Day 4
Trip Start
Jul 05, 2008
1
3
14
Trip End
Jul 19, 2008
Venice,
Italy
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
We remained docked in Venice overnight and still had time to explore. We again took the shuttle to San Marco, but took a vaparetto to the Rialto stop. We wandered through the stalls at the fish and produce market, and then made our way to Santa Maria Gloriosa del Frari, the largest and most important church in the city. Titian's masterpiece, The Assumption, is the central focus of the church and one can't help but notice it above the high altar. His tomb, which is on the right of the nave, repeats the painting's design in marble. Across from him lies monument to the sculptor Canova. The composer Montevideo has his tomb there as well. As impressive as the Titian is, the most beautiful work of art is Bellini's triptych of the Madonna and Child. There is also a Donatello statue of John the Baptist. It is the only work in Venice by him. We had to wait to enter, as there was a funeral going on
Grand Canal
. While we waited, we went to the Scula Grande di San Rocco. It was a wealthy fraternity and, in 1564, had a competition to decorate the walls of its hall. Tinoretto won, and he spent the next 23 years creating on the greatest painting cycles in Europe -54 paintings total. The entire main hall's ceiling is covered end to end with scenes from the Old Testament. We had to be back at the ship by 4:00 for a lifeboat drill, so we took a leisurely walk back through Venice to the Piazza Roma (the main transportation center and hub) and walked back over the causeway/railroad tracks to the ship. We then had tea in the Palm Court, did the lifeboat drill and dressed for dinner. The sail away from Venice featured music, complimentary champagne, Campari cocktail or Bellini We again went dancing after dinner. 
