Some Church, Some Fire, Some Lace, Some Euros

Wake up!  It's St. Mark Day!!  We gathered in our little dining room today to discover some of our old favorites--chocolate croisants, yogurt, coffee....  But the kids also located the grapefruit juice masquerading as orange juice and potted meat masquerading as jam.  So that was fun to watch.  :-)  :-)  Anyhoo, everyone found something yummy and we reconvened near the docks  to catch our water taxi from our island of Lido over to Venice for a FULL DAY of DELIGHTS.

We first had a guided tour of the Doge's Palace--and I'll now be needing a Decisions Room in addition to my throne room.  In it, I will, as Doge, make all the decisions necessary to run my Republic and whilst thinking about my decisions, I'll be seated on a raised dais with three friends on each side of me.  But my seat is fancier, just to be clear.  The Doges (or Dukes, kind of) were the head of Venice when it was the richest port in the world; countries from the east and west came to buy and sell goods and create markets that created a strong and thriving economy.  His palace revealed the wealth and splendor--we just don't do enough gold leafing of ceilings in the states.  Maybe my classroom needs a little facelift to make it sparkle a bit more....

After the palace, we walked over the Bridge of Sighs to make our exit back into the courtyard.  The Bridge of Sighs sound so romantic, yes?  Nope.  It's the last patch of daylight a prisoner saw if he had been found guilty in the Doge's eyes.  He then spent his life in the windowless (but still flood-prone) cells of the prison.  Even as a completely innocent tourist, I felt the panicky claustrophobia as I followed in a single-file line across the bridge.  Oof.

St. Mark's Basilica was next on our long list today.  It is the heavy marble and mosaic cathedral at the end of the square, and knowing that the giant scenes on the ceiling are glass mosaics rather than paint boggles the mind.  Incredible.  Plus, St. Mark is buried there--except his head... which is in Egypt?  I think?  Anyway, it's not here.  As the guide says, "But there's nothing to do."  :-)  Her answer for any confusions--"there's nothing we can do about it, so don't worry about it."  I like her philosophy.  :-)

On to the glass-making workshop!  Our maestro, whose name I cannot remember, was INCREDIBLE.  He made a tall, fancy teal blue and clear striped vase with a handle and spout, just by flinging this hot stick of melted glass around. It was a tube, and he would puff air into it now and then to make the glass expand out of the end, all the while twirling and spinning the long stick.  Amazing.  And then he broke it!  ON PURPOSE.  He finished this gorgeous sparkly vase, and then crashed it in a million pieces back into the fire!  The other guide explained that it would have shattered anyway, because the maestro has to put the vase in several ovens at different temperatures to make it properly.  Okay, then.  The guide showed us his selection of genuine Murano glass--just for us--at discounted tour group prices of 500-2000 euros.  Mmhmm.  I purchased glass elsewhere.  It was gorgeous, don't get me wrong, but holy cow.  $$$

Now some free time!  My group of pals found a pizza shop that smelled divine and had a long line.  Two good indicators of a good choice... and we were right!  So SO good.  And I had a lemon soda--I'm going to have to see if we have lemon Fanta or something similar at home.  Once fortified, we meandered and got lost in the shops around Venice--once we made our peace with getting lost and being completely turned around, we got braver; every corner has a sign that points the way to St. Mark's Square.  It's comforting, and allows for a clear head to choose our purchases with confidence.  One could spend a FORTUNE in the canals of Venice... good thing I don't live here!!  To keep up our energy for the hard work of shopping, we made sure to practice good habits like stopping for gelato (got my pistacchio!!) and lemon sodas (not at the same time.  ew.).

The gondola rides!  We trooped back to the square and then into the twisy, turny streets of Venice and found the gondola place.  My boat, I feel, was the best, because our boat had golden lions on it (the symbol of St. Mark), our gondolier was in a good mood, and Brandy Miller got on with us and sang Italian opera songs--she's one of our most talented performers at HHS.  Her voice rang around the narrow streets and bridges and our gondolier joined  in--so much fun!!  And relaxing--shopping and gelato-eating can wear a girl OUT.  It was nice to sit in the little boat in the sunshine and breezes.  Ahhhhh....

The lace-making workshop was next on  the agenda, and even though I've seen it before, it is incredible to see lace made.  The presenter there showed us some exquisite pieces and told us how long (8 months!) it takes  to make and how many people (7!) work on one piece.   Each lady is in charge of one kind of stitch on every piece to make sure all the work is uniform and matching, and together they produce the finished work.  So delicate!  And SUCH precision.  Unbelieveable talent--and there is only one workshop left in Venice with professional lace-makers at work.

Then Annemieke (Anna-meek-ah), who is our tour leader for the entire trip, told us we had two hours until dinner.  !!!  Two hours to roam around and shop??  My group didn't know what to do with all that time--we've become accustomed to having 15 minutes to potty, eat lunch, and grab a souvenir  at any given place.  Two hours was too long for us--and I (with Mrs. Shelton and some of our girls) am a marathon shopper.... So we found a nice place to park for a while and have a little drink to wait for dinner. It was nice to rest a while--and let the credit card cool off a little.

Dinner!  Pasta!  Pork and potatoes!  Apple cake!  Deeee-lish.  Then back to the boat to head home.  Seemed to  me that the ride back was way shorter than the way there... but I guess that's how it works when you're excited to see something.  :-)

After a stroll on the beach in the evening (and another gelato--amaretto this time) we tuckered out sponsors all headed back to our own quarters.  [Come here--closer--I have a secret--shhhhhhhh... I've had my own room in Lido!  By some accident of fate and some room reshuffling, I ended up alone!  As much as I love the group of people here, it's been nice to have some space.  :-) ]

So there it is!  Venice is checked off the list.  Great day!

P.S. To Beth--I can read your comments, but cannot reply!  So.  #1, The bread is amazing in Paris; hard and crusty outside and soft and savory on the inside.  Very much like a Parisian!  Hard to get to, but just a softy after you break open the shell....  :-)  And #2, I tried to get chocolate and coconut tonight, but the coconut bin  was empty!  Zut!!  But there's always tomorrow.....  :-)

P.P.S.  Our passport-less girl is now back in our fold!  Yay!  What a nightmare of reorganzing, but she's all good now.  Whew!!