Day 10 9th Dec 2023 Venice Post 3

 Weather : Sunny 6 - 10 C 

Taken from my diary ; Wake up with a smile on my face. After toiletries, we head up to 3rd floor for simple American breakfast, the 8.30 am slot. Meet the tea lady there and another couple who are Europeans and also on holidays.

10.30 am Walk around St Mark's Piazza and went to the Doge's Palace.We bought the St Mark's Pass which entitles the holder to the Doge's Palace and a couple of museums around the Piazza.

We enter the palace after a short wait and we are amazed at the size of the meeting hall which apparently is the largest in Europe ! 

There are numerous frescos depicting all the Saints and all the wars fought by the Venetians in the yesteryear. To say we were awed by the room is an understatement,

We crossed over the Bridge of Sighs, which meant for the prisoners, the last time they would ever cross over and never going to come back across alive, hence the name. There were the prison cells which were surprisingly brightly lit.

 
Another picture of my wife across one of the bridges and with gondolas in the background.

Lunch was a rather bleary affair, I daresay the worst of the entire trip, at a streetside pizzeria. We went to out meeting point for our walking tour. 

3pm 

We went on a fascinating walking tour led by the interesting guide Andreas. He gave a fascinating insight into how clever the early Venetians were in the past. They were active tradesmen, craftsmen, sea farers (Marco Polo was a Venetian), engineers, artists and warriors.

The paintings at the Doge Palace depict wars with the Ottomans (Turks) in the late 15th Century. Suleiman (12th century) and the Gauls (French). All these magnificent wars were carried out over the last 1000 years and the Renaissance was right smack in it too !

We walked to the Grand Canal and were taught that Venice is actually one big lagoon with 3 'islands' protecting if from the Adriatic Sea. Lido island is the largest of the 3 islands comprising Venice.

We also walked to certain precints, and saw he disused wells where the early Venetians gathered rainwater and filtered  the rainwater through sand. A brilliant engineering concept which also catered for excess water overflow. I guess there are pumps in the overflow tanks when the dry season came.

Finally, all of Venice is laid on millions upon millions of petrified oak pylons. Petrification takes place when there is no oxidation od the wood and the structure solidifies, like concrete. Brilliant engineering concept applied again !

The banks and the shores of Venice are made of Isthian Stone, whatever that is.