31 Mar 2015. <IT> Venezia, Veneto —

Our first day in Venezia! We bought our bus ticket in and out, and caught the bus into Piazzale Roma, the huge bus station at the western (landward) end of the islands. From there, we walked the way towards Piazza San Marco, and St Mark's Basilica, St Mark's Campanile, the Doge's Palace, and so much more!

The path takes you through winding back streets, but it is always clearly marked at every turn "Per S. Marco", so it's hard (but not impossible) to get lost! (There are also signs leading "Per Rialto", "Per P.le Roma" — the street name signs are always black and white, and the directional signs brown and black or brown and white.) We noted one sign that could have been confusing, but as all roads lead to Rome, both these paths lead to Piazza San Marco.

When we got to the square, the first thing we did was to go into the Basilica. It's free to go in, but inside there are extra 'added attractions', like going up to the Terrace outside overlooking Piazza San Marco, and to the museum just behind the Terrace, that you are asked to pay for. Totally worth while — the four horses on the front of the Basilica were captured by the Fourth Crusade in Constantinople in 1204 and returned to Venice. Actually, the horses out front are copies, but the originals are in the museum — you can see the quality in them when you meet them face-to-face!

You are not supposed to take photos inside the Basilica, but so many people were doing so that Warren decided to follow suit. He was very lucky, in that a tour guide had just turned on the lights onto the mosaics that cover the interior. Magic! We have dropped Ravenna and its mosaics out of our itinerary for the moment, but to be here just at this time was superb! Venice (specifically, the island of Murano) is world-famed for its glass, and the St Mark's mosaics take full advantage of glass tesserae cut from Murano glass!

The floors are tiled in various marbles and other stones, with different designs in different parts of the cathedral — at times we had tha feeling that our old friend M.C. Escher had been here!

A musical note — St Mark's architecture was responsible for the development of the Venetian polychoral style of music, with two or more separated choirs singing motets, taking advantage of the temporal separation of the singers across the intervening space. St Marks has two opposing choir galleries, and it was from this that the style developed. Warren had the pleasure some years ago of taking part in a polychoral concert in St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne, singing the music of Gabrielli, Willaert and Monteverdi, amongst others!

We then went outside and walked the square, stopping for a coffee at one of the cafes there, and walked the waterfront quite a way to the east, to where we had had a cup of coffee seven years ago. On the way, we passed one of the major ports of call in any gondola ride — the Bridge of Sighs (between the prison and the Doge's Palace where the prisoners learned their fates). The lion of Venice keeps on cropping up on the buildings, on flags, on statues. The Lion is St. Mark himself, the patron saint of Venice. The inscription on the book it is holding is "Pax tibi Marce Evangelista Meus" (May Peace be with you, Mark my evangelist).

As we walked around Venice, we passed numerous stores that sold Murano Glass, and more that sold Carnevale masks. Carnevale is quite a festival in Venice. It runs up to Mardi Gras (Shrove Tuesday), the beginning of Lent. In other places, Carnival only lasts a couple of weeks. In Venice, however, the wearing of Carnival Masks is allowed between St Stephen's Day (December 26) and Mardi Gras, and also on Ascension Day (39 days after Easter, and between October 5 and Christmas, so Carnevale effectively lasts for about six months! The Government reinstituted the official Venetian Carnival in 1979 as a tourist attraction, and it has gone from strength to strength!

Anyway, all good days must at some time come to an end, even for gondoliers! We wandered our way back out of town, passing by the Rialto Bridge, passing one of the emergency vehicles on the canal (we had to step out of the way as they took the patient down to the ambulance in a red wheelbarrow!) and took the bus back to the campsite — to the tune of a friendly songbird!

Distance driven — today, nil; to date, 16,786 miles ( 27,015 km )

30 Mar 2015. <IT> Firenze, Toscana; Venezia, Veneto —

Today we leave Florence, and set out for Venice! So what better to do than to drive up to Piazzale Michelangiolo, visit the memorial to the great man there, and to look out over the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio one last time. We parked up there in our homely little van, but we were in the company of a flashy Ferrari!

Then it was highway driving towards Venice. The weather started out slightly gloomy, a good day for driving. We didn't strike any traffic until we were skirting Bologna, and then the sun came out and it was a lovely spring day — the trees are greening up, and the pink blossom greets us as we go.

Finally we got to Venezia, and to Camping Jolly, the companion to Camping Firenze we had just left! Easy bus travel into Venice, and power and WiFi — sheer luxury!

Distance driven — today, 161 miles ( 259 km ); to date, 16,786 miles ( 27,015 km )

29 Mar 2015. <IT> Firenze, Toscana —

A wet day in Florence, so what better to do but to relax, watch movies, and catch up on the blog.

Distance driven — today, nil; to date, 16,625 miles ( 26,756 km )

28 Mar 2015. <IT> Firenze, Toscana —

Florence, touring day 3. Today we climb to the cupola of the Duomo, walk down and over the Ponte Vecchio and up to Palazzo Pitti for more communing with old masters!

We got into the city early (for us), as our Duomo tickets would expire at about 11.30. By 10am we were in the queue, which moved fairly quickly (by Italian standards), and we were entering the building by about 10.30.

A couple who had been queueing just behind us found that their tickets had expired, and left disappointed. It really does pay to plan ahead a little!

Climbing to the dome is mostly one-way traffic — at ledast until you get to the walkway just below its frescoed inner surface. From then on, there's only one staircase up and down, narrow, and nestled between the inner dome and the outer one. But there are people up there to control traffic a little, so it was not unmanageable — and the pauses this enforces further down mean that the climb is fairly leisurely, with pauses to get your wind back.

A view from the dome

The Pitti Palace

When you get up to the top, you realise how huge the whole construction is. Just the lantern on top of the dome would be a significant monument in any city square! It was a lovely sunny day, and the views from the top are magnificent.

Back down at ground level, we decided that a coffee break was in order, so we went into a cafe on Piazza Duomo — not the cheapest place to choose for coffee, but it was most welcome.

Next, Ponte Vecchio — but on the way down Via Calzaiuoli we succumbed to the magnetic attraction of a gelateria (there are a lot of them here!), and continued our wandering, Warren with a chocolate gelato, and Suzie with a pistachio. Yummy!

Then we walked down to Piazza della Signoria, intending to walk through there, past the Uffizi and turn right down to Ponte Vecchio. No dice! Much of the square was barricaded off, and the place was swarming with the Carabinieri (the police 'Flying Squad') — Sergio Mattarella, il Presidente, was dropping in for his visit today! So we detoured through some back streets and soon found ourselves on the Ponte Vecchio. This used to be the site of a meat market, but when the Vasari Corridor, running from the Pitti Palace, across the top of the Ponte Vecchio and into the Uffizi, was constructed in 1564 to allow Cosimo I de' Medici to walk this route without interacting with hoi polloi, the meat market (and its smell) was moved away and replaced with goldsmiths' stores, which are still there!

We then walked up to Palazzo Pitti, a huge palace that now contains 5 museums and galleries (the Palatine Gallery, the Gallery of Modern Art, the Silver Museum, the Porcelain Museum, the Costume Gallery, and outside are two major gardens, Giardino Bardini and the Giardini di Boboli. We were able to explore the buildings pretty well, but when it came time to go out into the gardens, unfortunately the spirit may have been willing, but the flesh...

From the Palatine Gallery...

Raphael                                                       Botticelli

Raphael

Titian

van Dyck

Titian

From the Gallery of Modern Art...

From the Costume Gallery...

From the Silver Museum...

From the Porcelain Museum...

So we made our way back towards Piazza della Signoria, which was still the province of the Carabinieri. As our pharmacy was just off this square, we had to work our way around through more back streets, but we finally got there to pick up our next six months' medications! Then back home to the van to recuperate!

Distance driven — today, nil; to date, 16,625 miles ( 26,756 km )