6-9
Today we got up and got breakfast and hurried out to get to the Doge’s Palace to buy tickets and get in before the crowds hit. We made it—it really would have been pathetic if we hadn’t, we are staying 10 minutes away—and got in and got to see the rooms used for the official stuff and the Doge’s private rooms and the dungeons. The Doge was basically like our president except he had a little less power and was a little more important as a symbolic figure-head. For instance, when a Doge died (he was elected for life because he had so little power it didn’t matter) everything in the justice system came to a screeching halt until a new one was elected. I liked seeing all the rooms and paintings. They really put a lot of thought into their décor. The different paintings were specifically for the room to show that whatever virtues were linked with whatever council thing used that room. The Doges were all best friends with the virgin Mary from what I could tell. I just think that people used to put a whole lot more meaning into the way they designed things. When we went to see the dungeons though we got to cross over the Bridge of Sighs, which was fun. Mom and I didn’t even realize when we were crossing it. All the sudden we were in the dungeons and we decided we must have crossed it at some point. We paid better attention on the way out.
After all that we went to the Correr Museum which basically had a lot of statues and pictures. Big surprise, right? There were a few I liked a lot actually. There was one of Psyche and Cupid and a statue of Daedalus and Icarus with him tying a wing to Icarus’s arm. I liked it but at this point I was stressed out because I didn’t know how we were going to do everything I was hoping to get to today. Eventually, I just gave up worrying about it because I wasn’t enjoying very much. But we left to Correr Museum and leaped onto the vaporetto, which took us down to the train station, where we bought tickets and literally hopped on the train a minute before it left. It was a short ride to Padua, or Padova as they call it here, and we were soon navigating the tram system. Mom long ago gave up trying to figure out how we should get to where we are going and, other than a few minor detours trying to take new routes from the hotel, I believe I have been pretty adept at navigating these things. Charts are my forte I guess. Mom really has been a good sport about the times I have taken us slightly out of our way just for the sake of a new alley-route.
I was at Padua. So we went to the Scrovegni Chapel, which is like Da Vinci’s Last Supper except on the walls and ceiling of a whole chapel instead of just one wall. It tells the whole story of Christ from birth through Pentecost and then the final judgement is depicted on its own wall. There are the 7 virtues on one wall and the 7 vices on the other. There is a statue of Mary holding baby Jesus which is noted for the fact that she’s holding Him on her hip and her body is actually in the S shape that position requires in the real world. It was really cool. We had to go into this chamber and it got acclimated so that we could go in and not ruin the painting’s special climate-controlled room. I really enjoyed the chapel, though. I was very glad we managed to get tickets so last minute. After that we looked around the painting gallery next to it and I was actually just beginning to enjoy the paintings (which had moved from Madonnas with Babies to mythical scenes and other story-type scenes) when Mom started to get arted-out. So we finished up there really fast and went off to see the Basilica of St. Anthony.
That is apparently a big deal. We went in and saw St Anthony’s Tomb and looked at all of the scenes depicted around it. Then we went over by the reliquary—which I requested not that we skip the close up of—which included St Anthony’s tongue, lower jaw and vocal chords. I think those things are so gross. There were these two cute little old ladies who were walking into the reliquary as we were leaving and they were freaking out. They both had their hands over their mouths and this look on their faces like, “I can’t believe we are actually seeing this!” I thought they might cry out of joy. They were so cute. So we found the cloisters next and after seeing the gorgeous ones they had I have officially decided to make my house have a cloister. (If I ever make this house it is going to be some hodge-podge of awesomeness.)
So we left the Basilica and went looking for another place that was supposed to have really good architecture and be pretty and all that good stuff but when we found it the doors were closed. Which was odd because the hours posted said that it was open. We gave up and Mom said that she kind of wanted to try and get back in time to climb the campanile tonight so I gave up going to the Botanic Garden which was nearby. It was a sad moment for my heart but it had been raining all day and I wasn’t sure it wouldn’t start up again. So I consoled myself by saying that I would look up the closest amazing garden when I got home and drive half-way across Nebraska to look at it but for today it was time to head back to Verona. So after a little excitement at the train station—all the trains headed to our station seemed to be getting delayed really bad—we got on a train and made it back. We hopped on the vaporetto back to San Marco to try and make the campanile but we just didn’t quite make it and so we looked at some of the vendors instead.
We were going to try and make Vivaldi’s Four Seasons string concert tonight but I knew Mom had wanted to eat at this café in the plaza so we did that instead and I got my classical-ish fix from the different bands that play in front of some of the cafes in the square. After we ate, I remembered that I wanted to go see this bookstore that I’d read about called Acqua Alta (High Water) and it’s this shop full of books that are in bathtubs and boats and such because the owner is “prepared for the high waters” that come through and flood Venice some times. Mom trusted me to guide us, which was a huge act of faith since whenever I try to navigate this particular area of alleys I get all mixed up. We didn’t end up walking in circles this time and we made it to this little shop about a half hour before it closed. I ended up getting a good deal on some little poster things and it was funny to see the books stacked helter-skelter. I was glad that we got back in time to stop there. Now it’s just us sitting here in the hotel packing for our flights tomorrow. We are going to see a few churches in the morning and it will be interesting to see how we manage it all. Hopefully the flights go smoothly tomorrow and I will be talking about saying goodbye to Mom and hello to Abby. Night.
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