Venice

Our hotel in Venice is the Saturnia & International. Quite why it has that & is not explained. From talking to some of the other guests, it seems it is partway through modernising – we have card access to our room, but some are wielding enormous keys, and some don’t have USB ports. On the other hand, they have a view. Our view is of the building next to us’ wall.

After breakfast, we went for a guided walk around Venice with Michaela. The weather forecast wasn’t too flash, so we dressed appropriately. We went first to the Piazzetta Di San Marco, then into the Doge's Palace, which contains various audience, senatorial and consiglieri chambers; all covered in more art than you can shake a stick at, by names that you’ve heard before – Tintoretto, Canaletto, and various others who sound like types of pasta. Michaela also told us about the “lion mouths” – post boxes where you could write letters denouncing your neighbours for such sins as not paying taxes, or treason. We also saw the Grande Sale, or Big Room to you and me, where the entire council made up of all nobles over the age of 25 would meet. It is, indeed, a big room – the biggest in the world at the time it was built. There were various clocks around the place - including a 24-hour clock which demonstrates that our understanding of "clockwise" is in fact a fairly modern convention. We then passed over the Bridge of Sighs on the way to the dungeons, before returning over the Bridge of Sighs (of relief!) to return to the main square, Piazza Di San Marco.

Art by Tintoretto

An anti-clockwise 24-hour clock

 

I'm all a-quiver

The big pointy thing

At this point we broke for lunch. We found a café just off the main square for some nourishment, then reconvened to tour St. Mark’s Basilica, which contains many wonders, some of which had been “borrowed” from Constantinople during the 4^th Crusade. Much of it was legitimately made, though, and there are a lot of mosaics. We went up to the museum on the upper level to admire more mosaics, and also the four Horses of Saint Mark, originally made as early as 5^th century BC, but no-one’s really sure. Again, taken from Constantinople, and displayed on the loggia of the Basilica for many years, but now housed indoors for conservation purposes. The four horses which are now outside are replicas.

 

We met up with some of our group in the now-rainy square, and made our way back towards the hotel. We stopped along the way for a guided tour of Teatro Le Fenice, the opera house where we will see Mefistofele tomorrow. Our guide, Christina, told us all about the history of the opera house, including how and why it burned down so many times (the most recent being an attempted scam by electricians trying to avoid penalty clauses in their contracts for finishing their work late), and how the décor of the theatre was decided and executed. This includes a chandelier, originally a gift from the British royal family and made in Liverpool; sadly lost in the fire of 1996, and now replicated locally. We had a look in some of the boxes which don’t have as good a view as the stalls, apart from those at the back; and also at the ballroom on the 3^rd floor.

That concluded our tour and we returned to the hotel for a well-earned rest. Tonight we were due to go on a gondola ride but, given the weather, this has been postponed for a couple of days in the hope that meteorological conditions improve.

We will be dining in the restaurant tonight in a private room, and again listening to the vocal stylings of Bonnie and Kelly.