Venice Part II

Dear Family and Friends,

Our trip to Venice continued on Sunday, when we attended church at the local branch before venturing back into the old city. We were fortunate to be able to find a member who serves as a full-time interpretor for the church who was able to translate for us. Despite not knowing more than a few words in Italian, it was nice for us to meet some of the Italian saints and see how the church is progessing in that country.

 


Doge's Palace


The next day, we woke up early and dropped off our bags at the terminal for our trip to Greece. Since the ship was not due to set sail until the evening, we were able to go back into Venice and see the museums that we missed on the first and second days, including the Doge's palance and a few sights like the Rialto Bridge.


Saint Mark, the Patron of Venice

The Doge's palace is located on Piazza Saint Marco, the main square. It dates from the beginning of the fourteenth century and was home to the aristocratic rulers of Venice. There are several large halls filled with paintings painted ceilings that rival even the Palace of Versailles in France.



Winged Lion - Symbol of Venice

More importanly for the kids, the palace contained many of the things mentioned in the Magic Treehouse book that Julie read a few days earlier, including the Grand Staircase and statues of Neptune and the winged lion.

Nathaniel and Friend

In the courtyard, as in other parts of the city, there were Denotie Secrete, or complaint boxes for filing secret denunciations against neighbors for anything from poluting the water to not paying taxes. Apparently, this was not always the most fair process for investigating crimes in the city.



Denotie Secrete

The most famous aspects of the palace is the Ponte dei Sospiri, or Bridge of Sighs, that leads from the judicial chambers to the prison. It was through this bridge that prisoners got their last view of Venice before being taken to their cells.
 

In the Prison Block

One such prisoner was Casenova, the famous Venitian writer and lover, who was somehow able to escape in 1757 with the help of another cell mate. Judging from the dark cells, stone walls, and thick iron bars, it was difficult for us to imagine how anyone could have survived very long in the prison, let alone escaped. Years later, Casenova wrote that he was proud of the escape because he had "concluded that the thing could be done and had the courage to undertake it." Not surprisingly, our kids were much more impressed by the stark prison than by any of the huge paintings, statues, or ornate ceilings that we saw during the rest of our tour.




Looking out of the Bridge of Sighs



After visiting the doge's palace, we took a Vaporetto to the Rialto Bridge, one of only four bridges that cross the grand canal. The stone bridge was built in about 1500 and accomodates foot traffic, numerous small shops, and provides a great view of the canal with its gondolas.



Family on the Rialto Bridge



Although the main purpose of coming to Venice was to catch our cruise, we definately felt that we had a vacation within a vacation. We look forward to going back soon.

Chow,

Joe, Julie, Nicolas, Elyse, and Nathaniel