We got up early and went to Basilica San Marco. Thankfully we had a guided tour which got us to the front of the line because it was from the door all the way to the water (at least half a mile). The whole place was stunning! The entire ceiling is mosaic on top of that it was mostly gold leaf! It took 30 years to build but 300 years to decorate...yeah elaborate. The floor had over 60 types of marble which were set into hundreds of patterns. We went to the top and outside where the four horses stand (the real ones were inside to protect them) and watched the clock tower ring 10:00. The bell at the top is hit however many times as the hour by these two statues at the top. It looks kind of freaky...statues moving...? After the tour some of us went back through to go into two branches that cost extra. I went into one that showed behind the altar, wonderful! I then traveled over to a sectioned off prayer area and actually stumbled upon Mass. It was in Italian of course but it was still really cool taking communion there (I was next to several nuns). Eventually we all ventured out, split up and found food. A group of us went off into side streets so it wasn't as expensive but still very delicious.
The next place was Doge's palace. In general it was Very ornate and elaborate! We spent about 2 hours in there and it just kept going and going and going. hundreds of paintings, stucco walls, statues, tapestries...no holding back. I enjoyed going into the dungeon part a lot because the lighting was erie for picture taking :). Next on the agenda was ESPRESSO! :) wonderful.
We then ventured onward down the canal to Basilica della Salute. It has a beautiful facade and ornate marble floors (which I found is a trend). The next and last place we visited was San Giorgio Maggiore. It was another boat-bus ride across from San Marco. Here, we got to go up into the bell tower which gave us a 360 view of the islands. By this point it was about 5:30 and we were starving but we headed back to the hotel...Luke got us on the wrong boat....so it took about 30 minutes opposed to 10..oh well. When we made it back we had some time to relax before dinner. I decided to go walking around our hotel area to a square that is a big hang out for college-age people. I was smart and went ahead and bought a bottle of wine at the grocery store in the square for later :) Luke really wanted to take us to the Rialta so we took a long walk there then split up for dinner. 8 of us found a great place a block away from the canal with a very funny waiter. I had penne and prawns yummy...and wine of course! Finally our group headed back and thankfully remembered the way back....we stopped for gelato on the way too...everyone is already addicted. The day ended with everyone drinking wine in the square talking with tons of people from everywhere the states, Germany, England and of course Italy. Well we are about to meet downstairs to begin day 3! This was a lot of writing...I hope I am not boring people, you don't have to read, it just helps me document too.
Love, LJ
I was trying to upload a picture but it was giving me too much trouble!
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