The Doge Lived a Nice Life

The golden staircase glimmers at the palace.

As if the golden staircase leading up to the Doge's apartment didn't give it away, the elaborate rooms with extremely ornate and detailed ceiling frescos, carvings and paintings would have. The Doge of Venice lived a nice life. The Doge's palace is our version of the White House. Some of the rooms for the Doge's personal use featured huge marble fireplaces -- some that were made in the 1500s. The Palazzo Ducale AKA the Doge's Palace was my favorite tour. It has multiple rooms for the Doge's use and also court rooms for administering law and order. One of the rooms for the nobles to gather was the largest room in Europe at the time and features the longest canvas painting in the world.

Prisoners saw this on the way to a cell.

The Doge's Palace is also connected to the prison via the famous Bridge of Sighs. Back in those days they would be convicted in one of the court rooms, then whisked away to the prison without ever leaving the building. Prisoners would cross the bridge to be taken to prison. The bridge is fully enclosed, but has some cracks where you can see through to the beautiful canal and the Venetian skyline. They say it was the last view of Venice for those sentenced to prison. And although the prison was chilly and the cells were small, the long and shadowy corridors made for a neat tour.

Prison halls were narrow.

The Basilica di San Marco was also very impressive. Nearly every inch of the ceiling was covered with large mosaics made mostly from tiny gold tiles and other colored pieces. The church is literally covered in gold. The story is that Venetians decorated it with the riches they acquired from their many trade routes. It really reminds you of a treasure chest.

A scene in the Correr Museum.

We opted to buy our ticket for the Doge's Palace at the Correr Museum across the square since you can get into both tours and you can skip the line at the Palazzo Ducale. The Correr Museum was a collection of artifacts, coins, old maps, paintings and various other really old things. It even had marble sculptures and lanterns that were posted on ships. We wondered what one marble wall sculpture meant.

What do you think is going on in this picture?

While we did not take a gondola ride, we were frequently serenaded by singing gondoliers weaving through the many smaller canals. Gondoliers waiting for a tourist to come by relaxed in their boats. This probably qualifies as la dolce vita for these guys.

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