On to the Adriatic, Day 10, 9/01/26, Big Sights

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Breakfast on the hotel patio was an ‘open carry’ event.
The squirt guns were to defend against the pigeons.

Sunny skies;
Hi Temp 87;
Sunrise 6:33, Sunset 7:51;

We had the morning off;
Which meant that there were no organized excursions.
However the hotel offered to provide free transportation over to Murano Island – an offer too good to pass up.
So at 9:30 14 of us loaded into two taxies and enjoyed a quick (These guys LOVE to open their boats up when they get out of the canals!) trip to the island, where we were met by a really nice and friendly guy who showed us around.

We started in the glass blowing demo shop – where their masters probably take turns showing off for the masses.

This craftsman was making glass balls for a neckless.
Each ball took less than 2 minutes.

At another station they were making drinking glasses, using molds and inlaying millefiori decorations.

Next he “allowed us” to enter the showroom where lots of different pieces in many styles were displayed. Of course we had the option to purchase anything we saw. We were disinclined to accept their kind offer.

We even resisted this fine imitation of a space alien reaching out to suck out our brains.

Actually we were looking for a neckless to match Cheryl’s Murano ear rings but were unsuccessful.

Back at the hotel we just had time for lunch before the afternoon walking tour.

  • We walked thru the garden to the hotel’s dock and boarded a chartered bus to take us to St. Mark’s square.
  • Passing the art piece “Bridges” I got a better view of it.
  • We docked a short walk away from the plaza.
  • We walked past the statue of Victor Emanuel II, who united the many city-states to form modern Italy.
  • We passed the Bridge of Sighs.
  • Entering the plaza we met our guide.

Local ordinance requires one guide for every 16 people so our group required 2 guides.
We were divided in half and introduced to Elisa, our guide for the next two days.

She started by talking about the plaza and the bell tower.

It being high tide, water was puddling in St. Mark’s square.
Interesting elements in the clock tower include the people on top who strike the bell just before, and just after the hour.
She also told us the story (depicted in this mosaic on the front of the Cathedral) of how the remains of St. Mark were smuggled out of Alexandria, Egypt in a basket covered in pork. The Muslim customs agents refused to touch the pork and let the basket go thru uninspected.

We then entered the cathedral.
She gave us much information about the Cathedral, particularly about elements that were taken as “souvenirs” from Constantinople.

  • Spectacular Nave. Remember, this church was constructed as the private chapel of the Doge.
  • 12 apostles in a dome.
  • Leaved marble taken from Constantinople
  • Fascinating flooring (from guess where).
  • Rood screen with statues of 12 apostles, Mary, and St. Mark
  • Tomb of St. Mark under the alter.
  • Mosaic depicting the Judgement of Solomon
  • Scenes from the story of Joseph in the Old Testament book of Genesis
  • Scene of Joseph receiving his brothers
  • Mary holding Jesus.
  • Outside Cheryl posed with a lion
  • And we got a shot of the four horses – also a “souvenir” from Constantinople.

Actually the horses on top of the Cathedral aren’t the originals. They are covered in 24 karat Gold so they are kept indoors, out of the elements, in a section of the museum that we weren’t able to see. These are body doubles.

Next we moved to the Doge’s Palace.

  • View of the courtyard with St. Mark’s beyond
  • Audience chamber
  • Audience chamber
  • “Paradise” by Jacopo Tintoretto inside the Great Council Hall
  • Detail: “Paradise” by Jacopo Tintoretto
  • Images of past Doges in the Great Council Hall. The blacked-out image (upper left) is a Doge who tried to take over the government.
  • View of St. George Island from the Great Council Hall
  • Photo from the Bridge of Sighs of people taking photos of us.

Following the Doge’s Palace we were given a couple of hours to roam.
We were also given tickets to the Correr Museum at the other end of St. Mark’s square.
We first stopped for a cool drink (and a bit of ice cream) and ran into our trivia team from the ship.
We chatted for a while before they had to leave for their tour.
So we walked over to the museum to see what they had to offer.

They had an extensive collection of busts of Roman emperors and such, along with some impressive statuary.

Kneeling Gaul
Falling Gaul
Roman copies of Pergamene originals, late 3rd – mid 2nd c. BCE
Mithras Slaying the Bull, late 2nd – early 3rd Century Roman
Complaint Box, 17th c.; (I saw one of these on a wall in the Doge’s Palace.) The inscription reads (sort of) “Secret complaints against ministries and others who committed fraud to the public…”

They also had a couple of very impressive pieces.

Marco Polo’s will – valuable to scholars in determining the accuracy of his story.
Fra’ Mauro map – a masterpiece of late-medieval cartography with significant accuracy, based on historic, literary, and oral sources. Note that south is at the top on this map so Africa is at the top and Spain is to the right. The New World had yet to be discovered.

And apparently (though we walked right past a guard) we snuck in to an Egyptian section.

  • Magic Stele, Late New Kingdom
  • Ushabti Statues, various eras.
  • Osiris and Isis Breastfeeding Horus, VII – VI c. BCE
  • Mummy, 2-1 c. BCE
  • Mummy Mask, 2-1 c. BCE

They kicked us out of the museum about 45 minutes before we were to meet our group so we found a shady spot to sit and relax and read.

At the appointed hour we walked across St. Mark’s Square to our meeting point.
Along the way I mentioned that we were seeing quite a few RBF’s today.
It seems that the Louis Vitton fashion show is happening here this evening (sadly we don’t have tickets)
I just thought that was interesting.

We joined the group and walked (Giovanni said 15 minutes – it was more like a half-hour) to the restaurant.
Entering the courtyard we were struck by the glasswork (It was impressive in the daylight, but even more-so with lights shining on it at night.)

We were not the only couple to identify it as a Chuhuly.
Turns out there’s an exhibition of his work with several monumental pieces visible in the area. I’ll see if I can get more of them.

Dinner was excellent, and plentiful (so was the wine). And the conversation with new friends from Canada was pleasant.
But soon it was time to board taxis for our trip back to the hotel.

Our taxi took us along the Grand Canal and I got a few interesting night-time pictures.

Tomorrow evening we will have a guided tour of the canal so I may have more information then.

Back at the room we were exhausted – the sun, walking, and wine taking their toll. So I posted a few teasers and then joined Cheryl who had long since crashed.

Another day tomorrow.
We start with a walking tour to the Rialto Market.

Till then,
R

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