chocolate (and hot chocolate overall) that I have had the pleasure to taste.

This is what a $13.59 peppermint hot chocolate looks like

Starbucks won’t fail me, it’s just a richer, less delicate concoction. After finishing my hot chocolate I sat and read George R.R. Martin’s A Dance with Dragons, getting close enough to the end that I could finish it the next day. The time this took let the crowds in Piazza San Marco thin a bit. I couldn’t stay long enough for the square to be completely empty, as some suggest you should, but I still got to see it much more vacant and barren. Another highlight of this experience was the band. I thought the band was kind of hokey, playing Italian, Neapolitan, Opera, and Popera tunes. Still, it was fun, especially when a man from the crowd joined in and sang Granada and O sole mio and the band just incorporated him like it was nothing, giving him the high notes, etc. He had a wobbly old baritenor, but it was still fun. The most stirring moment, however, was when the band (alone, without audience participation), was playing a rendition of Nessun Dorma, and at the resolution at the end (the orchestral end, not the vocal high note), the bells tolled the hour, perfectly in time.

Travelling back to the hotel at night was a little bit eerie, especially the few times I strayed from the main tourist path (it’s not always clear where to go) and ended up in narrow dark alleys. Still, that is Venice.