Day 9: San Marcos and Stuff

Thank you, Blogger, for picking yourself up out of that funk and getting back online. Seriously,the world needs to hear about my life. It will end if not everyone on the face of the planet can hear about what I do every day. (That, in case you couldn't tell, was sarcasm.)

Day 9! Oh, glorious day 9! I have no idea what I did on day 9. Luckily for you - and for me - I took photos.

That was the day that I waited in line next to some very noisy and impolite Chinese tourists to go into Basilica San Marcos. That is, until I let some Germans cut in line and they created a buffer zone between me and the Chinese.

No photography is permitted inside the basilica due to it being held as sacred. However, I do have a fairly good memory and I decided to take extra time to methodically study the inside. My purpose: look for vestiges of sacred symbolism.

Unfortunately, the oldest parts of the basilica are nearly indecipherable because of very poor lighting, soot from incense, and age. One does notice immediately why it is called the la Chiesa d'Oro. Its for one very obvious reason - the entirety of the complex of vaulted ceilings is covered in gold! Ostentatious is not quite the right word - it is pure opulence. One can image San Marcos several hundred years ago, its multicolored marble columns, golden fascade, the bronze horse statues of Apollo dating from Byzantium and antiquity, the interior with the meticulously laid mozaic floors, the golden domes rising to enormous heights, and the words "Gloria in Excelsis" coming into full view even as you near the representation of Christ and the Evangelists (writers of the four Gospels).

All of these features are now dimmed by age, but it by no means diminishes the message it is designed to give - authority. St. Peter's was even more so. Unequivocal authority is the message I heard with every step. The experience is so beyond the normal and there is so much symbolism and artwork, mostly referencing Biblical accounts, that the layman must confess, "surely, this is the fount of truth and authority". Such was the world once upon a time. Now, we have the blessing to read the Bible for ourselves. Now, we have the treasured ability to discern and determine where the truth really lies. I invite you to read the Gospels, the New Testament, and to determine whether you live according to that truth, or are simply letting the imposition of authority determine your worship.

I now descend from my soapbox.

Then I went on a long walk. Now, when I say long I mean that I walked around the entire rest of the city on a meandering course for the rest of the day. I estimated with Google maps that I walked about 8-9 kilometers, or about 5 and a half miles. I enjoyed a long walk down to the public park (photo to your left), over the Rialto bridge, to the train station, the Jewish Old and New Ghetto/Sectors, and back to the hotel for some much-deserved r&r.

Somehow, along the way I found myself next to an old church that had violin music coming from it. Curious, I peered inside, only to find the whole of the interior dedicated to classic string instruments and the composer Vivaldi, a native of Venice. I read about some of these amazing instruments and took some interesting photos as well.

I'm pretty sure that after getting a nap, I went out to have some dinner because, true to form, I hadn't eaten yet that day and was famished. I asked the cameriere for an apple for dessert, and it was amazing.

Fin.