For Christmas this year Shannon and I decided to go to the unique and beautiful city of Venice. Venice is a long way from Sicily in just about every way. Geographically it lies in the north, where as Sicily is as far south as one can go in Italy. The tourist attractions in Venice tend to be from the 13th century on and in Sicily most of the sites are at least 2000 years old. The people of the two areas talk, dress, drink and eat dramatically different from each other despite being in the same country. Although one expects different regions of a country to have its own culture and history, perhaps it is more interesting once you realize that by square mileage Italy is actually smaller than the US state of New Mexico.
The original settlement on Venice has interesting origins. In 421 Germanic tribes were raiding Italy which eventually led to the fall and sacking of Rome, Italians fleeing the invaders sought refuge on the group of islands that makes up modern day Venice. Over time Venice would go on to become one of the most powerful cities in the world becoming a center for trade, art and culture.
On Christmas Eve Shannon and I flew into Marco Polo airport, gathered up our luggage and caught the water bus that took us to the group of islands making up modern day Venice. After checking into our hotel we got right to the tourism and went to St. Mark's Square. It was a bit rainy our first day in Venice but at least it kept the crowds and pigeons down. St. Mark's square is one of the greatest piazzas in Europe boxed in by the Grand Canal, the Doge's Palace, St. Mark's Basilica, and the Procuratie built by Napoleon. We first visited St. Mark's Basilica. St. Mark's got its name when Venetian merchants stole the relics from the body of Saint Mark the Evangelist from Egypt and
they changed the name of their cathedral to St. Marks. The interior is very impressive with high ceilings, marble floors and intricate gilded mosaics of biblical scenes, saints and important Venetians.
From the Basilica we went next door to the Doge's Palace. For a thousand years Venice was a republic and Doges were the leaders elected by the city-state's aristocracy. The palace was the residence for the Doges during much of that time and like many Italian Palaces it has many rooms filled with oil paintings, tapestries and sculptures although it is surely more impressive than most.
Later we were at dinner and had ordered when the well-dressed man seated next to us, in perfect American English, asked "What are two Americans doing at a sushi restaurant in Venice on Christmas Eve?" A fair question to be sure because although there were plenty of tourists in Venice at the time, few Americans come all the way to Venice to eat at a sushi restaurant. So I explained that we live in Sicily and that traveling is our only opportunity to get something at a restaurant other than pizza or pasta. So the question had to be asked so I asked it "you're an American eating at a Sushi restaurant in Venice, what's your story?" Apparently he also lives in Italy and is in Venice on business, he explained that the meal was his Christmas present to himself.
We had a nice meal but when we emerged from the restaurant to head home we found that the city streets had flooded. It was raining all day but the reason the city was flooded was because of the tide. When tides are just right, parts of the city flood. The good part is that because tides are based on the moon, most of the time the floods can be predicted and residents c
an take proper precautions. These kinds of floods only happen a few times a year, we were just lucky I guess. Shannon was wore her boots and I took my shoes off for the walk back. At our hotel the water was about even with the threshold at the door and we found all of the furniture on the ground floor up on bricks.
The next morning was Christmas and when we went downstairs it was obvious that the lobby had flooded. There was still standing water that the staff was coping with as we left. We learned from our Christmas in Rome last year that a good approach to a city on a holiday is to see things that don't close. We first went to the Frari Church which was built in 1338 and houses a sculpture by Donatello, Canova's tomb and a famous hand carved choir. Shannon particularly took a liking to Canova's tomb. We headed to the Rialto Bridge. The Rialto Bridge you see today was built in 1591 and is one of only 4 bridges that cross the Grand Canal. It is a popular tourist attraction surrounded by many shops and popular restaurants. We ended up heading to a bar later that was playing some American Football and was decorated with bras on the ceiling. There we met up with some students from New Hampshire and spent
the rest of the day wandering the city with some Americans.
The next morning we awoke and took a water bus down to the far end of the Grand Canal from where we were staying. Our destination was the Galleria dell'Accademia which houses the largest collection of the great master painters of Venice. From there we went on to the Peggy Guggenheim museum which is also an art museum but rather than Venice master painters, the Gugenheim Collection is one of the most important collections of modern art in the
world. We finished our day with another water bus ride and a great dinner at La Zucca, a restaurant recommended by a friend who recently visited the city. On our way back to the hotel we swung by St. Mark's Square one more time just to see what it looked like at night.
The original settlement on Venice has interesting origins. In 421 Germanic tribes were raiding Italy which eventually led to the fall and sacking of Rome, Italians fleeing the invaders sought refuge on the group of islands that makes up modern day Venice. Over time Venice would go on to become one of the most powerful cities in the world becoming a center for trade, art and culture.On Christmas Eve Shannon and I flew into Marco Polo airport, gathered up our luggage and caught the water bus that took us to the group of islands making up modern day Venice. After checking into our hotel we got right to the tourism and went to St. Mark's Square. It was a bit rainy our first day in Venice but at least it kept the crowds and pigeons down. St. Mark's square is one of the greatest piazzas in Europe boxed in by the Grand Canal, the Doge's Palace, St. Mark's Basilica, and the Procuratie built by Napoleon. We first visited St. Mark's Basilica. St. Mark's got its name when Venetian merchants stole the relics from the body of Saint Mark the Evangelist from Egypt and
they changed the name of their cathedral to St. Marks. The interior is very impressive with high ceilings, marble floors and intricate gilded mosaics of biblical scenes, saints and important Venetians.From the Basilica we went next door to the Doge's Palace. For a thousand years Venice was a republic and Doges were the leaders elected by the city-state's aristocracy. The palace was the residence for the Doges during much of that time and like many Italian Palaces it has many rooms filled with oil paintings, tapestries and sculptures although it is surely more impressive than most.
Later we were at dinner and had ordered when the well-dressed man seated next to us, in perfect American English, asked "What are two Americans doing at a sushi restaurant in Venice on Christmas Eve?" A fair question to be sure because although there were plenty of tourists in Venice at the time, few Americans come all the way to Venice to eat at a sushi restaurant. So I explained that we live in Sicily and that traveling is our only opportunity to get something at a restaurant other than pizza or pasta. So the question had to be asked so I asked it "you're an American eating at a Sushi restaurant in Venice, what's your story?" Apparently he also lives in Italy and is in Venice on business, he explained that the meal was his Christmas present to himself.We had a nice meal but when we emerged from the restaurant to head home we found that the city streets had flooded. It was raining all day but the reason the city was flooded was because of the tide. When tides are just right, parts of the city flood. The good part is that because tides are based on the moon, most of the time the floods can be predicted and residents c
an take proper precautions. These kinds of floods only happen a few times a year, we were just lucky I guess. Shannon was wore her boots and I took my shoes off for the walk back. At our hotel the water was about even with the threshold at the door and we found all of the furniture on the ground floor up on bricks.The next morning was Christmas and when we went downstairs it was obvious that the lobby had flooded. There was still standing water that the staff was coping with as we left. We learned from our Christmas in Rome last year that a good approach to a city on a holiday is to see things that don't close. We first went to the Frari Church which was built in 1338 and houses a sculpture by Donatello, Canova's tomb and a famous hand carved choir. Shannon particularly took a liking to Canova's tomb. We headed to the Rialto Bridge. The Rialto Bridge you see today was built in 1591 and is one of only 4 bridges that cross the Grand Canal. It is a popular tourist attraction surrounded by many shops and popular restaurants. We ended up heading to a bar later that was playing some American Football and was decorated with bras on the ceiling. There we met up with some students from New Hampshire and spent
the rest of the day wandering the city with some Americans.The next morning we awoke and took a water bus down to the far end of the Grand Canal from where we were staying. Our destination was the Galleria dell'Accademia which houses the largest collection of the great master painters of Venice. From there we went on to the Peggy Guggenheim museum which is also an art museum but rather than Venice master painters, the Gugenheim Collection is one of the most important collections of modern art in the
world. We finished our day with another water bus ride and a great dinner at La Zucca, a restaurant recommended by a friend who recently visited the city. On our way back to the hotel we swung by St. Mark's Square one more time just to see what it looked like at night. 
