OK, so this day was basically the best day of the trip so far! Not only was it filled with stunningly beautiful masterpieces, but the atmosphere in Venice is a-maz-ing (despite the American accents everywhere).
The day started in Verona. Julia and I got up 6:30, which basically means at 12:30am EST. I was thrilled to find Zach still awake, even if I could only talk for 5 minutes before leaving to meet my group across the river. We met at the usual spot across the river in front of the San Fermo church, and waited for the bus in the rain, and then took a high speed train to Venice! Even at high speed, the trip took an hour.
When we arrived at Venice I was thrilled to find that (1) the rain had stopped, and (2) the train station sat directly on the Grand Canal, which serves as the main highway thru the city. Big commuter ferries, personal motor boats and the ever-popular gondolas maneuver skillfully through the crowded and busy waterway.
This is Razz. She's cool :) And this is the sight as we emerged from the Venice train station!
This is also from the edge of the train station looking across the Grand Canal. It doesn't look busy here because I purposefully tried to avoid the motor boats (I didn't think they looked pretty). Imagine the gondolas are like turtles trying to cross a 6 lane highway with speeding cars and trucks going by. They tend to keep to the sides, but that's kind of what they're up against in the Grand Canal.
Here in the street canals there are much calmer waters. Occasionally a motor boat will pass by at slow speed and rock the gondolas, but this seems much more relaxing for the passengers.
The majority of the class wanted to visit Palazzo Ducale, or the Doge's Palace together, so we took the ferry all the way to the end of the Grand Canal. After a really, really confusing wait in line and having to jump out while the professor bought tickets for us at a group rate, we were finally allowed to enter into the courtyard and witness the spectacular sights of the palace!
This is a view of the courtyard from a third or fourth-story window. We did enter it at the ground level, but those pictures didn't come out quite as good as this one. Here are some details:
Once we were inside the palace, everyone went their separate ways. I stuck with my friend Jess, and we went off in search of some masterpieces, Renaissance or otherwise! To imagine the Doge's Palace, try to think of Buckingham Palace in England. The palace was once the center of the Venetian Republic, and the Doges, or rulers, would take up residence there during their reign. The palace had a devastating fire in the 10th century (the 900's), so that led to many changes, and additions and renovations in the 14th and 15th centuries (1300's-1400's) led to many of the Renaissance masterpieces we see today!
I found this fantastic virtual tour of the Palazzo Ducale here, where you can see the grandeur of the palace! Pay special attention to L'appartamento Ducale, as those are the Doge's personal rooms. I haven't looked very much, so I don't know if you can see the "Paradisio," but that is the largest canvas painting in the world, and it is in the great hall!
Only 3 students wanted to visit the Academia, so together with my professor we went to get lunch (after Jess and I got lost in the Palazzo's dungeons). I was thrilled to see actual gondola drivers sit down at the table next to us for a cheap, non-touristy Italian lunch. And of course, got my drink of choice-pear juice.
***And now I'm about to go to sleep so I can awake and leave for Florence in the morning, so everything else is short hand. Enjoy!
Academia! Very proud of myself for recalling and applying my knowledge my Renaissance period to my visit. The first room=Byzantine style. Very similar to the work found in the Museum of Russian Icons, which I will be interning at when I return to the states. Just a few rooms away was a portable wall to cover a ginormous painting that took an entire wall! I could see less than a quarter of the painting that rose above the wall, and could see a man working to clean or restore the wooden frame around the painting. I turned to my friend Jess, who had been wandering the rooms with me and asked "doesn't that look like The Feast in the House of Levi?" We stood and contemplated a while, before she walked over to a nearby sign and exclaimed "It is!" Needless to say, I was very proud of myself for recognizing it. During the spring semester, my professor, Jessica, tried to convey to our class how big it was by telling us how many feet by how many feet it was, but the numbers are hard to imagine. Even in the Academia's large gallery, it took up an entire wall, and stood as tall as a second-story ceiling!
Massiveness of paintings!
Jess (my friend, not the professor) and I then discussed if we had seen any paintings by Titian or Tintoretto yet, which I had not. She claimed there was a Titian in the previous room, and I was a little disappointed that I had missed it. We strolled around the room a little more, and I noted the light airy brushwork on one particular piece, which I associated with Titian's later style of painting. Eagerly I looked at the plaque, and commented disappointed to Jess that I mistakenly thought it was by Titian. She responded by saying "I think it is, though," and sure enough, Titian's name is written differently in Italian. Now I know, haha.
Proud of recognizing the saints from the attributes. Glad there aren't more of St. Bartholomew-gross. Met my professor halfway through the museum and realized that we were traveling backwards! Museum=big loop, and we started in the wrong direction. I also recognized Hans Memling? in the earlier paintings.
As Jess and I went to leave the gallery to explore the city, my professor caught up with us and suggested we visit a little church further up the canal. As the backdrop of the altar at Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari hangs Titian's Renaissance masterpiece, "Assumption of the Virgin." He is also buried inside the church and his tomb is marked with a monument. As we went to go, joined by the third student who visited the museum, so we stuck together. Student entrance fee. SOOOO COOOOL!!! You can wiki it, or click here!
Wandered. lots of stairs +bridges over canals. Wheelchairs are impossible. Took sooooo many pictures.
Looked for glass shop, but didn't want Chinese glass. Got gifts, certified Venetian glass as gifts for many people and got a little purple barrett for myself!
Missed train back to Verona! :( Peter worked really hard to get us other tickets. Late night. slept 12 hours.
