The timing was perfect as well. The most two important nights, the last Friday and Saturday, were right before my birthday. I got to spend the big twenty-four in Venice! During Carnival! Wearing a mask, dancing in the streets, and exploring everywhere.
As a warning: lots of text and several pictures. <3 All my Venice photos can be seen at this [link].
Day one was spent flying. We went from Belfast to London, London to Rome, and then Rome to Venice. We got in super late at night and had to take a water taxi to the city itself. Kristy, Alannah, and I came to the conclusion that we've ridden on nearly every mode of transportation during our travel days. Bus, car, train, plane, and boat. Talk about intense. It was nice to go to a city that had no room for motorized vehicles, save for on the canals.
The Grand Canal.
Day two was the start of the adventure! It was a gorgeous day. Blue sky, warm wonderful sun. Despite being cold, it was such a lovely day! Our hotel was located about five minutes from the Rialto bridge. This is the oldest bridge that crosses the Grand Canal (it's also one of four total that do so). It was built at the end of the 12th century and was designed by Nicolo Barattieri. In its original state, the bridge was made from timber and needed constant maintenance. It was partially burnt down in 1310 during a small revolt. Thus, it was proposed to build a new bridge out of stone. It wasn't until the mid 16th century that the current stone version was erected.
The Rialto.
The most iconic campanile in Venice.
Kristy (left) and Alannah (right) in front of San Marco's Basilica.
While in the Square, we saw so many fantastic costumes, a group of ladies doing traditional circle dancing, and of course, lots of people just enjoying themselves. This trip was perfect for people watching. We bought our masks here - I got green, Kristy got blue, and Alannah got purple. Such fun and bright colors! Absolutely perfect for Carnival. We explored the city further and got completely lost. Because of our minor detour, we found the awesome church, San Stae. Lots of famous Italian artists contributed to the church's decor and it houses the tomb of the Mocerigo family (they had a lot of doges serve Venice). We finally made it back to our hotel, where we ate delicious crepes on the canal and waved at passer byers on the water taxis. Thus concluded day two!
Day three was my birthday! It was bound to be a good day (perhaps I'm just optimistic, heh). We started the day off by going to the Ca' D'oro art museum. The building itself used to be home to the Contarini family - they had eight doges! The architects were Giovanni Bon and his son - they designed the Doge's Palace. Must be nice to know the right people! Inside the museum were lots of medieval and renaissance pieces. It also possessed a fantastic view of the Grand Canal. We saw a costumed boat race - in fact, Santa and his reindeer participated. Must be some fun if Santa joined in!
Venetian Gothic style is so pretty! <3
We then made our way to Campo San Giovanni e Paolo. gawe;gih. Seeing that minor basilica was so neat! It's so big. It's not an official basilica because it doesn't have an apostolic grant/immemorial custom from the papacy. There aren't that many minor basilicas, so it's rare to have that title (or I suppose, the lack of title?). The church's official name is San Zanipolo, but it gets pegged as San Giovanni e Paolo due to the plaza it's located in. After the 15th century, it became the chief site for Doge funerals and its main relic is the foot of St. Catherine of Sienna (and there are waaaaay more relics than that. I love reliquaries. 'Here is the pinky bone of St. John the Baptist. It'll bring you good luck and the grace of God. It's yours for this small donation of x amount of florins.' No business like reliquary business!).
Day three had a lot of wandering - I had a lot of churches that I wanted to visit and we managed to see most of them. Pretty cool, I think. We saw Santa Maria dei Miracoli (aka the Marble Church), Santa Maria Formosa, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari (aka the Frari), and the Scula Grande San Rocco. We enjoyed some street vendor sweets too. Yummmm. Kristy and I went off on our own and did some minor shopping and saw a couple neat museums, one being the house of Carlo Goldini, a play write, and an interactive museum featuring the inventions of Leonardo di Vinci.
Santa Maria dei Miracoli
One of the chapels in San Giovanni e Paolo.
Day four was pretty lazy. It was quiet too - everyone had to get ready for Lent. Party time was over. It was also rainy that day. Kristy and I decided to check out Santa Maria della Salute. I think this was my favorite church that we visited. I remember studying the architecture and art in an art history class back in my undergrad. This church was built in the 1600s in order to provide sanctuary against the plague. The outside has two domes and has a baroque facade. Inside, it is an octagon, modeled after the 8-pointed star of Mary. It is such a neat basilica! It has the full symbolism of the Virgin Mary - the dome is her crown, the wide/open interior represents her womb, and of course the 8-sided star.
We took a water taxi back to our hotel. We met up with Alannah and went out for a last-night-in-Venice dinner. Yum. Nothin' like authentic Italian food - hits the spot every time! We then called it an early night and got ready for day five, which was all travel like day one. 40 minutes on a boat to the airport, followed by three flights. Oh man. Vertigoooo~ I had vertigo for three weeks! As it turns out, it was a really bad cold that took its sweet time developing. As soon as my illness passed, the vertigo went away. Couldn't get away clean, I suppose. ha.
I'd love to go back to Venice. It's a fantastic city and I have yet to see everything there. Summertime would be best, I think. Not so cold and guarantee for nice, Mediterranean weather. <3 If you have the chance to go, I highly recommend it! <3
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