Venice: One of a Kind!!!

After a well needed sleep-in, the day began with a journey by boat over to the island on which the centre of Venice is situated. Following some brief free time in one of the city's main squares, Piazza San Marco, the rest of the morning was spent with a guide who took us around the city's main attractions. These included the Doge's Palace and the Basilica di San Marco.

The Doge's Palace was the first site that our guide showed us. While once being the residence of the Doge (the figurehead of the Venetian Republic) and the place in which the goverment would serve its people (containing halls, courts and prison cells), today the Palace is one of Venice's most popular tourist attractions and is home to many beautiful paintings by prominent Renaissance artists Tintoretto and Veronese, to name a few. One of the historical attractions within the Palace is the Ponte Dei Sospiri, or the Bridge of Sighs (a name coined by Lord Byron) that connects the interrogation rooms at the Palace to the prison cells. Legend has it that if lovers kiss under the bridge in a gondola at sunset they will be granted everlasting love and happiness.

The next place that we were taken to was the Basilica di San Marco. Like the Palace, the Basilica is adorned with gold but in the form of mosaics that depict biblical scenes; 8,597.23 square metres of mosaics in total! Along with this, the Basilica is also famous for housing the bones of St Mark (the patron saint of Venice) which were allegedly stolen from Alexandria, Egypt, in 828CE. While not as large as some of the other churches we have seen - St Peter's Basilica and il Duomo di Firenze to name a few - the beauty of its mosaics and its historic significance were nevertheless breathtaking.

After the guide had departed we were left to explore the rest of the city and its winding streets and canals for the remainder of the afternoon. The boys took the opportunity to not only explore the city but to taste local cuisine and invest in authentic Venetian masks. The day was capped off with a boat ride back to the mainland and with the rest of the day free for relaxation after one of the longer days of the tour.

Signing off,

Lachlan Lennox and Matthew Towicz