This morning was our day to head off to Venice. As we prepared to leave Florence we thought about what we enjoyed about Florence. Many comments are heard about the architecture, the history, the museums and galleries. I am not sure which enjoyed the most. The art galleries gave us a chance to see original art work that we have heard about all our life. We got to see famous statues such as David. In addition we walked around the narrow streets that are all cobbled, paved or bricked looking up on each side at taller (3 to 4 stories height) buildings with history and age.
Having said all that we also realized that to really appreciate all that Florence has to offer in history, culture and richness in the arts, we would need to spend weeks here. We learned after a couple of days that there is a limit to how many art galleries you can really appreciate in one day or streets that have a unique quality to be noted in one day. We are glad we came and with our limited time we can appreciate why so many people talk about Florence as a time capsule to provide a window into the culture and history of years gone by. As a sidebar, we really enjoyed our hotel we stayed at and the people who own it. They were helpful (telling us about the DFL cafeteria) and suggesting ways to get around the city.
We left Florence thinking that one day it might be well worth returning. We have heard so much about Tuscany food and wines. We sample table wine quality but not much of the food. Next time perhaps we will plan to stay longer and spend time outside the city and see more of the lifestyle of the Tuscany area.
We took the train directly to Venice from Florence. It was a very pleasant ride and the countryside was basically agricultural. With this being spring here there was not a lot to see except of course for the usual farmer’s spring – tilling and seeding. The vineyards were just starting to show some new growth and really not a lot of flowers in bloom. Just a few trees scattered along in full bloom but I am not sure what they were – they looked like cherry or apple trees but hard to be sure.
We got to Venice to get off the train, walk about 50 meters to the Grand Canal and get a ticket for the water bus. What a great way to be introduced to Venice. We went from the train station all the way to the Plazza S. Marco. Along the way we enjoyed the massive ancient buildings with a variety of designs and paintings. Parked in front of all these buildings are ‘parking slots’ for boats. The Grand Canal is very busy with every type of small watercraft possible moving up and down this ‘main street’ of Venice. It was funny to see only a few bridges crossing, several side canals intersecting and absolutely no vehicles, bikes or motorcycles.
Piazza San Marco (often known in English as St Mark's Square), is the principal public square of Venice, Italy, where it is generally known just as "the Piazza". All other urban spaces in the city (except the Piazzetta and the Piazzale Roma) are called "campi" (fields). The Piazzetta (the 'little Piazza') is an extension of the Piazza towards the lagoon in its south east corner (see plan). The two spaces together form the social, religious and political centre of Venice and are commonly both considered together. This article relates to both of them.
At the Plazzza we found crowds again. This Plaza which houses the Bascillica di S. Marco is a huge open plazza surrounded on all four sides by structures. The most prominent one is the Bascillica but also there is the Palazzo Ducalea, the Procuratie Vecchie and the Procuartie Nuove. Inside is the clock tower and several other statutes.
After we followed our Google map to the hotel – which was very interesting for sure since it is just off the San Marco Square but to get to it we have to take a NARROW lane for about 20 meters, then turn right in another narrow lane for about 10 meters, then left for about 50 meters. A glass door wedged between two store fronts is the entrance to the hotel. The best clue we had was a lamp over the door with the name of the hotel on it – and it was not a large lamp. You then walk in to the “lobby” which really is a narrow hallway, up about 3 steps and look sharply to your right to find a small lobby. Don’t try to turn around with your backpack on because you will be touching the wall. So we checked in, backed out to the hallway and climbed the stairs. Our room is really nice with two windows with shutters that when opened gives us a close view of the lane we just walked down. Fortunately the sound proofing is excellent with the windows closed.
We then headed back to the Piazzo San Marco’s to start our sightseeing. We were able to get a ticket that permitted us to visit all the museums in the Piazzo (4 in total) plus one more in Venice. Our first goal was to visit the Palazzo Ducale.
The Doge's Palace (Italian: Palazzo Ducale) is a historical building in Genoa, northern Italy. Once the home of the Doges of Genoa, it is now a museum and a centre for cultural events and arts exhibitions. It is situated in the heart of the city, with two different entrances and facades, the main one on Piazza Matteotti, and the second one on Piazza De Ferrari. The first parts of the Palace were built between 1251 and 1275, during the flourishing period of the Republican history of Genoa, while the Torre Grimaldina (also named "Torre del Popolo" - Tower of the People) was completed in 1539.
After we spent a couple of hours touring the Palazzo Ducale we decided to walk around and explore some more of Venice. The hotel gave us a good map so we felt comfortable walking around even though all the books tell us that we would likely get lost. It is amazing to walk down these narrow lanes with tall buildings on both sides around corners and over bridges. Everything is so clean and tidy even though the buildings are very old with interesting designs. Another interesting sensation is the total lack of any types of vehicles. Obviously there are no cars, no motorbikes or even bicycles – only boats. That is ok, there are plenty of students again.
Speaking of students, it amazes me how many students we have been seeing touring Italy and this is no exception. For retired teachers this could be considered a nightmare since it creates flashbacks of a over populated school’s hallways between classes.
At the edge of the Pazzio we were checking out options of touring some islands and found a company offering a 4 hour tour that included 3 islands (including a glass factory tour and Venice Lace workshop) so we picked up our ticket for tomorrow.
As we walked through a small square we noticed the Museo della Musica with a sign of free entry. So we decided to have a look. It is a very small museum but had classical music playing in the back ground. The exhibits were of musical instruments but what really caught our attention was the advertisement for a concert. We impulsively decided to attend the concert for tonight - Interpreti Veneziani – Concert of Antonio Vavaldi’s Four Seasons. We bought the tickets, found out where the concert hall was and decided to continue our explorations to find the hall so we knew were to head this evening.
As it turns out the hall is just on the opposite side of the Grand Canal from the Gallerie dell’Accademia so we decided to check if our ticket we bought for the Palazzo Ducale could be used for entrance with the plan we would go through it tomorrow if our ticket was good. As it turns out our ticket is not good for entrance here but since this is Cultural Week, entrance is free today. So since we had the time and the entrance fee is waived, we wandered in.
The Accademia (Gallerie dell'Accademia) is a museum gallery of pre-19th century art in Venice, northern Italy. Situated on the south bank of the Grand Canal, within the sestiere of Dorsoduro, it gives its name to one of the three bridges across the canal, the Ponte dell'Accademia, and to the boat landing station for the vaporetto water bus. It was originally created as an art school.
After we left the Gallerie dell’Accademia we really were tired but had about 2 hours before the concert so headed back to the room for a rest.
The concert was incredible. It was a relatively small venue, Chiesa San Vidal, so every seat was good. The sound was excellent and the musicians were extremely talented. In particular two stood out, Davide Amadio (violoncello) and Nicola Granillo (violino). Davide kept us entertained not only with is skills and talents as a musician, but he really used all his body in expressing himself as he played. I thought perhaps he may put his neck out at times, but he seemed to just get into his playing. Nicola, who played the lead violino in “Le Streghe” impressed us all with his incredible quick fingers, his talent to bring out a huge variety of sounds and his intensity for adding value to the musical score. This concert was worth the 25 euro each we paid to attend.
We left the hall to discover that rain had moved in. We have packed the umbrellas in the daypack everywhere we go, and tonight we left the daypack in the room to attend the concert. Fortunately I had put on my good pants and we both had our jackets so we did a quick ‘dash’ back to our room – takes about 15 minutes normally but we managed to cut that time down a bit.
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