Venice is wet and wonderful!

Once we disembarked from our vvvbCs, after having to pack our bags again. It was quite sad having to take our belongings out of the cupboards and drawers that only 8 days before we had so lovingly packed into them. We had said goodbye to our 3 wonderful Bali waiters the night before and farwelled our cabin lady who serviced our cabin twice a day...it was spotless...and I had asked her to dispose of that "wretched" broken suitcase because I had a brand new Turkish suitcase...and she asked if she could keep it for herself, with broken handle, zip and all. We were delighted that she would be able to use it...makes you think, doesn't it?

So as we walked away from the vvvbCs, we walked toward our next destination...Venice...but this time we were wise and "we knew" exactly where we going this time...we are "seasoned" travellers now...ha! We arrived at San Marco Square with some sketchy address for our Monastery stay for the next three nights...and there was water, water everywhere...the square was under water. We had been away for just one week and Venice had sunk.

Soooooooooooo, now we had to drag our luggage along specially arranged platforms (no Venice hasn't sunk yet...although the word is that it is sinking 1mm per year, 1 cm every ten years...etc. It's dicey and there is no solution) about 1 and half metres wide, sharing it of course with people dragging lugguage the other way. It becomes really intersting when people stop to take pictures...and this happens alot, as there are picturable things every step along the way. Did I say I loved Venice? I love Venice...David likes Venice, but after 5 days (we had two extra days here) he was over the water everywhere.

We finally found our Monastery, but couldn't go in because it was home time...huh? Home time for all the "little" Italian darlings who go to school at the monastery, and who were being met by their mums and dads. 20 minutes later we were allowed in and shown to our very austere room. What was I expecting after 5 star accommodation on the vvvbCs???????? What no TV??? Although I do need to be grateful that the bathroom was attached and not down the hall. Twin beds...no chance of pushing them together...sigh!! (Ask us about the alarm button!!) What a contrast! But actually it was quite enjoyable, eating pizza and drinking red wine in our small room!!

But what about Venice itself? There is so much to see and do in such a small area...so much history, again we realised how little we know about this part of the world...

Our first stop was church (Catholic) on Sunday morning...mass in English. We were 2 of 5 worshippers. We listened carefully to the priest and watched carefully the lady in front, who was obviously a local, and we were blessed by the preaching of the word (some of it I got!! About advent...) Once the service was finished we turned around the to greet the other English speaking worshippers...Americans...we lunched together, visited the Basilica together, had wine and cheese back at the monestary together...Christians, yes and wait for it...Lutherans!! We couldn't believe it, 4 out of 5 worshippers in a Catholic church were Lutherans.

St Mark's Basilica is stunning, even when it's underwater. It is jaw droppingly gorgeous...I've lifted this from a website re the basilica because I don't have the words to describe it "inside, the first thing you notice are the gilded mosaics that cover the walls and ceilings — an area of around 8,000 square meters.
The 12th-century interior mosaics recount events of the New Testament, with the message of Christian salvation. The 13th-century mosaics depict scenes from the Old Testament, in particular the books of Genesis and Exodus, providing a thematic preparation for the interior. Interwoven with this main plan are such motifs as the story of the Virgin, the martyrdoms of St. Peter and St. Clement, and events in the lives of St. John the Evangelist, St. John the Baptist and St. Isadore, the great pantheon of saints venerated by the Venetians. But most important of all are the cycles with the legend of St. Mark. The gold background is meant to impress, but also symbolizes the Divine and the light of God himself." Impressed...I've never seen so much gold (real gold) ever...we were impressed.

We went back another day to check out the high altar..again words fail me "over the high altar is a baldacchino on columns decorated with 11th-century reliefs. The altarpiece is the famous Pala d'Oro (Golden Pall), a panel of gold embedded with gems. It was commissioned from Byzantine goldsmiths in 976 and further embellished over the centuries. Napoleon stole some of the precious stones in 1797, but there are still plenty left, gleaming behind protective glass." Very impressive!!

We climbed to the balcony through the museum and found some real treasures, all very old. The horses on the top were spectacular...although copies as the real ones were inside being protected from the weather. I think pics are the best way to show off our stay in Venice. We also did the Correr Museum and the Doge Palace famous for the bridge of Sighs. Love it, love it (like it!)

Side view of St Mark's with the water
drying up!



The horses on the balcony of St Mark's
basilica!




Dinner at a little restaurant on the canal over the
Rialto bridge! Lovely!



Bridge of Sighs under restoration! We
also saw it from the inside. This little bridge
was used to take prisoners over to the
prisons, which we cold, dark and damp!

Looking out over the grand canal from the top of St Mark's.



The gold jewell encrusted high altar of St Mark's.
Stunning!