Since I couldn't write much on my last post, I'll catch everyone up on what's been happening here in Italy for the past couple days. :) On Sunday, we traveled from Ravenna to Venice and stopped in Padua to visit a couple churches. The first church we visited was the Scrovegni Chapel, with walls that are covered in paintings done by Giotto. Each painting tells a story of Jesus, Mary, and various saints. It was extremely beautiful, but because it is SO humid in Padua, visitors can only spend 15 minutes in the chapel at a time, AND only 25 people can be in the chapel at one time. On top of this, visitors must sit in a "special" room for 15 minutes in order to be de-humidified. Seriously, it was very odd, but basically just a room with a lot of air-conditioning. We then had a lovely lunch and celebrated mass in the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua (who is actually from Portugal, but don't try to tell any Italians that ;) ). After Padua, we rode on the bus for an hour and were in Venice! We took a water taxi to our hotel and then had dinner on the Grand Canal. Very beautiful, and cooler thanks to the breeze from the water.
On Monday we awoke in Venice and were soon on our way to St. Mark's Square, followed by mass in the Basilica of St. Mark, which was very cool. We then toured Doge's Palace and had the rest of the day to ourselves. After Steph and Angie got train tickets, we did some jewlery shopping in the sweltering heat. The sun and humidity is really intense, but as long as you are in the shade it's bearable. After shopping we rested at the hotel and had another nice dinner on the Canal.
This morning we woke up and went on an excursion to the nearby islands of Burano and Murano. Everyone had a wonderful time - the boat ride was beautiful (as long as we were sitting in the cool breeze), and the islands were small and quaint and we saw buildings painted beautiful bright colors of purple, blue, green, and pinks. In Murano we watched how Murano glass is made and did some more shopping, though mostly just window shopping. Tonight is our festive farewell dinner near St. Mark's Square. It has been a wonderful pilgrimage! Tomorrow I'm off to Paris to visit Laura!
3 comments:
Isn't Venice wonderful? Are the crowds super bad? We think you will like Paris, and of course seeing Laura-loo. Tell her hello from me and Jason.
It is Tuesday morning here and I just talked to Laura, who has your itinerary and is planning to meet you at the airport. The train takes her directly there. She knows your flight and will wait for you there. If you need to call her, do not use the France country code on her mobile phone number. Use only the numbers she has given you and the call will go through! She is looking forward to seeing you. I am sure the two of you will have a great time together in Paris! Big hugs all around to all you travelers!
Carolyn
Court
Venice sounds cool. See email for message Thanks Mom
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