Venice

July 15 - 16, 2017

So we did manage a good 8 hours sleep (probably closer to 9 hours) and woke up ready to take on Venice. Our first day didn’t include any cruise excursions so we put on our walking shoes and got lost in Venice. We followed (in a totally disorganized way) a circle route that took us along the Grand Canal, over a number (I mean a lot) of bridges and finally to the San Marcos square 

Religion on one side and high end shopping on the other three sides.

We got lost and then found, lost and then found (repeat several times) then eventually made it back to the ship. To be honest I was about to admit to Sheryl I was lost again but as we turned around the last corner, there was the ship. My navigation reputation still in tack.

That evening we were treated to the Redeemer Festival in Venice celebrating the end to the Black Plague 400 years ago. The highlight was a 40 minute fireworks show which was fantastic. The photo below is but one highlight of the fireworks.

The next morning we woke up early (one of the few people in Venice to do so after the festivities of the previous night) to take part in touring the islands of Murano and Burano. Murano is famous for it’s grand master glass blowers and the salespeople that sell this over priced silicon sand to you. That being said the glass work was marvellous and yes we did purchase some of the end product (they wouldn’t let us take pictures of the product but it is on its way to Canada and we’ll post pictures in 5 to 6 weeks).

Hard to tell from this photo but this fellow just created a horse made out of glass

Then off to Burano where this small island is famous for two things. The first is the exquisite lace work done by the locals. It takes weeks to years to produce the various products created here

This is an example of a wedding dress created in the 18th century that took 2 years to make, talk about a long engagement (and yes it is see through, maybe making it worth the wait?)

The other issue Burano is famous for is the ingenuity of the women of this island. Apparently it was quite common in years past for the men folk to have trouble finding their way home after a couple hours at the bar with the guys. It was relatively common for women to wake up in the morning next to a fellow they were not betrothed to. The solution these women came up with was to paint each home a different colour which ensured that the men would either come home to the correct address or not have any excuse why they did not. 

I'm guessing our house would be the yellow one

In the evening we were treated to a private viewing (us and the other 684 guests aboard the ship) of the Viva Arte Festival, which is held every two years in Venice. This is apparently the “Oscars” of the modern art world and we were very fortunate to be able to attend. Now I’m not the most sophisticated art person in the world so please forgive me the indulgence of adding a few comments to the sculptures below.

Cursive writing is alive and well in the modern art world

This was a white canvas that the artist spent 3 months shading with a pencil (well probably several pencils). You have to wonder if lead poisoning could be an issue here

I call this “Crepe Paper Hanging Gone Wrong”

I’m not sure if this is modern art or my sister-in-law, Debbie’s biology notes from university

I’m also not sure what this is but don’t you just want to jump onto this

At the end of the exhibition there were several artists doing charactures of us.

This is a picture I took of the lady doing a drawing of me

 And here is the final outcome

My kind of modern art

Our evening ended with some lovely ladies climbing a wall and performing a dance for us, and then a little jazz to end a good night. A wonderful day indeed