Tinbergs on Tour: Wednesday, Thursday – November 20-21, 2013 – Venice, Italy (overnight) – Mostly Cloudy – Drizzly

Distance from Kotor to Venice: 339 Nautical Miles

November 20, 2013

A beautiful sail in to Venice – no clouds and bright sun.

Piazza San Marco in the Distance

Catching the Sail In Together

Piazza San Marco and Doges Palace

The Bridge of Sighs – Doges Palace - Prison

Piazza San Marco

The Equinox docked at the new Terminal – same place we docked the last time we were here. The Cruise Terminal is close to the People Mover. The ship is using Shuttle Boats to move people from the Equinox to Piazza San Marco.

Ellen and I are both on tour today – I am on the “Doges Palace, St. Marks, and Glass Factory” Tour – I did this tour the last time I was here but each guide gives new information so I plan to learn something new. There are no busses involved in this tour – once we arrive at San Marco via shuttle boat (which we board on our tender pontoon), it is a walking tour. The shuttle boat process works very smoothly and soon we are on our way to meet up with our guides.

Equinox from the Shuttle Boat

From the shuttle boat, I was struck by an installation in front of the church on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore in the Venetian lagoon. It is an inflated statue of Alison Lapper, a Thalidomide Baby, shown pregnant in this structure. An amazing reproduction of an actual statue shown in Trafalgar Square in London in 2007.

The Shuttle pier is opposite the equestrian statue on the street next to the Grand Canal.

We have two guides today – one will take us through the Palace and the other will be more of an escort (also in charge of the Whisper Radio sets we will use on this tour). The first guide is a veteran guide, more of a docent, and does a great job of describing what we are seeing in the venues.

The Bridge of Sighs

Courtyard – Doge’s Palace

The guide pointed out an interesting feature on one of the exterior walls of the Palace – a fresco with a slot for a mouth. Residents could deposit a complaint about another resident into the mouth of this fresco – complaints could not be anonymous. If the complaint was verified, then action was taken. If the complaint could not be verified the complainant suffered the consequences. Venetian justice.

Complaint Depository

There are no pictures allowed in the Palace so the shot below is the staircase leading to the interior of the Palace and the last picture I could take.

From the Doge’s Palace we went to the Prison area – the cells (below) were pretty large so I suppose they were crammed full of prisoners.

Prison Cell

We also walked across the Bridge of Sighs and I was able to get a shot through the narrow windows of the canal below as well as the Lagoon.

View from the Bridge of Sighs

Exterior – Doge’s Palace

Venice was at high tide, which means many of the streets were flooded including those around Piazza San Marco. It also was drizzling now making the entire experience a soggy one. No pictures are allowed inside the Basilica (even though some visitors had trouble understanding the rules). I was also a bit annoyed at the fact that a concert was being set up in the Basilica – seemed a bit disrespectful. No photos – no caps – but amps and speakers OK.

The Campanile

The Clock Tower and the Throngs

Entrance to the Basilica of St Mark

It was getting dark now and our last stop was the Glass Factory. We were essentially on our own now but I did go to the Factory since that was the first rest stop on this tour. Some passengers wanted to go back to the ship (including a couple in their 90s) so I told them I would lead them back to the tender pier. On the way back, I got some nice night time shots of the canals.

Canals of Venice at night

We made it to the pier without incident and soon we were on the shuttle boat back to the cruise port. On our way through what turned out to be a lengthy security check, I captured the Equinox all lit up for the night.

Celebrity Equinox docked in Venice

Ellen was on the “Gondola Ride, San Giorgio Maggiore, and Glass Factory” Tour. Some of her pictures are shown below.

On the way to San Giorgio Maggiore

San Giorgio Maggiore

Sunset in Venice

Another view of the Equinox at night

A long, drizzly, but interesting day in Venice.

After dinner, we went back off the ship to use port WiFi, which we heard was open and free. After several attempts, we were unable to connect to the system – the connection came and went. We were not along; several passengers were also having the same problem.

November 21, 2013

A cold day in Venice – no tours today. The ship has an early departure.

After breakfast, we left the ship to try once again to use the port WiFi and once again, we were unable to connect. It was too cold to stay out there too long so we went back to the warmth of the ship.

3:15 PM DNA Testing: Mystery of the Romanovs – Celebrity Central – the talk is out of sequence so a little modification of the opening slides was necessary. A very good turnout – almost SRO – just a few seats hear and there. The series may be catching on.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the Solarium before heading to dinner in the Dining Room.

Showtime tonight – full show by the Pampas Devils Gauchos. Lots of Bolos and Dancing – entertaining session.