Acqua Alta

Today the weather in Venice was sunny and perfectly lovely; what a change from yesterday! We were actually able to see our charming our B&B, which is housed in a 500 year old palazzo behind Piazza San Marco.

Here is a taste of the chiming of the bells from our window.
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First thing this morning we headed straight for St. Mark’s Basilica. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a lot of time to explore since we had a busy day planned, which was made even busier by the change in plans yesterday. Having been to the basilica before I knew that I wanted to show Russ the San Marco Museum that is housed upstairs and puts you in touching distance of the incredible mosaics that cover the ceiling. They are breathtaking! (Sadly no photos allowed within the basilica.) The Museum also has a balcony that overlooks Piazza San Marco.

After this quick turn around the basilica we hurried over to the Doge’s Palace for the Secret Itineraries tour which takes you through the palace into rooms that are not open to the public, including the secret archives room, the torture room, and Casanova’s prison cells. We also viewed the attic where the architect who designed the Rialto Bridge also designed a series of trusses capable of spanning the 175ft x 80ft Hall of the Grand Council, as well as walls that would support the heavy frames of the grand works of art that hang in the hall. At the end of the tour we were able to view the other rooms of the palace, including the hall of the Grand Council which houses Tintoretto’s Paradise, the largest oil painting in the world.

We then crossed the bridge of sighs into the prisons. I can’t say why I really wanted to see and cross the bridge. Maybe because it was undergoing renovation the last time I was in Venice or maybe just because it has been romanticized. In any case, it was neat to see the prisons and the carvings made in the cells by the prisoners. It was also fun to look back out at all of the ogling and photo-taking tourists.

We left the palace in search of lunch and discovered that there was “acqua alta” on the Piazza. This is a phenomenon that occurs when the tide and south wind cause an increased flow of water into the lagoon, which invades the city. This phenomenon usually happens in winter, and from what I’ve read, sometimes only every three years, so it was a fun experience to be present when it happened.

After a quick bite to eat we hopped onto the vaporetto to the Island of Murano, known for its Glass making. We wandered around the canals a bit, bought a couple cans of our favorite lemon soda, and visited the Glass Museum. Look at this chandelier!

We found our way back to the vaporetto and took it out to the island of Burano. This colorful, village-like island is known for lace making. We visited the Lace Museum, which traces the island’s lace heritage, and wandered around the canals and lace shops.

We were getting quite hungry by this time and most of the restaurants were closed so we took the vaporetto back to Venice and stopped for dinner at Taverna La Corte. We had Macaroni al ragu made with fresh macaroni pasta noodles and it was seriously the best pasta we had ever eaten!

Tomorrow we head to Florence. Wish us luck; the forecast says rain.