Venice!!!!!!!!!!!!

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A Day in Venice!!!

It was a VERY early in the morning when we got on the train to Venice at 7:26. It was about a 2 hour train ride with one change of trains in Monselice. When we got on our second train, there wasn’t a single seat open. I was a little worried that it was going to be a really long train ride standing up the whole way but luckily when the train got to Padova a bunch of people got off and we all managed to get seats.
We got to Venice a little after 9:30 and Dr. Lees held up our little sign that said “Montagnana… Iowa” so that we could find the guide that would take us to our first event. We were suppose to have an official welcome to Venice at 10:00. However our welcome was cancelled because of scheduling conflicts so we had until noon to shop. YEY!!!


Venice is known for their Murano glass so there were tons of stores devoted to glass jewelry, vases, figurines and more. The most interesting part was trying to figure out the true Murano glass from the fake Chinese versions. Matt became my shopping buddy! We have no idea if everything that we bought is true Venetian glass or if some of it is fake, but who cares we bought it in VENICE!!!


At noon we met our guide who then took us through the streets of Venice to the restaurant where we ate lunch. Walking through Venice is really interesting because you go back and forth across bridges and zigzag your way through the city. It was truly beautiful and totally surreal that we were walking the streets of Venice. The whole way to lunch we were contemplating our tour of the city. I kept saying that I thought we would HAVE to have a boat tour since that is like the only way you can truly see Venice… but Becky said that I really should get my hopes up. And since learning how expensive gondola rides cost I knew that our city tour was going to be my only chance of getting to see Venice by boat.
While we were sitting at lunch we had the opportunity to ask our guide if we would get a boat ride and she said YES! We were going to get about a 15 minute boat ride to the city center!


Lunch was good, but seafood. I stood by my policy of always trying things at least once and I tried the muscles in my risotto, but then decided to pick them and the shrimp out and feed them to Matt. Our main course was a fish similar to Sea Bass with potatoes, olives and tomatoes which was EXCELLENT!! Dessert was a lime sorbet that was also amazing!!!


While we were eating lunch the Director of Cultural Relations for the Venito Region came and visited us. He welcomed us to Venice and the Venito Region. Then he gave Dr. Lees and Charolette Venitian glass vases as a gift and we all received little gift bags that had Venetian flags and a flag stand in them. He and Dr. Lees talked a little bit more about the possibility of setting up connections between Italy and UNI and then we headed out to start our tour of Venice.


Our tour started with our boat ride to the main square of Venice. Because of our special arrangements we got to ride in special boats that reserved for special guests of the city. :D I can’t not believe the amazing welcomes we keep receiving!


The boat ride through Venice is my favorite part of the trip so far. I got to sit in the back part of the first boat and kept snapping pictures the whole time. We left the area of Venice near the train station and I was amazed by how unusual the city is because of the water. The first part of Venice we were in had more modern architecture mixed in with the older homes and I commented on how I wished that there wasn’t any newer buildings, and then suddenly we turned a corner and we entered the older part of Venice. It was amazing. The waterways were wider and the homes older and ornate. I don’t think I shut my mouth the entire boat ride. The wider water ways lead to the mouth of Venice where the main square of Venice is.


The square marked the end of our boat ride which made us all very sad but we were excited to finish our tour. As we walked off of the docks and towards the Venetian palace we crossed what is known as the bridge of sighs, the bridge that prisoners crossed on their way to be executed between the two marble columns at the front of the square.


Our first tour was of the Venetian Palace that sits on one side of the square. We really felt like we had won an all-inclusive Disney “Fast Pass” because we were led pass the HUGE line of people waiting to get tours and to the side door where we were outfitted with headsets so that we could hear our tour guide.
The Venetian Palace was a mixture of styles from Romanesque to Baroque because of the many reconstructions done after fire had destroyed the majority of the palace. The building was so ornately decorated with venetian style columns, arches and molding that it was awesome.


The tour was extremely interesting because Venice actually used to be its own republic and the palace was its seat of government. There were several big name painters who we got to see including Titian and Tintoroni in the different rooms devoted to the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
The palace was an all-inclusive governmental building including the prison. They even had a torture chamber and torture instruments. We also got to tour the dungeons.


Our next tour was of the Basilica of Saint Mark. Again we got to use our “Disney Fast-Passes” and skip the long line of people waiting in the hot sun to get into the Basilica. The mosaics on the outside of the Basilica almost rivaled those of the Orvieto Cathedral, but the sculptural aspects of its façade are all its own. The same venetian style of decoration was seen all over the venetian palace. Although the Ornateness of the façade suggests gothic it has Romanesque arches and sculptures of people on the top.
We started our tour by going up to the roof of the Basilica where we watched the 400 year old Clock tower strike 4:00. The clock tower’s bells were rung by two bronze statues of men holding hammers that swing back and then hit the bell.


Inside the Basilica we got to view the 4 equestrian statues that had once sat at the front of the building but have since been replaced by replicas so that the originals won’t get damaged. The intricate detail in these bronze statues is incredible and they are some of the oldest and best examples of equestrian statues known. This is why they are in about every Art History textbook known!


The Basilica of Saint Mark is also known as the “Golden Basilica” because of the gold leafed mosaics all over the inside of the Basilica. The mosaics are beautiful, especially those in the byzantine style. The floor of the basilica has become severely uneven because of the steady sinking of the city. (The city was built on small sandy islands) The floor is extremely warped and bizarre, but beautiful because there is something like 64 different types of marble that make the beautiful mosaic patterns.


The Basilica houses the body of Saint Mark which was stolen from Alexandrian by early Christians who hid his remains underneath a pile of pork so that the Muslims checking their boat would not investigate further. They brought his body to Venice where the Basilica was created to house his remains in the alter. I wish we had had a little bit more time inside the Basilica but we were rushed a little bit by our tour guide.


After our tour of the Basilica we said “Chow” to our tour guide and our guide of the city. They tried to explain to us how “simple” it was to get to the train station. It was just a straight zigzag path through the center of Venice. And when all else failed they told us to follow the signs that said “Staione”.
Confident that we could all make it to the train station with no problem we decided to start heading towards the station and shop along the way. My shopping buddy, Matt, and I ended up separated from the rest of our group and immediately knew that this wasn’t going to be such an “simple” navigation. The city of Montagnana had put maps of Venice in that giant packet of information they gave us but few of us had seen it in there so only several people in our group even had maps… Matt and I were one of those who didn’t have a map.


We wandered for a while going in the direction that we thought was right. Then we stopped to ask directions from a souvenir shop owner who told us that we had gone in the wrong direction for a few blocks. So we turned around and headed back in that direction, hoping that we maybe would find someone else from our group. When we had gone a little more and still didn’t have a clue where to go we stopped and asked a gentleman and his wife who were toting suitcases (luckily they spoke English and had a map) They pointed us in the general direction and recommended that we get a boat “bus” to take us there because it would be easier. Since we didn’t have the funds for the bus we decided to risk it on foot some more.


Just when we thought things were getting a little hopeless we ran into Betsy and Anneliese who had remembered their map! Even though we all stuck together and were using a map, we still were barely able to navigate through the heart of Venice. We ended up seeing all the tiny little alley ways and back streets which really gave us the feel of the city, but I was glad we had Matt with us!
After asking directions from one more person, we finally made it to the train station with just enough time to spare for Matt to run and grab the gift he had picked out for his mom and grab a little Gelato before hopping on the train.


Matt and I hopped on the train and pick out seats in a fairly empty cabin. We had been sitting there for a while, waiting for the train to leave before I started to wonder why people in the next cabin were all standing like they didn’t have seats. Then I noticed the “1” on the door of this cabin. We had accidentally sat in the first class cabin. We decided to move before someone came around and caught us. (The fines for stuff like that is horrendous in Europe). We did have to stand in the second class cabins for quite a while before we got seats.


When we got back to Montagnana, Elizabetta and the other hostel staff had prepared us a home cooked supper outside on the back patio. The food was delicious and bed sounded really good too!

Tomorrow is our 50km bike ride that I am a little bit nervous for. But I am excited to see a little Italian countryside up close!

Chow!!

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