Zach's visit, Part Ten: Venice

Our second visit to Venice, and Zach's first- Ah the troubles we go through for our guests! No worries, though- we "suffered" through this visit with aplomb.

The ancient city is still falling apart in it's beautiful way, and remains fascinating in it's architecture and style.

One of the great things about having people visit is we finally get to have our pictures taken together.

This time around, we visited the Doge's palace. "Doge" is a variation on an older Italian dialect the Venetians used, and means "Duke." In a normal city, the title would be "mayor," but Venice wasn't just a city- it was a small European empire, centered on trade and taxes, primarily in naval venues. The Doge's palace was a visibile reminder to all who visited (and all who continue to visit) of the power and wealth inherent in the position of the Duke holding power. More like a city hall than palace, the site is also home to the largest canvas painting in the world (the coronation of the virgin) and various judicial chambers.

I couldn't resist posing with one of the lions near St. Mark's church. Lions were the symbol of St. Mark, and thus, of Venice's empire. You'll see them everywhere in the city, and wherever Venice has been in power in the world.

Beautiful architecture abounds in Venice.

Zach stops for a quick shot of a bridge and boater in the background.

One of Zach's wished-for souvenirs was this chess set made entirely of Venetian Murano glass. The figures were intricate in their detailing, but looked as if they would break if you looked at them wrong. That, along with a price tag a little North of 1000 Euros was discouragement enough for him.

More canal-side architecture.

The famous Rialto bridge, one of only 3 that cross the Grand Canal (Venice's "Main Street"). The bridge is extra wide, allowing for two rows of shops (behind the filled-in archways) and three footpaths in between and on either side of the shops.

How to finish off a day in Venice? Horse meat pizza! Horse meat is widely consumed here in Europe, and especially so in Italy. I had only had Horse once before when I had horse sushi in Japan. It was delicious there, so thought I couldn't go wrong with it in Italy. Quite frankly, it didn't live up to my expectations. It was good, but didn't come out in the familiar meat shapes like ground beef, sausage, or pepperoni slices. Instead, it was shredded, and flavored a bit like anchovies. Didn't have any problems eating a whole pizza's worth, but probably wouldn't order it again, given the chance.