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Published: January 31st 2008
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Well, we haven´t been in one place long enough to catch up on blogs so we are again behind but will try to catch up here. We started our travels in Italy in Milan, the fashion capital of the world (at least that is what they tell themselves). There were a lot of "beautiful people" and enough fur and leather to make a PETA member go nuts that´s for sure. We stayed in the city for a day and started our tour around town at the Plazza dei Duomo. The massive Duomo was started in 1386 but took five centuries to complete. It is also the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. Like most of the churches in Europe we have seen it had scaffolding on the outside but was still impressive with all of the stone work and sure size of the building. The interior was just as amazing with a huge collection of paintings, stone statues, and stone and wood works all around the walls. Truly an amazing building.
Once back outside we headed out of the square through the Gallerio Vittorio Emanuele and down to the Scala Opera House. From there we had a walk down to
the Castello Storzesco where we checked out some of the exhibits they had on display there which included some modern art, ancient Egyptian pieces, and Italian art from the middle ages. After the museum we headed off to the train station for our ride down to Venice.
In Venice we found a nice little hotel in the San Marco area close to the Grand Canal that was central to many sites of the city. We started our first day with a walk across the Accademia bridge and the area around the gallery enjoying the narrow streets, canals, shops, and great food. From there we headed off to the Piazza San Marco, the main square in Venice. We visited the Basilica San Marco and the Museo Marciano. The church was initially finished in 1094 but has been embellished significantly over the years. Many of the pieces on or in the church still date from the 11th-13th centuries. In the square we were also able to see the Campanile, the lighthouse turned clock tower, the Torre dell´ Orlogia, and the Plazza Ducale. We wandered through more of the narrow streets of the San Marco area and found a great Christmas market
near our hotel. We went back there many times for the Christmas cookies.
We were back at the Piazza San Marco the next day to see the inside of the Palazzo Ducale, the principal residence of the doge. This building was also refurbished and parts rebuilt but part of the current structure dates back to the 1340´s. The building was the center of power for the region up until the late 18th century and you can see this in the incredible interior rooms. The highlight of the many amazing rooms was the Sala del Maggior Consiglio which houses an immense painting - Paradiso- by Tintoretto. That evening we walked around the Dorsoduro area where we found a great little family run restaurant and had another great dinner.
We walked over to the Galleria dell´Accademia the next morning to see the extensive exhibit of Venetian artists. The Accademia was set up in the 1750´s as Venice´s school for painting, sculpture, and architecture and houses works by some great artists. We wandered around the gallery for a while before heading back over to the Piazza San Marco to finally get up in the Campanile for a great view of the
city. We could see all of the surrounding islands of Venice and many of the major buildings of the city.
From the piazza we headed up to the Ca d´Oro by water taxi (the only way to get around outside of walking). The Ca d´Oro is one of the great houses that sits on the Grand Canal and now houses a great collection of paintings, sculpture, and other objects. The facade of the house was once covered in gold leaf and was one of the great houses of the area. From the house we headed to the nearby Realto area to check out the shops.
We took a break from Venice and made a day trip up to the city of Verona which was an hour and a half away by train. We started our tour there at the Piazza Brá and the Roman arena there. Built in the first century this arena is the third biggest arena still in existence. From there we headed to the Castelvecchio along the Adige River, the Basillica di San Zeno Maggiore, and the Arche Scaligere which are the great funeral monuments of the Scaligere family. We finished the day with a
walk down to the Duomo and then a climb up into the Torre dei Lamberti to get a view over the city.
On our last day in Venice we walked over to the Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari church to tour the inside which contains the tomb of Titian as well as some of his paintings. From there we boated up to the Rialto market to see the great open air market of the city and to walk around the shops and over the famous Rialto bridge. After one last great lunch in the city we boarded our train for Vienna and headed out of Italy.
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