The past week has been very busy! Wednesday my class went on a field trip to Venice, overnight. I think Venice was my favourite Italian city. I loved the canals and the maze-like streets, but I’ll tell you more about Venice in a bit.
Friday I went to Florence again, this time with two friends. We shopped in the Mercato San Lorenzo, and we even went inside the Duomo. Then Saturday we went to Castellina in Chianti. We started out wanting to go to Monteriggioni, but the buses don’t go there on the weekends. So we picked a random place to go. I recognised the name Castellina from my guide book, and knew it was in the Chianti region, so we chose it. It was an adventure for sure. We wandered around the city, visited its tower and museum, and tasted some wine. Chianti is a beautiful region, well-known for its wine and castles. This is another area I would love to explore on a future trip to Italy. Castellina was a gorgeous little town. Yesterday we explored Siena’s sights, and today we went to another little town called Colle di Val d’Elsa. It was really pretty.
Anyway, my trip to Venice was amazing. The first day, we left around 8 in the morning, and arrived in Venice around 1 in the afternoon. This included an hour long stop for lunch. The first things we visited were the Piazza San Marco, the Basilica di San Marco, and the Doge’s Palace.
The Piazza San Marco is the centre of Venice. This is where you can find the Basilica di San Marco and the Doge’s Palace. It is quite famous for its pigeons, and let me tell you, there were a lot. I saw some people feeding them bread, and they were crowding him, they were even landing on his hands. It opens to the Grand Canal. The Piazza features two columns, one for each of the patron saints of Venice: Saint Mark and Saint Teodoro of Amasea. This used to be the official entrance to the city.
The Basilica di San Marco is in the Piazza. Supposedly, in 828, Venetian merchants stole the relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist from Alexandria. Although there have been chapels and churches of San Marco since this time, the current Basilica was constructed in 1063. The body of Saint Mark is supposed to be buried within the church, although it is thought by some that it is actually the body of Alexander the Great. There is also a room where Saint Mark’s treasure is kept. The inside of the basilica is covered with mosaics. The floor is warped due to the settling of the city, and the domes at the top of the basilica aren’t exactly circular, for the same reason.
The Doge’s Palace, or the Palazzo Ducale di Venezia also lies in the Piazza. This gothic building was the residence of the Doges, or Dukes, of Venice. It was built between 1309 and 1424. However, it was reconstructed after being damaged by a fire in 1574, so, although it was decided to keep the original gothic style, there are some classical features. Inside the palace, we saw many paintings. Some of them are replacements, because the originals were taken by the French during Napoleon’s invasion.
The Bridge of Sighs connects the interrogation rooms in the Palazzo Ducale to the prison. Prisoners were brought across this beautiful bridge. It was called the Bridge of Sighs by Lord Byron because this would be the last view of Venice prisoners saw before being imprisoned. However, by the time the bridge was built, the days of execution and the inquisition were over. Besides which, it would be hard to see Venice through the little, grilled windows.
After the guided tour was over, a couple of my friends decided they wanted to explore the city, so I joined them. We wandered around looking through shops. At one point, we were lost and didn’t know the name of the hotel we were staying at. However, thankfully, we each had a map. We realised, after an hour or two of trying to figure out how we were going to get back, that one of the maps was different and had the name of the hotel on it. So we created a route for ourselves, which we followed. It took us across many canals and through backstreets, but we made it back by about 9 or 10. We had fun though, and we got to see a lot of Venice this way.
Venice is built on a lagoon near the Adriatic Sea, and includes 118 different islands. The city was created when the people of the Roman Veneto towns had to flee from invasions. They began to form a federation of sorts, and elected their first duke, or doge, in 726. Because of its location on the Adriatic Sea, it became an important trade port. Its government was one of the most stable in Italy, and even in Europe. It traded things such as glass, and the city was thriving. However, in 1797, Venice was conquered by Napoleon, who gave it to the Austrians. Then in 1866, Venice was united with the Kingdom of Italy. Now it is one of the touristiest destinations in Italy. Be prepared to spend a lot of money if you visit here, especially on food. The prices in Venice are pretty high.
One thing I find the most interesting about Venice is the way it is built. Venice was built on stilts basically. Much of it sits on wood piles. Because of the lack of oxygen under water, the wood does not decay, but instead is petrified. However, walking around the city and through old buildings, you can see how this has affected the city. The once flat streets and floors are now warped. Many columns become twisted. The city is sinking, about 14 inches per century. Buildings right by the water are regularly flooded due to something called Acqua Alta. This means High Water, and is caused by storms over the Adriatic. People who live there sometimes just move up to the top floors, leaving the lower, flooded floors abandoned. The Piazza San Marco is the lowest point in the city, so it is always the first to flood.
Canals and streets are interchangeable. You might walk down a street and find a canal at the end of it. To make up for this, Venice has about 400 bridges. Watertaxis and vaporetti (waterbuses) are the public transport. There are also gondolas, which are the traditional Venetian boat, but these are mostly used for tourists now, and cost a fair amount.
The next day, Thursday, we took a vaporetto out to San Michele, an island cemetery. This is where some famous people, such as Ezra Pound, are buried. Also, many Venetians are buried here. In the afternoon, I explored the city a little bit more with the same two girls, then we found a café which was pretty reasonably priced for Venice, and we sat at a little table for about four hours, drinking coffees, eating tiramisu, and talking. It was in a great location, right by a bridge going across a canal, but away from the touristiest part of Venice. It was also delicious.
The bus left around 6 in the evening, and after driving for four hours, with an hour long dinner stop, we arrived in Siena at 11. I was pretty tired, so I just went straight to bed.
Again, 2 days was really not enough time to really see Venice, but I think we did a pretty good job just by wandering around the streets. When you’re in Venice, you really have to accept that you’re going to need a map, or you’ll never find your way around the city.
This week is going to be busy, I only have about five days left in Italy! My friends and I have planned to explore the touristy sights in Siena, as well as visit Monteriggioni. What’s more, we have a test on Thursday (our last class!), and then we are leaving very early Saturday morning!
I’ll hopefully get at least one more post written before I leave, so keep an eye out.
I can’t wait to see everyone at home! I love and miss you all!
Ciao! <3
