I've decided to go easyon pictures until we get a faster connection, and then I'll add more and update these files. It takes 20 minutes to upload a picture! Today we started our day at the Doge's Palace. We saw a lot of the city walking around, and then made an abortive attempt to see the Da'Rezzonico Museum, which we have rescheduled for lunch. After dinner in the restaurant that we live above, we had a nice early morning to prepare for a tougher day tomorrow.
There was a problem with Alanna's Dorothy's and Beverley's tickets which they said were outdated, but they let us intop the Doge's Palace anyway. We were lucky enough to get a private tour with a guide who specializes in the Tintoretto paintings, but she also told us about everything, since we were the only ones who had bought tickets for a tour. Carlotta, our guide, was very good, and even managed to find Dorothy a seat in most of the rooms. She gave us a lot of information, and was very tolerant of our questions that had nothing to do with Tintoretto. After she was finished her tour, she left us and we went back and saw the Doge's apartments, the armory, and the prison with the Bridge of Sighs (Ponte de Sospiro). The Doge's Palace was rebuilt after it burned in the Eighteenth Century, and was certainly redecorated in a style designed to impress! The ceilings are covered with canvasses by Tintoretto and Veronese, and the "plaster" work in the ceiling, looking like a cross between lace and cake decoration, is really carved wood covered in gold leaf. The walls are covered with embossed leather in one room, and with printed silk in another. Even the beams in the ceiling were decorated. The entire palace is formulated on the idea that if you see a surface, you should decorate it.
There was a problem with Alanna's Dorothy's and Beverley's tickets which they said were outdated, but they let us intop the Doge's Palace anyway. We were lucky enough to get a private tour with a guide who specializes in the Tintoretto paintings, but she also told us about everything, since we were the only ones who had bought tickets for a tour. Carlotta, our guide, was very good, and even managed to find Dorothy a seat in most of the rooms. She gave us a lot of information, and was very tolerant of our questions that had nothing to do with Tintoretto. After she was finished her tour, she left us and we went back and saw the Doge's apartments, the armory, and the prison with the Bridge of Sighs (Ponte de Sospiro). The Doge's Palace was rebuilt after it burned in the Eighteenth Century, and was certainly redecorated in a style designed to impress! The ceilings are covered with canvasses by Tintoretto and Veronese, and the "plaster" work in the ceiling, looking like a cross between lace and cake decoration, is really carved wood covered in gold leaf. The walls are covered with embossed leather in one room, and with printed silk in another. Even the beams in the ceiling were decorated. The entire palace is formulated on the idea that if you see a surface, you should decorate it.
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We picked up sandwiches and ate them back at the apartment, then the two Grandmas took a nap while the three of us went in search of a wheelchair to rent. Unfortunately, the store was closed on Saturdays, but open on Sundays (Huh!?) so we might try again tomorrow. The walk to the store and back was amazing. May of the streets were not even wide enough for two people to walk side by side, and we went up and down over dozens of bridges today. It was interesting to go back into the oldest area of Venice, where people still live, and where modern grocery stores are tucked behind centuries old facades.
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We decided to go to the Da'Rezzonico Museum, which is the museum of Eighteenth Century Venice, but we are a lot slower walking now that there are five of us -- one with a cane -- and we missed the ticket office, which closes an hour before the museum does. This shouldn't have been a problem, as Ian had purchased Museum Passes for all of us for Christmas, but this is when we discovered that the three other tickets we got were redeemed incorrectly, somehow giving us San Marco tickets -- good only in the square -- and worse, outdated! Alanna went in with Ian's ticket -- mine was at home -- and the rest of us waited outside for her. She was practically the only person in the museum, and raced through it. We've decided to make tomorrow Museum Day, seeing the Accademia, the Da'Ressonizo, and the Ca'Doro all in one day, then seeing Murano, Burano, and Torcello on our last day here.
We decided to eat at the restaurant in our courtyard, and went with the touristico menu, which gives you a limited number of options for primo piatta (pasta) a main course, and contorno (side dish) at a set price. Dorothy and Beverley had the fish option, while the rest of us went with chicken. Afterwards, we went for a wander in the streets, and some window shopping, and here we are at home!
It's an early start tomorrow, getting to the ticket office for 8:30 to make sure we get the right tickets and then trying again for the wheelchair, but we are determined to get underway on time! Buona notte da tutti noi a Venezia
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