As expected, it was raining when we woke this morning and looked out amongst the rooftops. It was still early but looking along the canal from our window there was hardly a tourist to be seen – a rarity to what we have been accustomed to.
A bit of rain and the tourists disappear !
We were up a bit earlier today and that combined with the wet weather must have reduced the numbers at breakfast – yesterday we had to queue for a little while to get a table but this morning we had a wide selection of tables to choose from.
Walking on water – so to speak !
Also as expected, when we headed out into St Marks Square the queues were already winding around in a snake to get into the basilica. The rain and the high tide was also causing a bit of the aqua alta (high water) around the entrance to the basilica and the walking platforms were out so the people queuing wouldn’t get their feet wet.
No expensive coffee today !
Our first visit though was to the Doge’s Palace as we had a timed entry into the basilica at 10.45. The Doge was the supreme authority of the republic of Venice and the first palace in Venice was built in the 800’s. The current palace dates back to 1340 and is built in Gothic style. It was the Doge’s residence but also the seat of government. Next door, and linked by the Bridge of Sighs. was the prison. Anyone against the Doge or the decisions of the government was tries in one of the courts in the palace and shipped across the bridge to rot – so very convenient !
A quiet day for the gondolas
Adrienne’s tour took us through both the palace and the prison and gave us a commentary on many of the secret passages in various rooms as well as other facts – like in the main meeting room – which would hold 2,600 people – there are pictures painted on the wall of every Doge who had ruled. One however is blacked out as that Doge was the black sheep of Doges and was even tried for treason.
And the Gondolier – with Ipad !
We finished here just in time to head to our entry point for the basilica and so we climbed onto the walking platforms to get in. It was still very crowded but we paid the few euro extra to go up to the museum terrace and got a view of all the crowds around walking on the platforms, taking photos of the rising waters.
After we left the basilica, the rain had pretty much disappeared and we decided to walk further along the main waterfront away from the main square. But Venice (or Italy for that matter) is just full of tour groups and no matter where you go there are groups of 10, 20, 30, 50 people all huddled in a mass listening to their guide before heading on or if they are not stopped they are snaking along following the little flag or umbrella designating their tour group. We reached the arsenale area where the navy still has a base. After that we pretty much just wandered the lanes through an area we hadn’t explored before, back in the general direction of our hotel.
Which tour group is which ?
Having taken my medication last night, I was feeling a bit seedy so we just found a cafe selling nice panini for lunch. We had organised ourselves a bit of a treat for our last night so we decided just to have a quiet afternoon before heading out for an early dinner, which we had at a nice little ristorante – nice food but a bit slap happy with their service.
After dinner we had arranged an evening at Musica a Palazzo – a music company Adrienne had found who do intimate operatic performances. They do performances in apartments near the Grand Canal, with a small 4 piece “orchestra” and performers acting out parts from famous operas – our performance was 2 scenes from 2 acts of the Barber of Seville. The company is actually a club and those attending had to become members for the evening. There were about 50 or 60 people – obviously a combination of locals and tourists and the performance was superbly done – the first Act played out in one room, an intermission where they served drinks and you could look out – albeit small windows/balconies – on the grand canal, moving into a second room for new scenes, and onto a third room for the finale. The orchestra and the performers were all first class !
We wandered back to our hotel through St Marks Square listening to the last of the orchestras taking advantage of the low tide now – they were closed earlier due to the high water !
So our last night is here – where did our holiday go ? We have nearly a full day again tomorrow before our flights so we will see what else we can fit in before we go …..