7/23 -- Venice

Busy day in Venice.  We started with a Grand Canal cruise via vaporetta (a large boat that is essentially Venice’s city bus), going from one end of the grand canal to the other.  We ended just past St. Mark’s Square and then walked back to the square to see the Doge's Palace, which was built in the 1100s and was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the authority over the Venice Republic.  We had booked the Secret Itineraries Tour, which gave us access to the jails and torture chambers of the palace, including the jail cell of Cassanova.  

Each room in the palace seemed more incredible than the last; the artwork on the walls and ceilings was unbelievable.  When we finished the tour, we all were hot and Julia was nearing a breaking point, so we headed back to the hotel for a nap.  A couple hours later we headed back to St. Mark’s square for a late lunch (at the place our hotel receptionist said had the best pizza in Venice — the pizza was indeed quite good) and then we intended to see St. Mark’s Basilica, but our interpretation of “attire suitable for worship” was different than the actual rules, and since all of us had exposed knees, we couldn’t go in.  So instead we headed across the square to the Correr Museum, which covers the art and history of Venice.  They also had an exhibit of art created since 2020 based on iPhone screenshots, a commentary on current events and our dependence on digital media which was pretty cool.

After the museum, more gelato!  (This time at the place our front desk person said has the best gelato in Venice — again, not a disappointment.) Then back to the hotel for another rest before heading out to a late dinner and then back to St. Mark’s square for dueling orchestras (orchestras play at a few cafés that line the squares) under the stars.

Julia's take on Venice: One thing I know about Venice, there’s a lot of really old stuff.

Scenes from the Grand Canal cruise -- including an art exhibit of a giant pelvis with what I believe are loops of bowel inside

The walls and ceiling of one of the rooms of Doge's Palace

Looking out of the Palace onto St. Mark's Basilica

St. Mark's Basilica from the Square

We found where all the gondolas go to sleep at night

Limonata was a great discovery that the kids had

Gelato!

While walking in Venice we discovered a park with animal sculptures -- we really liked this Hulk gorilla!

Dusk in Venice

At night on St. Mark's square, there were vendors selling these toys that lit up and you could shoot into the air -- we ultimately would find these in every square in every city and the ones we bought in Venice lasted the whole trip.  The kids got pretty good at flinging them by the end!

One of the cafe orchestras on St. Mark's square