Venezia - The Day

We woke up and took the 10 AM ferry across the water once again to the island of Venice. Breakfast at the hostel was actually really good, but since we were in a hurry I had to get my omelet to go. With my back pack on and 2 thick guidebooks with destination suggestions, I got off of the boat. 

We formed a small group and with a mix of anticipation and excitement, everyone looked at each other thinking the same thing - where do we go? What do we do? Analise (that's probably how you spell it...) really took charge as leader, and proclaimed our first spot to hit was the Accademia, a famous museum of art nearby. Walking to the building taking pictures the whole way, we realized that the night before we had walked in a complete circle. How foolish of us.

Eventually we made it to the museum and people began to debate if 6.50 euro was worth it to see a bunch of art. I was 100% set on seeing the museum, regardless of the fee, but many people thought otherwise. In the end, John (Cinque Terra John, New York), Analise, Rori, Stef and I were the only to purchase tickets. This one decision kind of solidified who I would spend the rest of my day with.

The museum was incredible. According to MTV's Guide to Europe, a book lent to me by a friend (thanks Erin), Accademia is the BEST or must see gallery in Venice. I concur. There was an astounding amount of art throughout the 30 or so rooms. Works dated back to the 1300s and varied as the time periods changed. All were very religiously themed, many with various forms of Christ's crucifixion or his life. The splendor the place is difficult to explain, but the level of detail in the paintings and ability of the artists to create such life-like masterpieces is still impressive to me. I really am looking forward to seeing Florence in weeks to come, because I hear the art there is just as rad. "Feast in the House of Levi" was one of my favorite paintings, something that had been once called "The Last Supper" but had gotten the artist in trouble, possibly because the dinner party seems to secular and rocking. We spent a little under two hours in the museum - then on to the next spot.

Palazzo Ducale is a humongous palace located right around the Piazza di San Marco. This cost us 7.50 to get in, but again, worth it. We met the others we had drifted apart from here, and everyone walked through the building together. If I was impressed by Accademia, I have to say I was blown away by the palace. After in burned down in the 14th century, the leaders of the city, who work and live in the place, had famous artists from around the world decorate and structure the rooms. This is why every enormous, ball room-esque room you walk through is covered from top to bottom in paintings and have ridiculously intricate sculpted ceilings in marble and gold. Each detail of every room looks like it would take years to finish, which I'm sure it did. By the end of it, it was almost too much, and I began to speed walk through the rooms as if to say "I get the picture, you guys are awesome at painting and sculpting, etc." The tour ended in the dungeons, in the basement of the palace, where victims would be tortured and punished at the will of the Council of Ten. Kind of ironic, the suffering the occurred underneath such a beautiful building.

After the palace, our original Accademia group walked over the church. None of the others wanted to pay another fee, but this time it was only 2 euro to walk through the building and up to the roof. The Basilica di San Marco is another must see according to MTV, and again I agree (make fun of MTV and their terrible programming if you will, but their guidebooks are spot on). I feel like I'm saying the same things over and over, but the church was also amazing. The ceiling and walls are covered in bright, vibrant, religious depictions, all of which is done through mosaics. The amount of time it must have taken for them to accomplish that baffles me, but the effect is pretty intense and inspiring. If you really want to get an idea of some of these structures, you should Google them. I took a lot of pictures, but most of the time photography is prohibited in the museums / churches. 

The 5 of us stopped for a late lunch / early dinner at a pizza place. After walking all day, it felt good to sit. We each got our own pizza, which was expensive, but fantastic. After reassessing our agenda, we decided to work our way to the train station and our 7:30 departure, passing by a famous bridge designed by (among others) Michaelangelo, a renowned market, and the first Jewish ghetto in europe. These sights were enjoyed (the ghetto really wasn't much but a big courtyard with some jewish shops), but nothing compared to the first we visited earlier in the day.

With some additional time to kill before our train arrived, the 5 of us walked around the station looking for a place to sit and enjoy a day closing bottle of wine (John had it and my handy bottle opener saved the day once again). We thought we saw a courtyard down one of the narrow streets, but when we walked all the way down there, found out it was just a tree opposite 8 - 10 dumpsters. With tired legs, we thought this was an ironic place to close off our day in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  We stayed and rested.

All in all, it was a great 2 day trip. Everything worked out and I'm pretty sure I hit every important tourist sight in the city. The others who didn't join our group of 5 definitely missed out (they headed to an island where famous glass is blown... lame). This weekend it's Oktoberfest and a 22nd birthday celebration, so I think a museum tour is less likely to occur, but I got my fill in Venice, for sure.

Still miss everyone in the states though and I was particularly sad to be absent at my niece Maggie's 2nd birthday party. Happy belated - blogged birthday Maggie : )