Tuesday 2nd Jan

Went for a wander this morning, I often feel like just hanging around in bed and turning over and going back to sleep, like I would at home after a cuppa, but, if I hang around in bed that means Mary the Maid won't clean my room and I would have to make my own bed, and we know that's not on, so, I force myself to get up and go out by 10ish to give her a chance to do her chores!

So, I wandered around, got lost, no idea where I was, walked across one of a million bridges and saw a building that looked amazing and I said out aloud 'Man the Italians know how to do a church" and I started to go in and have a look but stopped at the door and the sign that said Ospedale.  It was a hospital.  So I didn't go in.

These were churches

This is an Ospedale

 I kept walking and walking until it was time for my 1pm tour of the Doge's palace.

The palace that we saw wasn't the Doge's palace.  The Doge's palace is actually closed.  Liars.  The "Doge's Palace" that we saw was actually the parliament building where all the ruling and wheeling and dealing of early Venice was done.  And the court and the jail.  Every single room was covered in paintings, full walls of plaster that were paintings.  and the ceilings too.  Not one inch could be seen of the wall at all, all paintings, and gold and gold and paintings.  OTT opulence at its very best.

Part of a wall

Part of a ceiling

Part of a ceiling

Main entrance to Doge's Palace

Denounce your Secrets

Then we went through the passageway that was skinny and a very low ceiling, across the bridge of sighs and over the other side, down the stairs the prisoners would have walked down but we didn't continue on the same pathway as they did to get out of the building.

It was interesting, and I'm glad I've done it.

Afterwards I walked in another direction and eventually found my way back to the nunnery where I got changed and went and had some dinner.  I asked for a plate of vegies, with just a hint, a little bit of chilly, just for flavour, just a hint.  It was so freaking hot I couldn't eat it.

I've got myself sorted for tomorrow, I'm off on a tour of the dolomites that leave's the other side of Venice on the dot of 9 so I will need to get the tragetto at 8.10 so I am there in time.  Ughhhh that's an early start!