Bridge of Sighs (Venice)

The title today dear reader was just too easy. Although as I sit to write this, a gondola is moving past outside and the gondolier is singing Volaré, but no. Robin Trower, legendary guitarist released the Bridge of Sighs album in 1974. It is still worth a listen for budding guitarists.

As one would expect in the current age, the occupant of the aforementioned gondola, a young woman, is oblivious to her surroundings, head down focused on her mobile phone.

Here is today's rant: is the worst invention in the world the selfie-stick, the camera app on a mobile phone or the concept of a selfie? Perhaps the answer is none of these things but the self-absorbed, self-obsessed, entitled morons on the end of said phone or stick. I know my trip is nearing its conclusion, but I am tiring of photos that get spoiled by someone who has to chronicle their existence by taking a photo of themselves in front of every sculpture, painting, fresco, body of water, church, whatever. You are a spec in time, you are not worthy of  your pathetic visage being associated with such cultured beauty. Appreciate the scene, take a photo, but keep your ridiculously smiling head out of the frame. To put this in perspective, I have almost 600 photos and Jayne and I appear in 1 each.

We woke to wet roads

Jayne's vision of the wet roads proved to be a premonition and we awoke to light rain, which grew steadily heavier and finally blossomed into a thunderstorm so impressive I could have been home in Sydney in February. We made our way to Campo Bartolomeo to meet our guide because today we had a pre-booked 4 hour walking tour of Venice. We hesitated at the umbrellas by the door, but many cathedrals and museums in Rome and Florence take a dim view to visitors carrying things so we departed without them. Apparently, Venice is not so strict.

San Marco Square in the rain

The Campo wasn't too difficult to find, although we did end up taking a route that was not the most direct - if any route you choose can be considered direct in Venice if it's not on the water. We met the group leader, checked in and went in search of coffee and pastry. Easily accomplished and most satisfying. Iole, our guide was more than happy to re-negotiate our tour, so we flipped it and began in the Doge's Palace, followed by the Basilica and finished with the walking tour, by which time, the sun had come out and the rain had gone.

Look closely at the water spout

and in the afternoon sunshine

Random comment: I have noticed what a wonderfully family-oriented country Italy is. Everywhere we go, there are loving dads taking their daughters on holiday with them. They appear to have a very close relationship ... just saying.

A painting on the ceiling - if Michelangelo had been smarter ...

The Doge's Palace was as spectacular as our research had shown. In case you missed it, SBS (Australian TV) broadcast a series called Invisible Cities and featured Rome, Florence and Venice. It was great viewing and provided a good background for our trip. We even discussed parts of it today with Iole. She was impressed that we had done some research and was further impressed that we actually listened attentively to what she had to say. Jayne was quite dumbfounded by this. Why would you book a tour and not listen to your guide? When we discussed this later, I told her that I had, on more than one occasion, heard someone say, "the only reason to book a tour is because you get to skip the line" (please insert your own cultural prejudice, I will not be drawn on this, unless there is alcohol involved).

Wall painting in the Palace above the 'important people'.

The floor of the palace

Venice has some stunning architecture made all the more amazing because it is built on an archipelago with a high water table. The buildings you see in Rome or Florence would have disappeared below the surface or would have collapsed by now. The Doge's Palace is an excellent example of ingenuity. The floor appears to be stone, but is in fact an artificial creation of stone pieces held together with a lime mixture - it is the forerunner of the imitation granite bench tops of today. This layer of 'stone' sits on timber which allows the floor to move with the building. 

OK, here's another ceiling painting

The ceilings in the Doge were, as Bruce McAveney would say, "special". Not the reliefs of Rome and Florence, but a series of paintings on canvas that were nailed into giant ornate frames, suspended from the wooden ceilings constructed by the city's shipwrights. The effect is breath-taking. The entire structure is designed to move and we could actually feel the flexible flooring as groups walked around the rooms. Venice is entirely constructed of light-weight materials built around wooden frames because anything heavier would collapse or sink. This is also why there are many fire hydrants around the city because, despite all the water, Venice would go up in smoke very easily, as its major theatre did in 1996 - burnt to the water level within 4 hours of an arson attack  Parts of the Doge's palace also succumbed to fire and had to be rebuilt in the 1500's.

Following the Palace, we went into the Basilica San Marco. Like most churches over here, there is a no photography rule which I, unlike many tourists, observe. This is the church where the remains of St Mark are interred under the central altar. Yes, dear reader, I have long been circumspect about claims of religious relics, but this story seems to be quite plausible. The Basilica itself, to labour the description, is spectacular. Again no frescoes or reliefs, but like St Peter's in Rome, mosaics. Not a mosaic on this wall and another over there, the entire church, walls and ceilings, are mosaics using 24 carat gold leaf. When the lights are on it sparkles as if in sunlight. Words do not do it justice. It lacks the grand space of St Peter's but the domes and gold leaf and stories written in the mosaics elevate it to a world of it's own. Let's put this in perspective, we are at the end of the trip, we have seen so many churches and religious relics and this Basilica still managed the wow response when we walked in. That alone needs to be respected.

Mosaics on the outside of the Basilica

This is actually a dome in the foyer, despite how it looks

Colleoni, from a distance it's difficult to see his best attributes

By the time we emerged from the Basilica, the crowds had come out because Venice now was bathed in brilliant sunshine. Unlike yesterday though, the breeze kept the temperature down. So commenced the last part of our tour, walking towards the Campo Sts Paul and John, via, well, who knows? Everyone gets lost here because the "streets"are called "calle" (alleys that are for pedestrian traffic only) and the real "roads" are the canals. I have been down supermarket aisles that are wider than the calles. As we wove our way through the maze of calles, we did manage to get a long view of the Bridge of Sighs (through which we had actually walked on our tour of the palace and its prison cells), hence today's title.

In the final Campo of the walking tour, there is a statue of a celebrated mercenary named Colleoni. On his coats of arms were depictions of scrotums. Originally two, he added one more because he wanted everyone to know he had "balls", more balls than a bullfighter. Funny. Apparently his troops would shout it before battle. The original term was 'coglioni' so it is easy to see the school-boy denigration form one to the other.

All this walking had taken us to the other side of Venice where there was a restaurant that had been recommended by Anna, so it was time for lunch. Now I'm not sure that I could eat pizza every day, but this restaurant had 6 pages of pizzas on their menu. So, I decided to have pasta. Just joking. We both had pizza and a cheeky little rosé and watched the traffic on the water.

An ambo at work, but not for us, thankfully

After a very relaxing lunch it was time to find the way home. Jayne was a little apprehensive, but as Iole had pointed out today, maps are pretty useless, so it was a matter of trusting my sense of direction. While I admit this failed me miserably in London (another reason to dislike it), not so here in Venice. We navigated through the crowds and found our way home so I could have a nanna nap before we ventured out for an afternoon birra.

While I succumbed to paying 9€ for a birra in Florence in Piazza de Repubblica, there was no way I was paying 16,50€ for a beer in the Square San Marco just so I could people watch. We walked back to our local Campo and settled in the shade and had a couple of draught beers: 13€ for 2. What a bargain!

That is about it for the day. We have planned tomorrow, well Jayne has while I've been writing and it's now time for a white wine on the terrace as the sunsets over Venice.

fino a domani