October 22, 2006 - Venice, Italy

AUTHOR'S NOTE 2018: This was the first of two days in Venice at the tail end of a Mediterranean cruise with a group from our church that had stopped at Athens, Mykonos, Rhodes, and Dubrovnik in Croatia before returning to Venice.

Ah Venice!  What an interesting place.  Truly like no other city in the world.  I hardly know where to begin.

We had an early breakfast this morning and left ship around 7.45-8.  After getting our bags, Father Jerry hired a porter and all our suitcases were taken to the hotel by boat while we walked!  At the hotel we checked in and checked our bags.  Then we hooked up with Jeff and Stephanie, who have become good friends this week.  Somehow, we figured out how to use the vaporetto to go down the Grand Canal to the Piazza San Marco.

Once there, our first visit was to the Doge's palace (the Doge was the Duke of Venice) for a long, but interesting, tour.  The palace was immense.  There were rows of columns and arches on the outer facade.  Inside were columns from the previous palace.  Most of the palace dates from the 16th century, the older palace replaced after a devastating fire.  It served not only as home to the Doge (the Doge's quarters consisted of several immense and ornate rooms), but also the seat of government.  Venice was governed as a republic, although and aristocratic one, through the middle ages and until Napoleon took over in 1797.  All of the nobles belonged to the council and there was also a senate that consisted only of the higher titled.  When the Doge died, his replacement was elected by the senate in conclave.  The buildings also contained space for the Council of Forty, which later broke into three subcommittees to regulate foreign affairs, military issues, and domestic law.  Their chambers also served, when needed, as court rooms.  In 1317, after an attempted coup, the Council of Ten was formed, which functioned as a state security service/secret police with its own room for trying suspected traitors.

Outer facade of the Doge's Palace

The most interesting features of the building included la Scala d'Oro, the Golden Staircase, consisting of grand stairs with intricate gold work on the arching ceiling overhead that ascended from the courtyard to the Doge's chambers.  One of the most impressive rooms was the Grand Gallery with maps painted on the walls and two immense 16th century (or possibly 17th) globes, one of the world and one a star map.  Equally impressive was the Grand Council chamber, one of the largest rooms in Europe.  Most rooms were decorated with gilded ceilings and paintings, Renaissance masterpieces, really, painted on the walls and ceilings.  The artwork alone in the palace is priceless.  Many of the paintings are either religious or depict scenes from Venetian history.  In the Grand Council chamber, around the top of the walls, were portraits of all the Doges.  Several paintings in the palace depict Doges with Christ or the saints, speaking the the legitimacy of the Doge's just rule.

The tour continued to the armory, which housed an enormous collection of old weapons - swords, crossbows, maces, old firearms, and some weapons that were combinations of firearms and maces or firearms and crossbows...  The tour ended by crossing the Bridge of Sighs and seeing what would be a prisoners last glimpse of Venice (Ah...  Venice) before touring the prison cells where he would have been incarcerated.

The Bridge of Sighs

 After touring the palace, we set out for lunch.  A place called Harry's Bar was recommended by our guide book and was famous for being a hangout of Ernest Hemingway.  However, lunch there was more expensive than dinner at most places, so we went to plan B - a restaurant also recommended in our guide book called Chat qui Rit.  This was a cafeteria style place with excellent and affordable food just north of the western end of Piazza San Marco.

Following lunch, we went back to the square which, by this time, was thronged with pigeons (that tourists are actually encouraged to feed!) and more people than I have ever seen at one place at one time.  It was a chore getting around and staying together.  Things were also complicated by the Venice marathon that was going on and therefore many areas along the Grand Canal and half the bridges were cordoned off for the runners.

Our next stop on the Piazza was Basilica San Marco (St. Mark's Basilica).  St. Mark is the patron saint of Venice, having been chosen in the 9th century to replace St. Theodore (a Byzantine saint who slew a dragon).  Legend has it that St. Mark was shipwrecked on one of the Venetian islands and an angel told him his body would find eternal rest here.  However, he died in Byzantium and his body was kept there after his death.  In the 800's, the Venetians stole the body from the church in the east and brought it to Venice, where it now rests in a tomb under the alter of the Basilica.  St. Mark became the patron of Venice and the lion, used as a symbol of the evangelist, is displayed throughout the city and on the flags of the Republic under the Doges.  In addition to venerating St. Mark's body, the basilica houses an impressive treasure room, most of which is Byzantine loot from the 4th crusade when crusaders sacked Byzantium (at the request of the Doge of Venice) rather than going to Jerusalem.  There were some beautiful chalices and icons.  In addition, there was a relics room which included a piece of the True Cross.  It was not very well marked, but I think I spotted it.

Piazza San Marco with Basilica, People, and Pigeons

The Church itself was gorgeous.  Even outside there were beautiful mosaics, but the artwork of the dome inside was stunning.  Gilded mosaics depicting the Ascension and Pentecost.  The floor was an amazing mosaic tile as well.  The structure itself was constructed of marble in a Byzantine style and dates back nearly a thousand years [1071].

After seeing the Basilica, we stopped for some truly amazing gelato and cappuccino at a little cafe near St. Mark's Square before taking the vaporetto back to our hotel.

About half of us from the Church group that stayed in Venice (some flew home as soon as the cruise was over) went to dinner together in the evening.  Father Marty speaks fluent Italian and, with luck, we were able to find a place on the other side of the canal from our hotel that could seat all of us without a reservation called Trattoria Provoleda.  The restaurant had colour coded menus for men and women - they were the same on the inside, except the women's menu had no prices!  We were able to dine al fresca, it was a beautiful evening, and the food was fantastic.  Lisa and I both had the house white wine (which was good), appetizers of prosciutto and melon, and pizza Margherita (pizza with cheese and tomato).  The prosciutto was to die for and the pizza was truly the best I have ever had with a very thin, traditional, crust.  The company, atmosphere, and conversation were wonderful and in truth it could not have been a more enjoyable evening.

April 9, 2006 - San Diego, California

AUTHOR'S NOTE 2018: The annual American Academy of Neurology meeting brought us to San Diego for the first time.  Billy and Amy were neurology residents with me at the University of Virginia Medical Center in the late 1990's and Academy meetings are always a fun time to catch up with our friends from our time at Mr. Jefferson's hospital.

We leave San Diego today.  Unfortunately, our flight is late and that, plus the time change, is going to make tomorrow morning rough...

We had a wonderful day yesterday.  The weather was perfect, best we've had all week.  We rented a car with Billy and Amy and drove to Coronado and Point Loma.  Coronado is technically a peninsula, connected to the mainland by the, "Silver Strand," but the best way to get there from the city is by the Coronado bridge.  Once there, it is a sleepy small town within sight (and easy drive or boat ride) of downtown San Diego.  It has a beautiful beach and on this beach is the Hotel del Coronado - a grand 1855 hotel that is enormous and ornate.  It served as the set for the Marilyn Monroe picture, Some Like it Hot.  We got some ice cream there, with real raspberries on top, which was delicious.

From Coronado, we drove to Point Loma.  There is a national park at the end of the point that is just beautiful.  The view of San Diego, Coronado, and Mexico from there is breath taking.  We took some great pictures there and watched both fighter planes returning to the Navy air base as well as cruise ships leaving port.  It was fun.

Then, we finished up at Sally's, a waterfront restaurant attached to the Marriott hotel, where we had quite good crab cakes and wine and watched the sun set before Billy and Amy had to leave to catch the Red Eye flight back to Washington, D.C.  It was a fun day.

Hotel Del Coronado

Point Loma