Liz and Jeremy Visit Venice

After returning from Rome with Liz and Jeremy, we spent a few days at our place, doing things such as going on a hike.  And then we were off for Venice and Murano.  As many of you know, Liz is an artisan who torches glass to make jewelry.  So no visit to Italy would be complete for her without seeing Murano, the island next to Venice that has been the world center for fine glassmaking for 700 years. 

This was Carmen's and my third visit to Venice, and every time it has rained (and every time the rain took nothing away from the magic of the city).  The rain let up soon after our arrival, and it seemed a good opportunity for a gondola ride.  Playing tourists, we all had to have a picture kissing our sweetheart on a gondola.

Here is a montage of scenes from the gondola:

Next on the agenda: San Marcos, one of the world's most famous basilicas.  We got there just after visiting hours so we did not get to go inside, but the outside is spectacular, especially when you look at all the fine details.

We have already weaved themes from Dan Brown's Inferno into our posts.  Those of you who have read the book will recognize the bronze horse statues (including the neck collars) that the Doge of Venice brought back to Venice in 1254 after the Venetian conquest of Constantinople.

I was fascinated by this clock/calendar on the building across the piazza from the basilica.  As with other early clocks, it only has a single indicator for the time, but it is also a calendar, and it tracks the phase of the moon.

  

The next morning we took the Number 3 Vaporetto over to Murano.  There are lots of shops in Venice selling Murano glass, but even more of them on Murano.  We prowled the shops, and occasionally on back alleyways got glimpses of people at work in fornaces, handling large rods of hot glowing glass.

A giant glass sculpture in the main piazza on Murano

After two brief days it was time to bid arrivederci to Venice, the most magical of cities.