Last Night In Venice
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WOW, are we tired! We have been walking around Venice all day, and we did a complete tour of the Doge’s Palace. I’m sitting here staring at the screen like a zombie.
The Doge’s Palace was great – the route you had to follow through the Palace once you had entered ensured you saw everything, like it or not. By the time you got to the dungeons, you felt like you had been a prisoner for hours! Regardless, it was amazing to see all of the Venetian counsel rooms, the Place where each Doge was coroneted (at the top of a stair case – the “Giant’s Stair Case”), and of course, the art works by the great masters in every room. George got to see the largest oil on canvas in the world – over 25m. wide – in the Great Counsel Chamber. Incidentally, it’s housed in the largest hall in Europe (at the time).
Here’s some nifty facts for you – did you know that Venice operated without a constitution from 1297 to the 1900′s? The Doge was elected by a body of Venetian aristocrats who were essentially the self appointed law makers of the city. Apparently they took the responsibility of justice very seriously, and there were very few attempted coups. The Doge was appointed for life as the figurative head of State, but held no administrative power. Furthermore, he was not allowed to leave the Palace unattended, and he was rarely allowed to leave the city – he actually had to apply for special permission to leave, and then he may have been granted a leave of up to three days. Never the less, the Doge was seen as a very powerful figure.
The seat of the Doge was meant to represent Venice in all dealings with Rome – which Venice was very eager to distinguish itself from. Venice thought itself more powerful than Rome, and refused to take St. Peter as it’s patron saint as an act of defiance. The lions that are the symbol of Venice are closely associated with St. Mark who dream’t of the lions when he was seeking refuge from persecution. As St. Mark is the patron saint of Venice, the lions are part of the coat of arms here. It’s all very interesting.
Other than the Palace, we’ve been alternately wandering the streets and canals, and stuffing ourselves with various bakery treats and gelatto. It hasn’t been rough.
We were planning on heading south to Croatia next, but the most recent news reports here tell us that there is a heat wave going through Dubrovnik that has killed 2 people so far, and about 200 people have crowded the hospitals seeking aid for heat related illnesses. In local news, there’s an Italian train service strike on, but it will be over tomorrow. So – we plan to do what we always do to escape the heat – head for the hills! We’re off to Innsbruck, Austria tomorrow to hike in the Alps. We’re really looking forward to it.
And now, before I fall asleep where I sit, it’s time to sign off… we’ll be writing you from the Schnapps shop in Innsbruck tomorrow!
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