Anne starts today's blog:
Today was an exciting day to be in Venice. As we headed out after eggs on beautiful grain toast for breakfast, we noticed that the canal had intruded a little onto the land and water was lapping very close to our main outside door. The people next door would need to walk through it to get out. We had another look for a good glass shop recommended by a friend but failed to locate it. We did locate the most expensive coffee to date - in the Campo di Santo Stefano - 4 Euros! Woah! But this gave us the chance to sit outside as it wasn't quite so cold today, and watch the locals at work and other tourists go by.
We had chosen today to have a look inside St Mark's and wanted to time it so we could spend the maximum time, coinciding with the hour that the inside lights are turned on, plus the one hour limit given to put your bag into a luggage room. This is compulsory and we were glad our Tuesday tour guide Luigi had told us.
However, the water had also encroached on St Marks Square and we had to walk a different way to get in, and then on raised plank walkways called passarelle, to get to the luggage place and then back to the basilica. Venetians are quite used to this. It is the Aqua Alta or high water and occurs during a full or partial moon, when a certain wind is blowing along the Adriatic, and generally in winter. In 1966 Venice went through the worst flood in recent times and most of the city was under water, but despite the inconvenience, nobody died.
We were able to stick to our original plan and in fact the timing was perfect. We had to walk along the planks with everyone else and it all went smoothly. Even thoughtless tourists who stopped to take a photo and therefore stopped the entire group, were tolerated. The sun came out and we had a stunning view of the entire square from on top of the Basilica. You can access this via the Museum for 5E after climbing 42 very steep stairs and then a few more further up after a look through the museum which showed details of the build and restoration. Venice is not for the faint hearted or those with dodgy knees! The water started to recede as it lasts only six hours and our exit from the square was more straightforward.
Luigi (our friendly guide from the other day) had warned us not to stop in the square for coffee which we wouldn't do anyway. He told us that you can pay 20E for one coffee, possibly with live music and a nice spot to sit. We never stop to eat in the tourist areas and particularly where the menus are in many languages and have photos of the food. Of course "Menu turistico" is a dead give away too.
A word about our lovely accommodation. How wonderful it is to wake up to the sound of water lapping on the bricks below our window and the gentle hum of the various vessels as the workers go about their business. Equally wonderful is the gondolier in full voice as he passes by later in the day with his human cargo- generally Asian tourists. Ca' del Giglio has everything we need. We can cook, and wash and dry our clothes easily - a necessity for those who pack light! The apartment is very well heated too. I don't think I'd enjoy Venice in the summer. There are lots of insect sprays etc in the cupboard.
Mick here. From domestic bliss to heavenly architecture.
The Basilica is an imposing building from the outside. It has been rebuilt several times, and this latest incarnation is as much a statement of empire ( with its use of looted materials) as it is of religious devotion. The interior is just staggering. It is almost totally clad in mosaic- and much of this gold. Most of the mosaic pieces would be about 10-20 mm square. I can't begin to guess how many tiles there are. When we were in the other day during our tour it was rather dark, and you couldn't get a good sense of its magnificence. As Anne indicated above, we timed our visit for the window of opportunity when the lights are turned on. Wow! (Although,as I reflected to Anne, we were getting a better view than those who were around when the mosaics were originally made and lamps and candles at ground level were the only light source!)
The Museum in the church is well worth the visit. It gets you up close to the mosaic work and even better onto the balcony where you can look down to the Piazza and the lagoon. By the time we came out of the church, most of the water was gone and the shopkeepers were cleaning up the water in their shops. They must be used to it! I'll attach a few photos to give a sense of the effects of the water.
We went home for lunch and indulged in a siesta before heading out to the sestiere called Cannareggio- a quieter, residential zone and home to the first Jewish ghetto in the world. It currently has five synagogues, of which two are still operational, and the presence of the Jewish community was evident particularly around the ghetto's own Campo. We stopped for a glass of Trebbiolo in one of the many small bacari as we wandered home through the evening crowds. So, time to cook the dinner. More tomorrow. Dinner will be the pasta given to us during lunch on Tuesday.