Museums a plenty!

Today we got up early and beat the crowds to St. Mark's Square. It was
amazingly empty at 8:30 am! (We've found that the Italians stay up
late and sleep in late.) Our first stop was a tour of the Doge
Palace. This is where the rulers of Venice lived and worked in the
1500s. It was amazing with velvet covered walls, huge fireplaces in
each room, and even a staircase with a gold ceiling! At the end of
the tour we got to go through the horrible dungeons of the palace
where prisoners were held. We crossed the Bridge of Sighs (pic) which
was the last time these people saw Venice before being banished. The
kids thought all of that was pretty cool.
Next we toured St Mark's basillica and the accompanying museum. The
basillica is absolutely gorgeous with it's extensive gold mosaic
inside and out. The kids have been learning about mosaics all week,
and even they were awed by it. G said, "but, how did they get that
done in time!?!?" We read that the surface area was that of a
football field- imagine placing contact lenses on an entire football
field, so that each blade of grass was covered. That's the amount of
work involved!
We had promised the kids another chance at feeding the birds if they
made great choices and that's exactly what we did next.
Eventualy we made it back home for naps, while M and J visited the
'Sistine Chapel' of Venice. Like its inspiration in Rome, it included
paintings on the ceiling and to top it off mirrors were available to
more easily view the art. M really enjoyed it!
We spent the evening basking in the gorgeous weather in the nearby
square, and ate dinner at our apartment. Two guesses what we had...

Ciao!