Venice

To build a city where it is impossible to build a city is madness in itself, but to build there one of the most elegant and grandest of cities is the madness of genius. ~ Alexander Herzen

Venice landscape

This was our second visit to the Queen of the Adriatic. As Fran Lebowitz once explained, "If you read a lot, nothing is as great as you've imagined. Venice is -- Venice is better."

Grand Canal at sunset

As we began the short stroll from our hotel into Piazza San Marco we were both struck with the surreal sensation of disbelief that we had actually arrived in Europe's most romantic city!

Gondolas in the Grand Canal

Our previous brief encounter in this amazing floating city back in 1986 was far too short for us to wander the narrow streets or to linger on the bridges to gaze at the variety of water craft from gondolas to garbage barges or to simply cruise along the Grand Canal in one of the numerous water buses (vaporetti).

Precious cargo being delivered

You can imagine our delight at finding that our breakfast table was in a front row position overlooking the lagoon and the Giudecca Canal.

MS Splendour of the Seas entering the Giudecca Canal

Huge passenger ships passed us in a majestic procession on their way toward the Cruise Ship Terminals.

Venice Cruise Ship Terminals

Despite being quite late in the season, the Cruise Terminal was very busy with at least 20,000 passengers passing through the city every day.

A tour of the gothic Doge's Palace was perhaps the highlight of our time in Venice.

Doge's Palace adjacent to St Mark's Campanile

Constructed in the 14th century, the palace was both the home of the doge and the headquarters of the Venetian Republic until 1797 when the city fell to Napoleon.

Doge's Palace adjacent to Piazza San Marco

The Doge's Palace is incredibly ornate with a stunning Gothic style exterior, with an open portico and second-floor balcony, grand staircases, gilded ceilings, and frescoed walls.

The most celebrated staircase is Scala d'Oro - the "Golden Staircase", decorated with a gilded, stucco ceiling and built to provide a grand entrance for dignitaries visiting the state rooms on the upper floors.

The Golden Staircase

Sala del Maggior Consiglio is probably the most splendid hall in the Palace. It is the Hall of the Great Council and has monumental proportions. A huge painting called "Paradise" on the eastern wall measures 7m x 25m.

Sala Del Maggior Consiglio - Hall of the Great Council

The Sala del Collegio (Cabinet Room) features the Doge's throne, an elaborate ceiling and walls decorated with famous paintings.

Portrait of Doge Sebastiano Venier in the Sala Del Collegio

The Sala dello Scrutinio is the second-largest room on the second floor was a vote-counting room as well as a meeting hall. Like the Sala del Maggior Consiglio, it contains over-the-top decorations, including a carved and painted ceiling, and enormous paintings of Venetian martime battles on the walls.

The Victory of Lepanto in Sala Dello Scrutinio

The walls of the Sala Dello Scudo (Shield Room) were covered in maps that illustrated the extent of Europe's explorers travels and their knowledge of the world at the time.

Map of Southern Europe in the Sala Dello Scudo

Globes in the Sala Dello Scudo

As we sailed out of the Venice Lagoon at the beginning of our Black / Mediterranean Sea Cruise we passed by the very exclusive address - the passenger ship The World. This luxury ship is a residential community owned by its residents who live on board as the ship slowly circumnavigates the globe - staying in most ports from 2 to 5 days.

The World in Venice Lagoon

One other fascinating and significant discovery we made whilst in Venice was the new MOSE System - which is currently under construction. The MOSE Project (see video) is designed to protect Venice from floods.

The system consists of rows of barriers able to isolate the Venetian Lagoon from the Adriatic Sea when the tide exceeds 1.1m. The 78 barriers are designed to protect the three entrances to the Venetian Lagoon. They will stay on the seabed until high tides and storms are forecast. They will then be inflated, blocking the sea from the lagoon and effectively reducing high water levels. There are two sets of barriers either side of an artificial island at the Lido-San Nicolò inlet (which we saw as we departed and returned from our next cruise).

Artificial island at the Lido-San Nicolò inlet

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We hope you enjoyed this tiny taste of Venice. This concludes our Italian odyssey. Next up is the Black / Mediterranean Sea Cruise. In the meantime please keep sending in your comments and questions.

Also if you're unsure which stories you've missed look for the Blog Archive - it's the best way to select the post you haven't read yet (or want to re-read).