June 9 - Cultural enrichment is just not my thing...

Sometimes I think that museums are overrated. Sometimes, I think that it is more important to go out into the city and wander around, using the time to experience a new place, then spend hours wandering the halls of one building.

Are we sensing a theme yet?

So yeah, today we went to another museum (Corerr) and another church (the Basillica) and then another museum (The Doge's Palace) all in the San Marco Piazza. The square is beautiful - looking out over the water, people of every nationality wandering around, holding hands, and even feeding the multitude of pigeons. So about an hour into the museum I said 'Fuck it', told Lian I would met her outside, and went out to experience the Venetian people. And in my opinion the next 45 min was a much better use of my time. I people watched, read, and rested - really I just enjoyed being in Venice, a place I might never see again.

Correr was an ok museum. It had historical statues and paintings, all helping to depict the history of Venice. Did you know that the city is often portrayed in paintings as a tall, blonde, regal, woman wearing a crown? Yep it is. In the Basillica the walls are all gilded in gold and it is filled with not only the treasure brought back from the pillaging of other countries (raping isn't mentioned) but this church also displays the bones of Saints in it's treasury. Whole hands, bone fragments, etc. all strung up in small plastic cylinders and put out for the world to ogle. Not exactly the most dignified end, now is it? One of the many reasons I am going to be cremated.

The Doge's Palace was were the Doge, the ruling head of the Council of Ten, lived and carried out government business. A somewhat uninteresting building on the outside, the inside is filled with huge, expansive, rooms with dark wood paneling, spectacular paintings, and a prison. It's got a few levels and luckily it didn't take too long to get through - I think I would have gone stir crazy.

After getting out of the palace we headed back to Piazza Roma to catch the bus back to the camp grounds and on the way bought some really fantastic crepes. I know, I know, crepes are French. But Italians do it really well - sugar cinnamon ones especially. Laura really liked her baked apple. To each her own.