Easter Sunday in Venice

Breakfast at the hotel was great.  Even scrambled eggs, but who has room for eggs when there are so many other tasty choices!

Part of the breakfast buffet at Hotel al Codega.  Little cups of tiramisu were a big hit with us!

It was Easter Sunday (Pasqua), and Emmett, Laurie and I planned to go to 9:00 Mass at St. Mark's Cathedral.  The Piazza San Marco was almost deserted when we walked through at 8:45.  The church was closed to visitors all morning while Masses were scheduled, but anyone attending the service could go in.  We had front row seats, in one of the most beautiful churches in the world, on one of the most holy of days.  It was very moving to be there.  We all knew the parts of the Mass, of course, all having been lifelong Catholics,  so whether it was in Latin or Italian, we could at least recognize the different parts of the service.  I wish we could have understood the homily, because I'm sure it was a good one, on this special day.

Scaffolding covers some of St. Mark's

Detail over one of the doors at St. Mark's

Only one person got up and wandered around during Mass, and was chastised by one of the other priests assisting with Mass for doing so.

When we walked back through the square after Mass it was getting more crowded.  The weather was nice, and it was a holiday.  Most of the stores seemed to be open.

We saw stacks of these around Piazza San Marco and wondered what they could be...stages for an Easter festival?...dance floors to cover up the cobblestones?  Silly tourists, they're the raised sidewalks used to get around the city when it's flooded!  We saw them all through the city, but luckily we didn't have to use them.

We picked up Rick at the hotel, and headed out to find lunch.  Not a problem in a city where there are, what seemed like, 10,000 restaurants.  Oh no, maybe it's 10,000 mask, leather goods and glass shops and only 1,000 restaurants.  At any rate, we didn't have to go far to find food.  We ate near Piazza San Marco, and had a good lunch.  Laurie and I had spritzes, but when we asked the waiter if they shouldn't be more sparkling, he took them back to the bar and made us each another one himself, shaking his head about the bartender's inexperience.

It seems like we bought most of our trip souvenirs in Venice, since our days of hopping trains with our luggage were over.

 Animal masks in a Venice shop

More of the masks in the shop

There were cruise ships in the harbor, and lots of people had signed up for gondola rides.  They were crowded onto the gondolas like sardines, but were having a great time, nonetheless.  After all, they're in VENICE!  On a GONDOLA!  On a CANAL!  In VENICE!

Tour groups on the gondolas

  Gondola parking.  Each boat has custom decorations and is different from all the others.

We asked our gondolier how many gondolas there were in Venice, and he told us there were over 400!  It seemed like they did a good job of spreading out so that you never saw more than a handful at a time.  A great marketing ploy, I'd say.  

Just a few gondolas making their way through the back alleys of the city

Emmett got some info from the clerk at the hotel desk about where we would catch a water shuttle to the airport.  We needed to go over to the Grand Canal to scope it out.

Happy hour was in our room, and then we headed out to dinner.  We ate at another neighborhood place, and had a good meal.

We walked down to the Grand Canal to see if we could find the dock for the airport shuttle, and stayed to enjoy the lights of the city.

Laurie and Emmett on the Rialto Bridge

The Grand Canal

Goodnight from Venice!