st. mark's square, dodges palace and the flood

St. Marks Square or Piazza San Marco - is a grand square surrounded by fancy historical buildings and sights including: St. Marks Basilica, the Dodge's Palace, the Campanile bell tower and the Correr Museum.  It is the only square in Venice to merit the title "piazza." Nearly two football fields in length, it is surrounded by offices of the republic.  With the church to your back, the "old offices" -16th century Renaissance are on the right and "new offices" - of the 17th century High Renaissance on your left.  

St. Mark's Square

The Clock Tower, built during the Renaissance in 1496, marks the entry to the main shopping drag called the Mercerie, which connects St. Marks Square with the Rialto bridge.  St. Marks Basilica was built in the 11th century to replace an earlier church, this basilica distinctly Eastern-style architecture underlines Venice's connection with Byzantium - its decorated with "booty" from returning sea captains, a Venetian trophy chest.  The interior of the Basilica glows with gold mosaics and colored marble. 

Dodge's Palace - the seat of the Venetian government and home of its ruling duke, or dodge, this was the most powerful half-acre in Europe for 400years.  The Dodge's Palace was built to show off the power and wealth the Venetians had established.  The dodge lived with his family on the first floor near the halls of power.  Walking through Dodge's palace is a one way tour through the public rooms of the top floor finishing with the Bridge of Sighs and the prison.  The Hall of the Grand Council, 175ft by 80ft, with a capacity of 2,600 is it where the nobility met to elect the senate and dodge and to date is still the largest room in Europe!

Dodge's Palace

The Flood - the question everyone wants to know, is Venice sinking? Unfortunately Venice has been battling rising water levels for centuries.  Venice now floods about 100 times  a year! Usually from October until late winter - a phenomenon called the acqua alta.  Venice is sinking and the water is rising, a lethal combination for the city. The acqua alta happens when a high tide combines with strong sircco winds and a storm. We able to experience the acqua alta, after watching all the stores prepare the night before and the news of the flood - we were expecting to wake up to this massive flood! In reality it was a little of a disappointment until we walked to St. Marks Square where it was flooded!  even had elevated sidewalks for people to walk on!

Murano Island

Murano Island is the most famous of the Venetian Islands, and is the most visit courtesy of the famous glass-works that produce the ever popular "Murano Glass"  The Venetians have been making and glass since the 10th century, when the Venetian merchants brought back the secrets of production from the East. We took the vaparetto, water bus, from Saint Marks Square to Murano Island. On Murano Island, everyday life is revolves around the glass making industry and it is in every store window you walk by.  

water taxi

Murano Glass Factory

glass blowing - Many of the glass blowing factories offer small, usually free, 15min glass blowing demonstrations of an artisan in action firing up some thing in a furnace, followed by an almost comically high-pressure sales pitch - even making you exit through the galleries. Fortunately there is no obligation to buy anything and although you might think it would be cheaper, it is definitely marked up..

even food is transported via boat in Venice

When we returned back to Venice - we had some lunch then went to Campanile.  The Campanile di San Marco is a dramatic bell tower in the middle of Saint Marks Square. Unlike the Duomo of Florence there is an elevator which will bring you 300ft to the top for some of the best views in Venice. 

view of Saint Mark's Square

the floating city

While we were in Venice the weather wasn't exactly what we had hoped it would be, little less sun and a little more clouds and rain than we would have liked.  The weather was very common for the time of year, unfortunately rain and clouds also meant that Venice was colder than the time we spent in Florence and Rome.  Our first full day in Venice we decided to walk around and explore - supposedly I got us "lost" and took mom and dad away from the recommended streets on mom's "street wise map" - It was just fun exploring all the small canals and seeing how buildings and piazzas were connected with bridges rather than roads.

our first hotel

view from the Rialto Bridge

We walked along the famous Rialto Bridge - originally the Bridge was a pontoon bridge and was made to connect the land to the Rialto market on the eastern bank.  It was replaced by a wooden bridge in 1255 that had two inclined ramps meeting at a movable central section that could be raised to allow the passage of ships.  The connection with the Rialto market called for a changing of names.  The bridge name was changed and during the 15th century two rows or shops were build along the sides of the bridges.  The bridge that stands today was built of stone in 1591 and lined with numerous shops.

mom & dad on the Rialto

Rialto on our last day in Venice

Venezia

Thursday evening we packed up our things and were off to the next city in Italy - Venice! Traveling in Europe by train is easy and very convenient - if you're noticed we traveled by train to all of the different cities while my parents were in Italy.  Venice is located in Northern Italy and is known for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and artwork.  Venice has had many nicknames over the years for its setting "Queen of the Adriatic" "City of Water" and the "Floating City" to name a few.  The city itself stretches across 117 small islands in the Venetian Lagoon and Adriatic Sea.  During the Middle ages and Renaissance the city was a staggering power, and very important center of commerce, making Venice an extremely  wealthy city. 

We arrived in Venice around 7pm  - so although dark it was evident why the city is nick named the floating city - buildings upon buildings look as if there are just emerging from the sea - wherever there would be a street or an alley way, its filled with water and there are boats and gondola's everywhere! After being blown away by this city - I needed to know how it was possible that these beautiful palaces and gigantic buildings were emerging from the sea!  Here's what I found... The buildings of Venice are constructed on closely spaced wooden piles, most of the piles are still intact after centuries of submersion.  The foundations rest on the piles and the buildings of brick or stone sit about the footings. The piles penetrate a softer layer of sand and mud until they reach a much harder layer of compressed clay. 

Why does the wood not decay after centuries of submersion? - Wood does not decay as rapidly in oxygen-poor conditions as it would on the surface. It is petrified as a result of the constant flow of mineral rich water; making it become a stone like structure. Question answered.

on the vaporetto (waterbus)

Pisa and Climbing the Duomo

On Wednesday's I my first class wasn't until 3pm, so I usually spent my Wednesday's exploring Florence, sleeping in, going to the gym.  The Wednesday my parents were here we decided to visit the city of Pisa before my Italian class. We hopped on a morning train from Santa Maria Novella train station, Florence and arrived at Pisa Centrale an hour later. 

Pisa peaked in power in AD1200 it used to rival Venice and Genoa as a sea-trading power.  As a port near the mouth of the Arno River (the same river that flows through Florence) the city enjoyed easy access to the Mediterranean.  Pisa's three important sights - the Duomo, Baptistery and the Tower - can all be found on the Field of Miracles. The buildings are constructed from similar materials bright white marble and have comparable decoration. The style is dubbed as Pisan Romanesque. We walked from the train station to the Field of Miracles to see these beautiful sights. 

The Leaning Tower: a 15ft lean from the vertical makes the Tower one of Europe's most recognizable images.  You cannot imagine how much this gigantic tower is actually leaning until you see if for yourself. The Tower is nearly 200ft tall and 55ft wide, weighing 14,000 tons and is currently leaning at a 5 degree angle. The tower started to lean almost immediately after construction began There are eight stories to the Tower and it was built over two centuries by least three different architects. Each successive architect tried to correct the leaning problem.. and after completion several attempts were made to stop its slow-motion fall... 

Duomo (Cathedral)

Dad holding up the Tower

can't see it without doing the tourist pics

Baptistery 

Field of Miracles

Bordering the Field of Miracles is the Camposanto Cemetery, which has been there since ancient times and is said to have "Holy Land" dirt, which is said to reduce a body into a skeleton within a day - crazy. The building is also home to the 1,000 square foot 14th century fresco, The Triumph of David which captured Pisa's mood in the wake of the bubonic plague.

sarcophagus 

After we visited the important sites at the field of Miracles, it was time to head back to Florence so I could get to class. While I attended Italian and my literature class, my parents explored Florence on their own, got some afternoon cappuccinos and visited Santa Croce.  Santa Croce Church is a 14th century Franciscan church decorated with centuries of art, and holds the tombs of great Florentines. Although built in the 14th century, Santa Croce has a 19th century Victorian Gothic facade facing a huge square ringed with shops and littered with tourists. Inside the church there is the tomb of Galileo Galilei, and Michelangelo Buonarroti.

Santa Croce

restoration in process

Galileo's Tomb

Michelangelo's Tomb

Thursday I had class from 9am to 11:30  then again at 3pm. Mom and Dad took advantage of the time to climb the Duomo and visit the Academia to see the statue of David.  Climbing the Duomo gives a grand view into the cathedral from the base of the dome, a chance to see Brunelleschi's "dome-within-a-dome" (style in which Michelangelo used to construct the dome of St. Peter's) construction, glorious views of Florence from the top and the opportunity to use a Renaissance StairMaster, 463 step climb to the top! 

small windows on the way up

narrow stairs and hallways

made it to the top!

check out the view

didn't even break a sweat

463 up, another 463 down

looking up at the front of the Duomo

The Duomo – formally known as Cathedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore – is Florence’s Goethic Cathedral that has the third largest naïve in Christendom.  The façade from the 1870s is covered with pink, green and white Tuscan marble.  The claim to fame is Brunelleschi’s magnificent dome – the first Renaissance dome and the model for all domes to follow.  The cathedral was actually built with a giant hole, awaiting a roof – without any technology or plan on how to build one. The original architect, Arnolfo left a problem that was insolvable for more than 100 years. Fortunately Filippo Brunelleschi constructed an idea to build a dome-within-a-dome structure that could encompass the area and support itself.

The Accademia ( Galleria dell’Accedemia) is home to Michelangelo’s magnificent sculpture of David. If you’ve looked through my pictures, you can see that there is a David statue in Piazza Signora, where the original used to stand. They have since moved it in to the museum for protection.  Michelangelo was commissioned in 1501 at the age of 26 to carve a large scale work from a Bible story.  To quickly explain the significance, according to the story  - the Israelites were surrounded by barbarian warriors led by a giant named Goliath.  The Giant challenged the Israelites to send someone to fight him, a young shepherd boy named David defeats the giant.  The statue that Michelangelo commissioned stands 17ft tall and is a symbol of divine victory over evil.  It was originally supposed to stand on the roofline of the Duomo, then was placed more prominently at the entrance to Palazzo Vecchio - where the copy stands today.

touristy times around Firenze

I had saved many of the touristy things around Florence to do during the time my parents were here... now I'll go into some detail into the must see sights of Florence.  Monday was Halloween and Italians celebrate the holiday a little differently, it was the fist Halloween in years that I did not consume one piece of candy! or carve any pumpkins.. Halloween in America, especially on the college scene, "Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it," small reference to Mean Girls but its describes Halloween the best!  In Italy, if you do dress up for Halloween, you dress scary - blood, guts and gory costumes... Many of the bars were promoting a Halloween themed night, so all my friends and I decided we needed fast easy costumes!

black cats!

lame I know... but it was quick & easy!

Although Italians don't really celebrate Halloween, they do celebrate All Saints Day - which meant no class on Tuesday and a full day of touring Florence with Mom and Dad. We attempted to go to Sienna in the morning and had some difficulties with the train, so we walked throughout Florence, crossed the Arno and checked out Palazzo Pitti (Pitti Palace) and the Boboli Gardens.  Pitti Palace is a renaissance palace located on the south side of the Arno, is currently home to the Palatine Gallery, Modern Art Gallery, Royal Apartments, Costume Gallery.  The Palace dates back from 1458 and was originally the residence of Luca Pitti and a Florentine banker.  The Boboli Gardens are located behind Pitti Palace and are laid out as in mid 16th century garden style - present day the gardens cover over 11 acres and have come to form an outdoor museum of garden sculptures.

in front of Pitti Palace

Boboli Gardens

Boboli Gardens & Pitti Palace

the Grotto

After walking around the Palace and Gardens we had worked up quite an appetite.... considering we were on the South Side of the River, there was no question as to where we were going to lunch.. GUSTAPIZZA. Sorry Charrdonnay's you've got nothing on this pizza. Pizzas made to order, to ensure the freshest ingredients there are only 9 pizzas on the menu and a daily special.  If you are in Florence for anytime at all, you must make a stop at Gusta, I know people that have ate there at least once a week this semester!

GUSTAPIZZA - Margarita Pizza - delicious!

Continuing our tour of the south side of the Arno River, I brought my parents to one of my favorite places in Florence. Although its a slight hike to get to Piazza Michelangelo has some of the most incredible views of the city.  

the trek up...

so worth that view!

precious :)

as much as I would love to continue to write in my blog, rather than my literature paper.. I should probably get to work on that. When I hit a road block, I'll be back to update some more! Ciao tutti!