St Mark's and the Doge

Today was our first full day in Venice, and it wasn't raining. So I immediately took a photo of Aidan by the water to show Aidan in Venice. Aidan and I made reservations for a tour of St Mark's and a tour of the Doge's Palace, starting at 11 am. We wandered around a bit beforehand. We went to the Royal Gardens - not much of a garden elsewhere, but a rarity in Venice to see trees and grass and tulips. We wandered around some back streets and over canals (when you cross a bridge apparently you move from one island to another island).

The gondoliers have to duck to go under a lot of the little bridges. We were in and out of little shops, went past Chanel and Gucci and so forth. And we met at St Mark's square for our 11 am tour.
First we went to St Marks basilica (I didn't take a photo because they're doing some cleaning and there is a fair amount of scaffolding around). It is done more in the Byzantine style (like Greek Orthodox churches) because Venice was so connected to Constantinople. We weren't allowed to take photos inside where the ceiling and upper walls are covered in mosaics of glass and gold leaf. So I took a photo of a mosaic outside, which shows the church as it looked centuries ago.

Then we toured the Palazzo Ducale where the doges (rulers) of Venice lived and worked. There were the usual rooms for Chambers and Senate and all the electors of Venice, as well as the rooms for the Council of 13 (sort of a KGB for Venetians). Aidan liked the face where you stuck your accusation of treason or other political treachery through the mouth.

I liked the Golden Stairway, built to impress delegations from other countries with how rich and important Venice was.

After our tour we wandered around and found lunch, wandered around somemore and looked at more stores, wandered around some more and had gelato. Then headed back to the hotel for an afternoon quiet time. On the way back the sun was shining so it was time for another photo of Aidan in Venice, this time with the sun shining.

Proof she was really here. If I'd photoshopped Aidan into a picture, I wouldn't have the strange woman on the left looking at her feet.

After a brief break at the hotel, we went out again to wander around in the sunshine. People were in the sidewalk cafes, lining up for gondola rides, wearing sunglasses and having fun in the sun. About 6:30 pm there was a crack of thunder, then a downpour with little hail, then just a downpour. Aidan and I quickly put on our rainjackets and put up our umbrellas. A lot of others weren't so lucky as to be prepared for the rain.

We went into a little bar/cafe for pasta for dinner. A couple of pigeons were inside with us, although we only managed to get one to pose for us. [As an aside, you'll note the terrazo floor, which is very common in Venice. Slabs of marble don't flex with the rise and fall of the foundations over the seasons and the years, but terrazo does. The floors in St Marks are all mosaic (which flexes like terrazo) and are visibly wavy.] Aidan and I preferred the pigeon trudging along the street outside, where pigeons belong.