The Allisons

Venice #2

Our second trip to Venice pretty much consisted of a water taxi ride(s), visit to the Basilica de San Marco, and a visit to the glass making island of Murano. The picture on the left is the train station in Pordenone. It's about 15 min south of Aviano and we can leave our car here for free. The roundtrip train tickets are 8 euro a piece. On the right: this is what greets you after you step off the train, go through the station and out onto the canal. There are several stations where you can buy tickets for the water taxi that takes you to various destinations throughout Venice. We boarded the one headed for the Basilica. We also purchased a ticket for another route to Murano. It's kinda like a subway, only on water. The routes are color coded and there are various stops. The trick is getting on the right boat. There is a picture of a gondola on the left. It is much more expensive and serves more as a romantic gesture rather than as a viable mode of transportation. I think the next picture on the right is the back of the Basilica? The picture on the left is the front of the Basilica de San Marco. The following pictures will be inside. We were able to take some pictures inside. There's a "museum" mode on the camera that doesn't flash. On the right is the the Pala d'Oro. It's an altar screen. I don't really know what its purpose is, but it is beautiful. You can't really tell much about it, I know. It's obviously gold. In the little sections there are men. All over the gold are jewels of every color and size. The picture under it is the tomb of St. Mark. Supposedly his body was smuggled from Alexandria to Venice. Above the tomb in the picture is the front of the Pala d'Oro. Where you see the people on the right is where you walk behind to view the back. On the left across from the picture of the tomb is the ceiling in the main room. You can see the windows and above the windows are men. Again, all of the designs you see, including all of the gold, is done in mosaic. It's amazing. The picture of the horses was taken outside on the terrace of the Basilica. Those outside are actually replicas of the originals which have been brought inside, out of the elements for display. On the right is me standing on the terrace looking out over the plaza. You can't really see the pigeons all over the ground, but I assure you, they are there. More on the pigeons later...

This is on the outside of the Basilica. I can't remember if this too is mosaic, or whether it's painted on, but it's just one of the many all over the outside. They are mostly above the doors and on the walls in the entrances. The next row

features a few pictures of sights along the canal. I think all of these were taken from the boat. You can see the gondolas docked in the canal waiting in silence for some unsuspecting tourist to pay a small fortune for a ride. The sun is beginning to set so the pictures are much darker.

Last, is one of the pigeon pictures. You can buy corn from a vendor on the plaza for 1 euro. As soon as the vendor handed me the bag, pigeons attacked me! I didn't even have the bag open and there were easily 7+ birds perched on my shoulders and arms. (Yes, there's one on my head.) I couldn't even open the bag between being freaked out, laughing, and not even being able to physically open it because the birds were all over my hands trying to peck their way into the bag. Although Mike was super freaked and laughing (saying, "That's so gross!"), he was able to snap several pictures. All them are turned the wrong way though, so to get the full effect of the picture, you're going to have to tilt your head. You really just have to shake them off to get them to go away. It was sooo funny. It was the best euro I've spent. We went to Murano after this experience, but as it was already getting darker by the minute, we didn't take any pictures. I really wanted to attend a glass making session, but everything was getting ready to close by the time we got there.