Venice

day 9 – giorno nove

This morning we awoke to a cloudy sky even though rain wasn’t in the forecast. We had another beautiful breakfast and then gathered outside to meet a local guide for a more in-depth walking tour. Our guide was so full of historical facts and tidbits about the way of life in Venice. I admit my attention wandered every so often along the walk.

This vantage point really made the lean of the Campanile stand out. It’s actually fallen down a few times already and there’s plans in place to take it down and rebuild before it falls on it’s own again.

I think I mentioned it before, but everything in Venice is done by boat. The restaurants have to bring in food by boat, there’s fire boats, police boats, trash, etc. Everything you can think of is brought to Venice by boat. These guys were buzzing all over the place with these carts, going door to door picking up garbage.

Something interesting to note; salt was a very special commodity here. The word ‘salary’ actually comes from the Italian sale (sah-lay) and Roman soldiers were sometimes paid with salt.

One thing I knew I wanted to find in Venice was a Venetian mask, so Sarah pointed out this shop as one that was very reputable. Mom and I made a point to go back there after our walk.

One trash boat. The boats were somewhat limited by the bridge clearance/ water level and would sometimes get stuck waiting for the water level to change. Another interesting boating tidbit: motorboats travel like cars would normally at home, on the right, but gondolas do the opposite because the oar is on the right.

Midway though our walk, we got to visit this artisan’s workshop where he makes the very unique parts of the gondolas. He’s one of only a few people left in the city that make fucolas – sort of the equivalent of the gear shaft. The fucola is unique to each gondolier and gondola because it’s based on his (mostly) height and trimmed to fit the gondola tightly. It’s made from pear, cherry, or walnut wood and takes him about 50 hours to make one. He also makes and repairs oars. I didn’t catch the type of wood traditionally used, but the way they are made has changed a bit. They do much more lamination now instead of just using a couple pieces. It sounds weird, but the oars that he make actually have the slightest bit of an s-curve to them to made them more effective. Almost all of the gondoliers are male, but apparently there is one female gondolier who actually races. She’s the daughter of another well known competitive gondolier and learned the skill from him.

Our tour continued until we had another short break near the local marketplace, in particular the fresh seafood market. We hit the loo and then wandered the displays of seafood so fresh it looked like it could jump off the ice.

We ended up back in Piazza San Marco and while waiting in line for the Duomo we learned about the clock tower next to it. It has a lot going on: a clock that shows the time, moon phase, and astrological sign as well as a clock with the time written out with panels that switch every half hour, and a bell on top that is rung by two shepherd sculptures. We got into the Duomo just in time to get out on the upstairs balcony and watch the bell toll and clock change the time.

Even though we’re staying in each city two nights, this tour is very fast paced. Mom and I are keeping up but starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by everything there is to experience. So we headed back to the hotel and just spent a few hours recuperating. I took the opportunity to write a bit more.

Later this afternoon we drug ourselves out of the room and went to see the Doge’s Palazzo. The Doge family ruled Venice for quite a long time. They were rich and powerful and flaunted it every way they could. The palace was huge with probably a hundred plus arches. A very grand stairway led up to the HUGE rooms where the Doge would meet his subjects. He liked to make them climb up to his level and made them walk through an armory display just to really get the point across who they were dealing with.

We also got to go down and see the prisons but Mom wasn’t enjoying it down there so we didn’t stay long.

One last selfie before we left the square. We were really here! Sadly, I’m sure soon after we return home, this will all feel like a dream.

We had to hurry back to the hotel and grabbed a bite of dinner at the restaurant next door (I got cuttlefish again) before meeting the group again.

We had the bonus opportunity tonight to attend a Vivaldi concert, which happens almost every night at multiple places around the city. The musicians were in traditional upper class costumes and were very talented. Mom kind of talked me into going and I’m glad I went, but I felt bad because it was SO hard to keep my eyes open. I definitely felt myself nodding off a couple times. And with that, buonanotte!