Got up and dragged a comb across my head (Chet), had a hotel breakfast, and finally made it to the internet cafe. It was nice because they had English keyboards, and the keys were where we expected them to be! But our hour ran out, and we wandered to La Fenice, which is only open for visiting between 1 and 2:30 in the afternoon. It's quite a jewel box of a theatre, originally built for a society of box-holders. Maria Callas premiered there, as did several operas of the bel canto age (many years before Callas, of course!).
Then we went to see the Doge's Palace to see where the rulers of Venice lived and operated for about 1200 years. Theirs was a seafaring nation, based on trade and commerce and generally fostering prosperity for the citizens of Venice. You can tell that this has long been a mostly prosperous area. It was only after America was discovered by Europeans in 1492 (depending on who you ask), and the Atlantic became the new trade route with wind-powered ships, that the Venetian empire began to decline.
Anyway, the Doge's Palace is amazing, even though there were a lot of tourists there. And the odd thing is that they don't seem to allow people to use their cameras inside the museums, even if you don't use a flash. We aren't clear, and our only theory is that they want to sell more books in the museum stores! But that seems like overkill, so maybe there is some other reason. Hopefully this is not the case in France!
So we walked around again (for 12 hours this day), and had a good time. We were tired, but are getting used to walking around a lot. Desk jobs don't really prepare you for the walking, but it does feel good.
We had a great dinner this evening - risotto with scallops and basil, taglietelle with lobster, a nicoise salad, and octopus with lemon and olive oil. This, we agreed, was the meal we enjoyed the most so far this trip.
Then we went to see the Doge's Palace to see where the rulers of Venice lived and operated for about 1200 years. Theirs was a seafaring nation, based on trade and commerce and generally fostering prosperity for the citizens of Venice. You can tell that this has long been a mostly prosperous area. It was only after America was discovered by Europeans in 1492 (depending on who you ask), and the Atlantic became the new trade route with wind-powered ships, that the Venetian empire began to decline.
Anyway, the Doge's Palace is amazing, even though there were a lot of tourists there. And the odd thing is that they don't seem to allow people to use their cameras inside the museums, even if you don't use a flash. We aren't clear, and our only theory is that they want to sell more books in the museum stores! But that seems like overkill, so maybe there is some other reason. Hopefully this is not the case in France!
So we walked around again (for 12 hours this day), and had a good time. We were tired, but are getting used to walking around a lot. Desk jobs don't really prepare you for the walking, but it does feel good.
We had a great dinner this evening - risotto with scallops and basil, taglietelle with lobster, a nicoise salad, and octopus with lemon and olive oil. This, we agreed, was the meal we enjoyed the most so far this trip.
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