Bells and Views

Venice, Italy -- Day 3

Getting up and moving early is definitely not our forte. Hey, we're on vacation. 

When we got to San Marco's Square, the lines had already formed. We opted for the shorter one to the Campanile (8 euros) versus the longer one for the Basilica (free).

10:40 AM -- 24-hour clock

With two, audio tour, smartphones in our procession, we took the elevator up and began clicking on the phone menus to hear interesting facts about various Venice landmarks. Dex soon soured on the whole process and declared his boredom. Besides, he apparently couldn't figure out the app.

Nevertheless, we worked our way around the tower, and eventually watched a huge cruise ship taxi in amongst the tiny cargo and taxi boats. At noon the bells began to ring. Wow, it was really impressive to see that huge bell swing.

Basilica Di Santa Maria

Basilica Di San Marco

Unfortunately, our blood sugar was low and our bladders full -- a bad combination. Kylie was complaining of her wrist hurting from carrying her box of takeout pasta in search of, apparently, the only public, pay, toilets in the whole of Venice!

With plans to visit the Natural History Museum later in the afternoon, we returned to the Hotel Alla Salute to rest. Too much procrastination and indecision eliminated the museum from our list of options. None of us were in a particularly good mood as we left for the Basilica. During the Campanile audio tour, we had learned that the Basilica was built to house the body of Saint Mark, who was smuggled out of Egypt in a barrel of pork fat. Because the lion is the symbol for Mark, the winged lion became the symbol of Venice and is on the Venice flag. I was particularly impressed by the Horses of Saint Mark, which were apparently created before the time of Christ, looted from Constantinople in 1204, stolen by Napoleon in 1797, and then returned in 1815. Pretty cool.

Dex, once again, was “bored," though he got in the groove after viewing the Pala d’Oro (golden panel with images of various saints and studded with 2000 pearls, sapphires, emeralds, and garnets) and lighting a candle for our family unity.

No pictures were allowed, which was no great loss given the overall dark and gloomy appearance. I guess a thousand years of age, oxidation and candle smoke can do that. Still, the better lit, gold-backed mosaics in the entrance archways were impressive. Think glass Pearler Beads on steroids.

We ended the day by taking the water bus to the Rialto Bridge and hunting for a small glass souvenir for Kylie (thanks for the birthday money, Jane). Somehow we managed another $100 pizza and pasta meal but enjoyed watching Germany take it to Northern Ireland. 

We successfully navigated the maze, of streets back to the hotel (potty break) and then watched the sunset while Meg fretted about Dex falling into the water. Even vacation can be stressful sometimes.