Well let us begin with my dream. It was a horrible nightmare
of epic proportions and it blew my former worst nightmare (being attacked by
alligators in a swimming with no way out) out of the water. So I’m trying to
exchange money, and the exchange rate is 1.158, which isn’t too bad. I give the
teller 150 American dollars and wait for my Euros. And then they give me 10
Euro and 50 cents. And that’s it. I try desperately to tell the lady that she
must have done the math wrong, but she insists that it is correct and that I am
only getting that much money. And then I woke up.
…So yes. That was not a good way to start my morning.
We all got ready and headed out to San Marco’s square, which
is the only true piazza in Venice. Everything else is called a campo, meaning field, and would have
originally held gardens or small agricultural places. So there’s a fun fact for
you all.
We didn’t go inside the church just then, but instead went
around the corner to the Doge’s Palace, which was the seat of Venetian power
for over six centuries. It looked pretty cool on the outside, but once more, NO
PHOTO INSIDE!
But outside is okay.
But either way, there were some awesome stories about the
place and some of the things that occurred there.
He then let us go for the day, telling us to meet up in
front of the church at 7:30 pm. So we headed out of the square to find some
food (everything in the square is obscenely expensive (obscenely)).
We stopped at a place and I got some pizza (Whoop.). We
tried to go to a church and museum, but it was across a canal and we couldn’t
find a bridge for forever, pushing the time closer and closer to when I needed
to head back for church. I ended up heading back towards our hotel so that I
could go to the church next door, Santissimi Apostoli.
Which is beautiful.
Yeah, that’s right.
Be jealous.
So then we headed over to San Marco’s Cathedral, where we were
supposed to go and have a private tour of the crypt under the church. But, as
all good Catholics know, today was the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of
Christ. In Venice, this means a party.
With the Eucharist.
And small children.
And other religious groups.
And the bishop.
There was this huge processional out of the church and
around the square, with a live choir singing in Latin and generally being super
cool. It might have been the coolest Eucharistic Adoration I’ve ever been a
part of.
After that, we did get to go into the church. First of all,
this was just as it was becoming dark outside, so when they turned on all the
lights inside, the mosaics seemed to glow gold. Secondly, we got to go behind
the high altar to see the altar piece, which is made of gold and precious
stones. Of course, NO PHOTO, so I didn’t get any…except for this one that I
accidentally took before they said to stop.
Then Elizabeth got a little sick, so we booked it back to
the hotel so she could chill in the room. Melinda and I went to a place around
the corner where I consumed some lasagna. The we got our last hit of gelato
here in Venice.
Interesting Stories of the Day:
- Giacomo Casanova was imprisoned at the doge’s palace after being accused by jealous husbands of sleeping with their wives. Which he did. So he tries to dig a hole through his floor and is almost there, when he is moved to a different cell. So he makes friends with the priest in a nearby cell (in prison for fathering 12 illegitimate children) and they help each other escape. Through the front door of the palace. Which is ridiculously awesome.
- Adding to my collection of wedding photos in famous public places, here is the couple having their pictures taken in the square.
Awww, they're gettin' married!
- Also, our professor brought us to the doge’s palace, bought us tickets for the wrong time, and then abandoned us. But it’s okay, because we’re flexible like that.
Tomorrow in Arezzo!
No comments:
Post a Comment