Day 5 (Monday 08 September) - Venezia continued Our last full day in Venezia - at least, for a while; oh well, nothing much lasts for ever. We started early with a walking tour of some parts of Venezia where we had not previously wandered. Our walk through the historic Castello district, beautifully guided and explained by our guide Laura, afforded us an opportunity to see some residential areas. No glitzy Armani tourist-trap shops here, but those essential businesses like pharmacies, bakeries, butchers, delicatessens, wine bars, coffee shops, and so on. The walk started with a short visit to the Arsenale, Venezias naval depot and ship-building dock - a reminder that Venezias wealth came largely from sea trade with the east. The excursion ended back at the centre - Piazza San Marco and the Palazzo Ducale where our tickets allowed us to bypass the long queues and head straight into this famous building. This was the centre on Venezias ruling fathers with the Doge heading the various committees, senators, magistrates and judges who maintained law and order. We continued across the Ponte dei Sospiri (bridge of sighs) into the Prigioni where we saw the cells that would currently be too gentle for the likes of Scott Morrison and his corrupt colleagues. After lunch I skipped the optional excursion to the Scuola Grande di San Rocco and instead, used the same admission ticket that got us into the Palazzo Ducale and the Prigioni, to visit the Museo Correr that is housed in the Napoleonic wing at the end of the Piazza San Marco. This was an interesting journey back through time to see how the Emperor Napoleon lived when he visited Venezia after its conquest. That French bastard knew how to rape, pillage and suppress the locals for his self-aggrandisement (but Im biased as a native of the Veneto region). In the evening, we were very privileged for our Uniworld group to be taken to the Basilica San Marco for a private tour with an excellent commentary from Susan. Came out of that with mixed emotions regarding the great skill and artisanship of the builders of this great Basilica, and contrasting that with the unbelievable wealth of the so-called Holy Church of Rome, the current exposure of their antisocial behaviour towards innocent children (and are there any other types of children?), their very apparent lack of remorse and willingness to rectify their sins, and their total lack of humility and humanity. AMEN.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 10:29:48 +0000
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