Marilyn's Odyssey: Venice Part 2

Our second day in Venice dawned bright and sunny as our last days had been. We consider ourselves very lucky as Italy has had its worst summer in 100 years. Venice only had three days without rain in the summer and for a city that floods regularly this was a problem. We started our day with a local guide doing a back street tour. We wandered the meandering streets and canals while she pointed out many places of interest. We viewed a Venice "shipyard" where the gondolas are built and repaired. They are all built to the same specifications and must be black in colour. We also spent some time with one of the last four craftsmen in Venice who builds the oar locks for the gondolas. Each oar lock is built especially for the gondolier. They are made from cherry or walnut and involve a great deal of hand carving. Was really interesting to learn how the oar lock helps the gondolier steer the boat through the narrow canals. At the end of the tour we made our way to Saint Marks Square,the center gathering area of Venice with the Bascilica being the star. We crossed the Rialto Bridge, which is one of the worlds most famous bridges due to it's dramatic stone structure that crosses the Grand Canal in one span.

St Marks Basilica was built in the 11th century to replace an earlier church. It is decorated with booty from returning sea captains making it Venice' treasure chest. The inside walls are decorated with beautiful gold mosaics which are lit up for an hour a day. Our arrival coincided with this and and walls were indeed a sight to behold. Behring the alter lies the body of St Mark as well as a magnificent gold alterpiece which consists of 250 religious scenes and is embedded with over 2000 precious jewels. Eric and I spent hours exploring the squares and streets of Venice stooping for lunch on the banks of the Grand Canal with a view of the Rialto Bridge. Was entertaining watching all the boats hustling about the canal.

Later in the afternoon we visited the Doge Palace.which was the seat of the Venetian government and was considered the most powerful half acre in Europe for over 400 years. As well as being the home of the ruling duke of the time the palace also contains the halls of justice of the times. The palace is joined to the prison by the famous Bridge of Sighs where legend says was named this because as prisoners were led from the courts to prison they took one last look at the beauty of Venice and sighed as they knew they may never see it again.

After a dinner we walked some we sat at a cafe on the canal enjoying a glass of wine and taking in night time Venice.