Day Thirteen

DAY THIRTEEN

We woke at around 7.20am for our final day in Venice. I have to say the time spent here has been refreshing and an amazing period for “soul time”. After a breakfast of Sausage, Mushrooms, Tomato and Brinjal – Michelin Style as per usual, we got ready to leave for the ferry to Venice at 10.00am. John-Mark discovered first hand Betsy’s amazing way to leave one’s back feeling particularly tight and stiff throughout. The day started with some promise as the sun started to shine through on route to the island. We had our first real strange event of the trip to Europe as once we had left the dock on the ferry, we were forced to back up and out of the way for a huge Barge carrying immense concrete foundations bound for Venice. The strange part was that we sat waiting for around 10 minutes while the Barge plodded along at a snails pace and then proceeded to move aside so that we could speed past at high speed to recover some lost time on route to Venice The really fun part was that we flew across the top of the waves this morning and the ride was a lot of fun.

Our first stop in Venice was at the Grande Church in the main Piazzo – San Marco. The Church was first built in the year around 800AD and subsequently restored after a fire in 1457. The church is without doubt the most ostentatious Church I have ever seen. The gold leaf and marble used in its expansive construction was a sight to behold. The effects of the sinking city can be seen throughout the church though as the floor as subsided throughout. The building is quite a somber reminder of how much the Church in Europe has played a significant role in the rule of nations throughout time. The cost of the construction of this church as ordered by the “Doje” of the time must have been huge. The “Doje” was the appointed ruler at the time. The Doje is appointed by the Cardinal under the guidance of the Catholic Church and is required to rule until death. The Doje is also not permitted to leave his Palace – which we subsequently visited – and only on specific occasions and with permission is the Doje allowed to travel outside of Venice during his rule. The Doje’s ruled right until the late 18th Century and after our visit to the palace next door to the Church, we learnt the extreme powers afforded to the regime of the time and the strict manner in which they ruled the people of the time.

The palace was strangely enough no where near as fancy as we expected. The quarters of the Doje were large but not as spectacular as one would have thought. The meeting rooms where senate was held and numerous other smaller chambers where groups of senior members met were on the other hand quite unbelievable. The Splendor of the halls and meeting rooms showed the extent again of the power and rule during the time of Venice’s position as a world leader in Trade and banking etc. We also got a chance to explore the Prisons of the Doje since they link directly to the Palace of the Doje. We also got to walk across the Bridge of Sighs that links the Courts where a prisoner’s fate is decided and he then takes his final walk across the Bridge of Sighs to the prison on the other side of the Canal. The name came from the Sighs of the prisoners on their final look at freedom before going to prison.

We finished at the palace and prison at around 2 pm and decided to find the Chinese restaurant that Glenn and I visited two days ago and have a bite to eat. The Lunch at the restaurant was great and after the meal we went for out last shopping trip around Venice. The shopping trip was very busy and all three of us managed to get quite a few pressies and had great fun in shopping around for good deals. We decided that having come all the way to Venice we couldn’t go back home without taking a romantic ride on a Gondola. Glenn and I have already agreed that if there were three of us on the Gondola and not just him and me, they may agree not to give us the whole romantic deal. We took the Gondola ride to the Rialto Bridge and enjoyed the experience and the different perspective it gave to our view of the City.

The prices always seemed to get better the further away we got from the main tourist trap areas and after walking around 10 kms for the day, we made our way to the ferry for our return trip back to the campsite. We arrived back to the campsite for a Hot Chocolate and biscotti’s. Glenn and I are decidedly bushed from the day’s walk whilst the ever fit John-Mark is fighting fit. I hope that I will be able to keep the young men up later tonight since they are already eying their bed. I am afraid to say that this more distinguished man appears to have the staying power. I really am working on building up Glenn’s ability to stay up but who knows what the outcome will be over the next 2 weeks of our trip to Eastern Europe. John-Mark leaves us in the morning back to Interlaken and we leave at 8.00am for Bled in Slovenia.