Sunday 1/27 we went back to Venice to see what was going on with Carnevale (means goodbye to meat in anticipation of Lent).
On the Rialto Bridge looking for Carnivale
And the answer is almost nothing is going on. We thought things would be happening in San Marco Square. There was a play with many of the players on stilts--semi interesting. Kind of like when you get down to the end of the Malacon in Puerto Vallarta and a performance is still going on and people laugh at the jokes and you sit there because it is all in Spanish.
What is this play about?
So we looked at the event program--saw how skimpy it was. But it looked like there was a musical event at Campo Santa Sophia. So we took the bus-boat and arrived to find--Recorded Reggae and a drink stand. They were advertising a concert for the next weekend in a suburb of Venice near Mestre where we stayed.
Reggae Music Venue!
So we nibbled around for dinner and decided that Nevada City throws a better party on any given weekend with plays and musicals and bands at any number of venues than Venice does at carnival.
Monday 1/28 as we packed up to leave for Florence we noticed a big banner at the end of the square, loud music and a large number of carabinieri--4 or 5 police cars, policemen of a number of types standing and walking around. Since the populace appeared to just be going about their business, the protest or riot or whatever interesting thing was going to happen had not started yet. The banner as near as I could make it out was a protest about the circumstances of the death of the two young workers. One line said "enough death of workers", Basta morti something lavoros.
Now watching a riot in the square from the safety of our hotel window that overlooked the square would have been great---but we were leaving to catch the train.
In Florence we have a nice one bedroom apartment. I tried to use the toaster oven to warm up the bread while I was using the stove top and wound up blowing the master breaker for the apartment. Had to call the landlady and as she was trying to explain to me where the switch was a neighbor came out of her door and showed us. The bottom line is that you can run the oven or the microwave, but since the apartment has only a total draw of 3kw, you have to be careful.
I think the whole fuse blowing business was hard on the router as we have not been able to connect to the internet. The landlady is coming over. She may regret that since we looked harmless, she did not charge us a deposit.
I also learned that in the Supermercado you bag your produce in plastic bags place them on a scale and punch in the number for the item. A tag prints out and you place that on the bag. The checkout clerk showed me --this time--but made clear to me that next time I had to do this myself. Later Wm read in Rick Steves that this is the procedure..too late for me. Long ago, Gigante in Puerto Vallarta had a similar procedure for produce.
Tuesday 1/29 we wondered around Florence. Despite all the efforts with keeping nonresident cars out of the inner city and use of small cars, scooters and electric vehicles, this is still a polluted city. You can see the gray haze and that the stone walls are blackened.
A plug-in spot for your electric vehicles.
When crossing over the River Arno we spotted Wildlife. A family of giant Italian Muskrats--mom, dad and baby.
Here is Dad on the tire and Mom swimming over. Baby was swimming near the other bank.
Me at the River Arno.
Wm on the Ponte Vecchio
Looking back at the Ponte Vecchio from the Galleria Degli Uffizi
We spotted this statue in the Pitti Palace. Perhaps it could be titled "Axel spots his first donkey."
Or this one "Axel grabs a chicken."
William in front of the magnificent wedding cake of a Duomo.
Me in front of the bronze door to the Baptistery that Michelangelo called the gate to paradise. The door design and execution was the result of a contest held in 1400.
A view from the top of the Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal. It is a huge stone arch covered with shops.
William wanted to stop and look at the farmer's market. We also looked at all the fish and saw no eels. We did see sardines. Here in Venice they serve them Venetian style, which is slightly picked in onions with slight additional variations such as with pine nuts and raisins.
Venice used to depend on rain water. The squares were tilted to drains which went to large central cisterns. There was some sort of sand filtration, but people then drew their water out of the cistern via a hand pump. The cisterns are about 4-5 feet across and still visible, but locked up. Now water is piped in from the mountains. Those people who do not have a running drinking water system in their rooms can come to public fountains to draw water. In this square you can see a man filling jugs next to a tree. As with many of these paved over cities trees are rare. Dogs go crazy when they see one.
Cioccolata calda; We happened into a small cafe that did it right--although I did not know what I would be getting when I ordered a hot chocolate--What I got was a thick rich hot chocolate pudding like thing. Served in a big cup and edible only with a spoon that you could set on the top. Fantastic and way more than I bargained for!
I insisted on a gondola ride and got a very nice one. Down the cold shadowy waterways with no one around and then out onto the Grand Canal.
There are only about 60 thousand people who live in Venice now. For each resident there are two pigeons and four rats.
Not much business today for the gondoliers. Carnival does not start until the 26th.
The island and houses have sunk over time. You can see the shadow of stairs here.
Trying hard to save this tower with iron braces. It is the Bulging Tower.
There are lots of pigeons in Padova. Even a statue. Italians are not pigeon electrocuters like the Germans. Of course I wear a hat all the time. Rick Steves says that if a pigeon bombsd you you have to wait and let it dry then it will flake off otherwise it will just smear into your hair. I prefer to think about flaking it off of a hat. You can hear loud cooing in all the arches.
Rick says that you need to reserve a viewing of the Scrovegni Chapel frescoes a day or two in advance. But since this is the off season we were scheduled in half an hour. The 40 frescoes by Giotto with scenes from the life of Mary and Jesus are amazing for their realism for 1303. There are tears dripping out of the eyes of the mothers during the slaughter of the innocents. The chapel and the frescoes were commissioned as atonement's for the crime of usury by Scrovegni and his father.
The arches are over most sidewalks, keeping it dark and cold. But you don't need an umbrella.
The River runs through the town and you can see the Astronomical Observatory. It was closed so we don't know if it was the one used by Galileo and Copernicus who studied and taught here at the University of Padua which was founded in 1222.
As we walk we see the new built from the old everywhere.
We have seen about 3 sun clocks. One in Munich and two here in Padua.
A great draw in town is the Church dedicated to Saint Anthony. Pilgrims flock here for intercession and miracles. We went on the whole tour and were quite impressed with the beauty of the church and the devotion to the saint.
