Venice, Italy
As I flip through my meager photos of the Secret Passages tour of the Doge's Palace – so much was verboten! – I remembered a lovely experience Dario and I had on our last visit. I've pulled this post out of storage, dusted it off, and buffed it to a fine shine for your enjoyment.
Can't see it? Watch on YouTube: http://youtu.be/bwqFdIJFoLM
Dario's birthday is in the summer. Despite living in Italy his whole life, he had only been to Venice one time. For a birthday treat, I arranged a weekend trip!
The last time I had been was for a New Year's Eve celebration (CRAZY crowding!) and I'd stayed in a hotel in Mestre, just outside the city. This was my first trip during warm weather — and my first time staying in Venice proper. What fun!
While wandering around the city one afternoon, we happened to come across a choral group by the name of Coro Soldanella who were performing somewhere in the city. As they walked slowly toward Piazza San Marco, they stopped every once in a while to sing a few pieces. We didn't spend the money to ride in a gondola this trip. I think getting serenaded by an entire chorus makes up for that!
Side note: we made sure to get the business card of the group before they shuffled off into the masses. I even had a link to their site up for a while, but the URL no longer works and there are apparently several different groups with the same name in Italy, so I am not sure how to track them down again. Oh, well – the song is still great. Hope you like it as much as we did!
Have been remembering how much I love singing lately. Serenaded friends and family in Pompeii recently to demonstrate the accoustics of the small theater there, and have just been re-adding songs to my music library after putting a new hard drive in the laptop. In fact, I think I'll go sing right now!
What makes you (or your heart) sing?
Glad to hear your singing muse is visiting you again.
Thanks, mum. :)
If you are still in Venice you must go to Burano, it’s so lovely and only a 45 minute ferry ride away.
Back in Rome now, though Sherry Ott did go out to Murano and Burano while we were there. I think Dario and I will go back and will visit Burano, but not for the usual reasons. Our tour guide, Giuseppina, told us about a wonderful monastery where you can stay (donations only) for a minimum of 2 days. You pray with the monks 3 times a day, but otherwise enjoy the isolation and solitude. The only way to get there is to take a boat to Burano and have one of the monks come pick you up in a smaller boat. So unique and fantastic – I really want to do this! :D