EURO SOLO II: DAY 3 & 5...PARTIALLY [VENICE]
the next day was my one & only full day in venice, which turned out to be one of my favorite cities i visited. quick disclaimer, this post is a bit out of the order. because i went to venice the whole third day & half the fifth day, i am combining my visits to venice. the next post will be day 4 in verona & the first half of day 5 in padova.
anyhoo, i was a little nervous i would be disappointed with venice, but that did not happen at all! i read online that many people become disappointed because of all the crowds. yes the main walkways get crowded, but it's easy to get away by turning a corner. venice has many walkways as the blocks are small. also, there are no cars, motorcycles, or bikes allowed, so no worries about staying on the sidewalk. i also heard that the city smelled, but i did not think so. i wonder if this is a summer thing? when i visited, it rained off and on and it stayed pretty cool but not too cold. this weather was perfect for me! there were short periods where it poured like crazy, but every time this happened i was i na museum. i found the drizzle romantic in such a romantic city.
of course the first stop was coffee & my first ime ordering during my trip! i actually came back here the next day i went to venice because i liked it so much. this place is located in the train station.
the train station (c 1940). because i stayed off the island in venice the city, i had to take a train to the island.
the water was so pretty and teal.
the buildings were such pretty, desaturated colors.
as everyone knows, the city is full of canals (about 150). to get around, you either have to walk or take a very expensive boat (public or private). there are water taxis, ambulances, & fire dept boats. bikes are even banned!
the city is also full of ironwork.
more gondolas. i did not go in one (they are very expensive), but i did witness while standing on a bridge a gondola man singing to a couple.
i then headed to piazza san marco. the highlights are san marco's basilica, the doge's palace, and the campanile. The piazza also consists of even more museums & $100 outdoor cafes. one of the cafes had a string quartet playing "blue moon."
the astrological clock. on the building there is a lion with wings, the symbol of venice. he is everywhere.
flood platforms. it did not rain enough for them to be fully assembled, but man were their short periods of buckets of rains.
san marco's basilica (c. 1092, italo-byzantine). i went inside, but you can't take photos.
this stone decor located on the exterior of san marco's basilica was taken from constantinople during the crusades in 1204. the missing foot is back in instanbul.
i also visited the doges palace (c. 1340, venetian gothic). this was the residence of the supreme authority of the venetian republic.
the courtyard of the doges palace with san marco's basilica in the background.
one of the rooms in the doge's palace.
the view from the doge's palace
i was excited unaware that a ticket to the doge's palace includes access to the bridge of sighs, the old prison, & the new prison. it connects the doges palace to the new prison. the name "bridge of sighs" refers to the sighs of the prisoners as they were lead from the prison to the courtroom & vice versa.
an exterior of the bridge of sighs.
the view from inside the bridge of sighs.
the new prison. the bridge takes you to this prison. casanova stayed here. i got lost here. i also discovered here that all morning i had a croissant flake stuck in my teeth. it had been 3 hours.
some murano glass beads inside the grout. this is in front of a store that sells the beads.
a cute little shop, i bought some keychains.
what did i say about the lion.
this was the first time i saw a water fountain. there are a million different kinds all over italy and they are drinkable (thats the point). i was little nervous to try as no one else was drinking from it. i became brave later during my trip.
the next stop was the gallerie dell'accademia. i did not enjoy it as much as i thought
after was a visit to the ca'rezzonico, which was the highlight of the day for me. it is a museum that displays 18th century venice. the museum includes paintings, interior decorations, & architecture (especially from the venetian baroque & rococo style). also, cole porter rented the place in the 1920s.
but first was food at the museum cafe. the worker was nice & when i tried to say in italian "i would like to pay," with a cringe due to an awareness of my bad pronunciation & he replied "perfecto."
a murano glass chandelier
pulcinella., an italian character of ridicule & satire. the whole room is filled with frescoes featuring pulcinella. i am fond of him. i think this is because he reminds me of the hamburgular (a mcdonald's character that was intrigued with as a child). he is also all over naples.
the veiled lady by antonio corradini (he is known for these statues). i've known about this artist for a while & hoped i would see one of his veiled sculptures during my lifetime, but had no idea there was one here. it was such a pleasant surprise!
scala contarini del bovolo (snail) that was built at the end of the 15th century. i did not go inside because i did not want to pay for admission.
more iron work
i then walked back to the piazza san marco and decided to indulge in gelato (for my birthday) while listening to the rick steve's audio tour. also, i will never understand why tourists would volunteer to touch pigeons for a lousy picture. there were people having their photo taken with a dozen pigeons on them. i find it so gross.
a blurry picture of me with my stracciatella (a fancy chocolate chip) & cafe gelato. the worker taught me how to say it and i still said it wrong the whole time. in the background is the basilica & campanile.
i saw an old man painting painting the basilica.
i then made my way back to the train station & saw a little outdoor art gallery. see the 3 hooded figures in the background?
when i made it back to the train station next door to the hostel i was staying at, i indulged in mcdonalds. one difference is their salads come with little breadsticks (the hard, packaged kind).
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now to the second half of day 5. after visiting padova in the morning (more on that in the next post) i spent the afternoon back in venice. it was not like there was something in particular i wanted to see, but i wanted to go back and walk around a bit more and utilize my venice museum card.
first stop was buying italian tiramisu, the first of the trip. it was ok.
there are so many cool little corners when get lost in venice.
i settled for visiting the museum of the mocenigo palace. the museum is a bit random, but covers the significance of costume & perfume in venice ehile also displaying historical decor & furniture. it was a rather quick visit and unfortunately some of the decor was switched out for some fashion event (imagine lots of female sexy parts incorporated with food or objects, literally art objectifying women).
the venetian costumes exhibit (which also looks like i entered a nightmare).
monkey see, monky do.
the exhibit on perfume.
found a garden when made a few random turns.
a little bridge.
random memory, but a guy was bringing goods to a store via boat & he almost fell in the water because the boat started rocking. he was laughing and so was i.
the venetian flag (with the lion).
now for a song. i never get tired of shrike by hozier (for a while i thought is was strike). apparently a shriek is a aggressive birth that stakes the head of its prey to fences & sticks. crazy. i listened to this song a lot during my trip