Venice Day 2!

Ciao!

This post is for June 26.

Sorry I have not posted in awhile, we haven’t had internet!

To continue where I last left you in Venice, the next day we took the ferry boat down to San Marco Square. At one end of the square is Basilica di San Marco. This other-worldly spectacle has luminous angels trumpeting their horns on the way into the Basilica’s vast inside. The ceiling is covered in what seems like an infinite glittering mosaic and the floors are beautiful marble. We were awed by the mosiac ceiling, which was constructed from the 11th to the 15 century. As we stood from the roof of the church, we could see the entire square stretched out before us. We also saw the awesome views of the square from the St. Mark's Campanile tower.

We toured the whole square, which has an array of shop and restuarants lining it. The shops carried Murano glass, from the near by island of Murano, Carnivale masks, which is celebrated in Febuary, and many other souveniers and nick-nacks. Our favorite were the artists which lined the water front with their hand-painted masterpieces. Jill and I both bought a beautiful painting each; her’s from pastel and mine oil. We can’t wait to get them home and frame them! Jill made a goal of trying to find a small painting from each spot we visited so she could remember her trip there.

After the square, we trekked back to the hostel, but first stopped in a small square right by our residence to buy some Carnivale masks. These are beautiful masks covered in glitter, feathers and hand-painted. Jill also bought another small painting from a street vendor.

That night we attended a performance of “Venice: Behind the Mask” put on by a small theater group in the theater Teatro San Gallo. It told the story of the history of Venice and why they wore masks for Carnivale. Ancient Venetian men were apparently very mischevious and like to get up to no good... even with ladies in waiting and Nuns! They wore the masks so no one would know their identity if they were seen. There were several other reasons for the tradition of Carnivale. You can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_in_Italy

After the performance, we tried some tiramisu at a beautiful restaurant on the water. I don’t really like coffee too much, but apparently it was good! We met some locals and went and had a few drinks at a neighborhood bar with them and then caught the ferry back to the hostel.

Apparently the hostel has a curfew... and we missed it. When we arrived at the door, we were locked out. We tried to find a number we could call, but no luck. Finally, we had to ring the very loud doorbell of the hostel and had to wake everyone up. Needless to say, they weren’t too happy. Oh well, they never informed us of the curfew time!

That’s it for Venice!

Love, Kalyn