Off to Venice

August 15 - Drats! No cameras allowed in the Uffizi.

So I gaze at works of Cimabue, Giotto, Botticelli, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, even Rubens, going from gallery to gallery with little to show for it except recollected grand, beautiful, magnificent and immortal works of art. Yes, and a book of collected works from the Uffizi to give my daughter upon my return.




Then it is on the bus again and away. After transferring to a boat we pass to the island city Venice, and, as if from the waves, palaces and cathedrals arise out of the sea, monuments from Venice's glorious past.



Chiesa dei Gesuati introduces us to the theme, quickly followed by the church Santa Maria della Salute.


We disembark along the Bacino di San Marco and follow the leader through the Piazza San Marco, down narrow walks siding the always present canals, past gondolas and more gondolas, to our hotel.





Later we head off to shop and explore. Swarms of tourists and street vendors thrust along the walkways and spill into the Piazza San Marco.


Basilica di San Marco is said to host the remains of St. Mark but it hosts much, much more. Ornate beyond words, whether inside or out, it owes much to Byzantium. What would one expect of perhaps the greatest merchant city-state of Medieval times? Mosaics of great artistic detail, of gold, jewels and heavenly themes. A mosaic detail from one arch makes the argument.








After overly feasting our eyes on these marvels we are off to meet our group under the clock (Torre dell'Orologio) to prepare for another voyage.


This voyage is by boat to the island of Burano, some distance away. Here is our boat.


And here is our destination, a pastel coloured village on the sea



And what is our purpose? Why, food and drink. Of course!


Later in the evening we voyage back to Venice, walk back along the Bacino di San Marco, through Piazza San Marco, to the hotel and sleep.