Date: Monday 26th May
Staying: Camping Fusina – Venice, Italy
Distance Travelled: 0 Miles
Song of the day: Under the Bridge – Red Hot Chili Peppers
There was one touristy thing that Laurie and I hadn’t done in Venice but intended to, and that was to visit the Doge’s palace (Pallazio Ducale). When Venice was independent (until Napoleon) the head of state was the Doge. He lived in a Palace that sits between the Basilica di San Marco and the Lagoon, along one side of the Piazza di San Marco.
The palace is most famous for the Bridge of Sighs (Ponte di Sospri), which connects the Palace to the Prison across a typical Venetian channel. Prisoners were taken directly across here after sentencing in the Palaces courts. The story of its name relates to the prisoners, when walking over the bridge, looking out of the windows of the bridge at Venice Lagoon and sighing as it will be there last sight of it for a very long time. The prisons were used up until the early 1900’s and, like the rest of Venice, are damp. It wouldn’t have been a nice incarceration.
The opulence and grandeur are what you would expect from a place such as this. There were frescos by Titian littering the place. I did find one error in the palace though. New Zealand was not on the maps that they had. Shocking oversight! Of course they were 300 years old.
After the Palace we took a trip to Murano to watch the glass blowers at work and do some shopping. Everything is a lot more expensive in Murano, but more elaborate as well. Some of the chandeliers were fantastic. The guys doing the glass blowing were quite nonchalant, but everything was timed like clock work, so they could be. They were probably sick of the tourists poking there noses into the factory all day, so could no longer feign enthusiasm. I was half expecting molten glass grenades to be lobbed our way to scare us off (now thats a picture).
Our last night in Venice and we were invited to a BBQ with some of the staff we had met over our previous 3 nights drinking. Great way to finish our stay! We plan on heading back for a night on the way to Como to break up the trip. Apparently there is a Sumo night on next Sunday which should be a laugh
Staying: Camping Fusina – Venice, Italy
Distance Travelled: 0 Miles
Song of the day: Under the Bridge – Red Hot Chili Peppers
There was one touristy thing that Laurie and I hadn’t done in Venice but intended to, and that was to visit the Doge’s palace (Pallazio Ducale). When Venice was independent (until Napoleon) the head of state was the Doge. He lived in a Palace that sits between the Basilica di San Marco and the Lagoon, along one side of the Piazza di San Marco.
The palace is most famous for the Bridge of Sighs (Ponte di Sospri), which connects the Palace to the Prison across a typical Venetian channel. Prisoners were taken directly across here after sentencing in the Palaces courts. The story of its name relates to the prisoners, when walking over the bridge, looking out of the windows of the bridge at Venice Lagoon and sighing as it will be there last sight of it for a very long time. The prisons were used up until the early 1900’s and, like the rest of Venice, are damp. It wouldn’t have been a nice incarceration.
The opulence and grandeur are what you would expect from a place such as this. There were frescos by Titian littering the place. I did find one error in the palace though. New Zealand was not on the maps that they had. Shocking oversight! Of course they were 300 years old.
After the Palace we took a trip to Murano to watch the glass blowers at work and do some shopping. Everything is a lot more expensive in Murano, but more elaborate as well. Some of the chandeliers were fantastic. The guys doing the glass blowing were quite nonchalant, but everything was timed like clock work, so they could be. They were probably sick of the tourists poking there noses into the factory all day, so could no longer feign enthusiasm. I was half expecting molten glass grenades to be lobbed our way to scare us off (now thats a picture).
Our last night in Venice and we were invited to a BBQ with some of the staff we had met over our previous 3 nights drinking. Great way to finish our stay! We plan on heading back for a night on the way to Como to break up the trip. Apparently there is a Sumo night on next Sunday which should be a laugh
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