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Travelogue: By Country | By Date Italy | January 2001  

January 2001 - We Love Venice!

We find a great apartment, visit the Doge's Palace, take a run in the rain to Piazza San Marco, and then get lost

Market near the Rialto. There's been a market here for 1000 years Monica cooking a great meal in the kitchen of our new apartment Monica's banquet Looking out the apartment window. Duncan and Tote say that it looks like Dinotopia.
Happy Monica hugging the Doozer. Gothic windows out our bedroom window Our apartment from the outside. (Every building here is in a state of decay, purposeful or unintentional. This apartment demonstrates that the outsides reveal nothing about what is inside. Maggie with a bit of the Doge's Palace that was removed during restoration
A capital capital The Doge's courtyard. On the last Sunday of Carnival, a bull hunt was held here to amuse the doge's maidservants. Future doges contemplating where they might carry out devious plots A letterbox for people to anonymously report selling grain for more than the set price
Another of Monica's door series The Collegio. The doge received ambassadors here, and it's where the Pien Collegio met to prepare bills to send to the Senate. The paintings are by Paolo Veronese. It's hard to tell from the photo, but that's a 24-hour clock on the wall. The painting just "below" the black oval shows Venice enthroned receiving a sword from Justice and an olive branc from Peace. From the ceiling of th eSenate room. Also called the "Begged Room," because the doge "begged" the magistrates to attend the sittings. The Senate was created in the 13th century. That's Venice up there in the clouds (painted by Tintoretto) holding a sceptre, flanked by Greek gods, and reining over all. Be careful in the Palace, spies and assassins are everywhere.
View from the Bridge of Sighs. It connects the Palace to the Prison. This is a girl we met who was going to prison for chasing pigeons. Door to the Palace from the little canal. The pigeon chasers cell.
Back on the Bridge of Sighs One of the many little plazas. The thing in the center is a cistern. Cisterns were used to collect and store rainwater. Now they're all closed with iron plates. Souvenir store with carnival masks Rialto Bridge. It's one of only three that cross the Grand Canal. It was the only bridge across the Grand Canal on foot until 1854 when the Accadema bridge was built.
Duncan reading with charts of the Venice lagoon behind him. The decorations inspired the kids to draw maps of their own. Maggie in the apartment's space capsule-like bathtub/shower Another one of Monica's big feasts. Maggie showing us what Monica would look like at Versailles - on the apartment stairs
Dinner conversation A run through the rain to St. Mark's was absolutely beautiful. The Danielli Hotel. A famous old hotel with a reading room and individual writing desks, complete with stationary, telegram forms, and notes to give the concierge so he can find you for calls or visits. What it looks like when you think, just maybe, you have gotten lost in Venice.
What it looks like while you get more lost. Still lost. Finally, we find the way home.