Italia- Venezia

I went to Italia in the summer of 2008. I studied Art, Music and Culture in Firenze for a month.  

From now on, my adventures were mainly shared with my two roommates: Jodi and Stephanie, people in my program, Bev or random people we met along the way!

Now on to my Firenze adventures--a lot of site seeing, staying up late, and wine! How to travel in Europe when you are 20!

I have decided that I will take you along my journey based on the places I went :-)

Venezia

Venezia is my favorite city in Italia. Hands down.

How gorgeous is the San Marcos Duomo? 

I remember a lot of people told me that Venezia was dirty and gross and so I was a little apprehensive about going there. We arrived on a beautiful blue sky and sunny day and I was captivated by every part of this beautiful city!

Sure, all of the pigeons were a little gross....sure you don't want to swim in the water...

...the architecture, and food, the culture, the people all made up for it!

Ick...all of the pigeons! ;-)

We took a tour of Palais des Doges

Inside  Palais des Doges is the Ponte dei Sospiri {the bridge of signs}
The Ponte dei Sospiri is the bridge that the prisoners crossed from their cells to the execution chamber, or to be hung and this is when/where they had their last glimpse of sunlight and their last breath of fresh air.
The guide told us that if the prisoner committed a very terrible crime, that they would have a sack over their head so they weren't allowed the privileged of seeing sunlight on their way to execution

This is a cell that is in Palais des Doges.
The prisoners were fed bread and wine for every meal. 
The bread to sustain them and the wine for the nutrition! 
Very interesting! 

This picture {below} is my absolute favorite picture of my entire trip. No people in the way...nothing...simply beautiful, peaceful, calm, wonderful.

A picture taken from the Ponte Rialto! 

Ponte Rialto is where all of the little street vendors are in Venezia. They sell everything from clothing, to blown glass, and masks.

I bought a beautiful mask here...well two, one for me and one for my Friendoodle! Now for a masquerade party!

The beautiful Ponte Rialto at night!

Look at that moon! wow!

San Giorgio Maggiore Island

All of the boats getting ready for Il Redentore.

This picture is of the Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore. The church was built to honor the end of the plague in Venezia. Every year the Venetians celebrate the end of the plague during the 3rd weekend in July. They build a Ponte Votivo {a temporary bridge} from Piazza San Marco to Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore.  The Bishop from Venezia blesses the bridge as he crosses it. And then he gives a speech thanking God and the Virgin Mary for saving the people from the plague.

There is the Bishop! ;-)

The Bishop crosses the bridge first to bless it and then everyone else crosses it and listens to his speech.

Most people have boats, so they go into the water because once the sun goes down, a firework show begins! This was the best firework show I have ever seen! It seemed to have gone one for hours! It was amazing!

Everyone was cheering, singing and having a merry time!

On Sunday, we went to Mass at San Marco and we heard the Bishop give the service. It was so special! I won't ever forget it!

I wish that I had taken the boat to Isola Murano. We bought Murano glass from Ponte Rialto anyway, so it wasn't the end of the world. It would have been nice to see a tour!

You must go on a Gondola ride! It was fabulous!! The Gallerie dell'Accademia was beautiful {pre-19th century art}and the Guggenheim museum was really neat too!

And definitely buy a mask--you won't get one like it anywhere else! I promise you that!

I would recommend going to Venezia when it is the Redentore because it is such an magical experience. Beware that there are thousands of people there to celebrate and so it will be busy...it will also be worth it!

Until next time, Buon Giorno