Ciao, Come sta? Well I journeyed on to Venice and arrived yesterday. Venice is is a city in northeastern Italy which is sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. It is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its outstanding architecture and its artworks. What a wonderful and a very romantice place too. What!What!
Of course one of the first things I had to do when I arrived is go on a Gondola. Well, it is an interesting experience, especially as I am not too keen on the water I can tell you. My gondolier whose’s name was Marco told me all about the history of Venice. Fascinicating indeed. We passed the Rialto Bridge, which is one of the four bridges that span the Grand Canal. It is the oldest bridge across the canal, and was the dividing line for the districts of San Marco and San Polo.
I also ventured to the Piazza San Marco, which is often known in English as St Mark's Square. It is the principal public square of Venice, Italy, where it is generally known just as "the Piazza" (la Piazza). Here is a little video clip I took of the square but no sound sorry as had it on mute. Sometimes this new technology gets the better of me.
Well this weekend I was fortunate enough to be here at the same time as one of their very vibrant and religious festivals. Now the streets were packed with thousands of people today for the ‘Festa della Sensa’ (Sensa Feasty-day). This is one of the Venices's best known festivals that bring to life its thousand year history and its close ties to the sea and the art of "Voga alla Veneta" rowing. It is tradition that on Ascension Day, the Mayor of Venice, civic dignitaries and religious and military representatives, followed by a colourful procession of decorated boats, leave St. Mark's Square and sail to the Port of St. Nicolò, where they throw a gold ring into the sea - a rite known as the "Marriage to the Sea".
There was the Doge's procession in San Marco Square, the Sensa Market at the Church of San Nicolò on Lido, Venetian style rowing races and a water parade by the local rowing clubs. Oh ! how much fun I have had today! I have ‘uploaded’ (I so love that word!) a copy of the brochure that I had today for you to look at. It is in Italian mind so you might need to translate it. What!What!
brochuresensa2014.pdf |
Venice is such a wonderful place I thought that you might like to see for yourself. Now I know Miss Howells will not be able to bring you all to Venice but I found a way that I could bring Venice to you. I have put a link to a website below which allows you to have a virtual tour of Venice. It is incredible, you will so think you are here!
http://maps.veniceconnected.it/en
http://maps.veniceconnected.it/en
Tomorrow I journey on and travel by Orient Express to Belgrade which is the capital of Serbia. I do not know much about Serbia so hopefully I will learn a great deal about their customs and traditions.
I need to try to get to Egypt by Saturday so I hope you are finding out that information for me about where I can stay and what I can do when I get there.
Arrivederci da Venezia.
Arrivederci da Venezia.