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Saturday, September 21, 2019

Venice Island Day 6

Today we were able to sleep a little later because breakfast wasn’t until 6:45 am and we didn’t have to depart for our boat until 7:50! After a boat ride to Venice Island we spent the day touring! 






 The first stop was the Doges’ Palace! 

The Doge's Palace (ItalianPalazzo DucaleVenetianPałaso Dogal) is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme authority of the former Venetian Republic. It was founded in 1340, and extended and modified in the following centuries. It became a museum in 1923, and is one of the 11 museums run by the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia.











Very Lavish 14 karat gold leaf 


Using an iPhone to take this picture makes the original flooring look 3d 





Our local tour guide explaining the mail slot and how it was used to be a lions mouth. Napoleon destroyed all the lions when he took power because the lion was the symbol of Venice’s power. When a letter was put in the slot through the lions mouth it was usually a sign that something bad was being charged against someone! 


Some of the rooms in the jail after the charges were heard the person was down and put into one of the cells. 





The Bridge of Sighs (ItalianPonte dei SospiriVenetianPonte de i Sospiri) is a bridge in Venice, Italy. The enclosed bridge is made of white limestone, has windows with stone bars, passes over the Rio di Palazzo, and connects the New Prison (Prigioni Nuove) to the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace. It was designed by Antonio Contino, whose uncle Antonio da Ponte designed the Rialto Bridge, and it was built in 1600.






The view from the Bridge of Sighs was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment. The bridge's English name was bequeathed by Lord Byron in the 19th century as a translation from the Italian "Ponte dei sospiri",[1][2] from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice through the window before being taken down to their cells. In reality, the days of inquisitions and summary executions were over by the time that the bridge was built,[citation needed] and the cells under the palace roof were occupied mostly by small-time criminals.[citation needed] In addition, little could be seen from inside the bridge due to the stone grills covering the windows.[3][4]


Our next stop was a visit to St Mark’s Basilica we weren’t allowed to take any pictures but below is a little history. 

The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark (ItalianBasilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica (ItalianBasilica di San MarcoVenetianBaxéłega de San Marco), is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice, northern Italy. It is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Italo-Byzantine architecture. It lies at the eastern end of the Piazza San Marco, adjacent and connected to the Doge's Palace. Originally it was the chapel of the Doge, and has been the city's cathedral only since 1807, when it became the seat of the Patriarch of Venice,[1] archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice, formerly at San Pietro di Castello.[2]

Now we are off to glass blowing demonstration at the famous Murani Glass Factory.  This was by far my favorite part of the morning. 













The horse was the 2nd piece he did for us! They explained there isn’t a college degree for this art in Venice it is passed down from generations to generations! 


We left the demonstration and had a coffee/hot chocolate and some had a little snack since lunch wasn’t until 2 pm. 

We had a little shopping time before we boarded our boat to have a Lagoon Cruise passing the islands of Santa Elena, San Michele before arriving at the picturesque Burano Island which is renowned for its lace making and colorful houses.
 




No cars so boats are everywhere!





We had a wonderful meal with an entertaining staff for lunch at Restaurant al Pescatori



The best bread we have had and they even had butter...the small things in life!😆


Risotto with clams


Shrimp and calamari 


St Peter’s Fish with out the head and tail..words of our waiter! 😉


Dessert- Napoleon


And cookies and brittle 


Early morning for us.. luggage out by 6 am and breakfast at 6:45 am and at 7:50 am we are heading to Assisi for one night. 

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