July 30th
Ciaowdy all from our last day in Venezia! Today started off on the more relaxed side; some of us chose to spend our last morning in Venice attending mass at St. Mark’s Cathedral while others took the opportunity to further explore Venice and others still slept in, as we are all at least a little tired during this last leg of our journey.
After our morning activities, we all met up at Piazza San Marco outside the Doge’s palace, which we were free to explore at our own leisure. The palace was incredible; it was filled to the brim with floor to ceiling works of art depicting everything from political figureheads to battles to religious scenes—although not as many religious scenes as some churches we’ve visited thus far. The palace also had a very impressive armory—which included the armor of Henry IV of France (shoutout to AP Euro)—and a few interesting underground prison cells on display.
Besides the elements of the palace that were visually stunning, we were also able to see the palace’s rich history; among other things, we saw the chamber of the Council of Ten, the former government of the state of Venice which most notably had the power to administer the death penalty; and the Bridge of Sighs, named for the final sighs of prisoners leaving the free world.
On a lighter note, though, a few of us were intrigued by an unusual looking clock on the wall when we saw that it had twenty four hours and that the hours were placed in unusual spots along the clock face. Upon asking the expert in the room, we learned that the first hour of the day, numbered I, was actually the first hour of nighttime, that midnight was VI, and that noon was XVIII; the clock was based on the position of the sun in the sky.
Our whole day wasn’t just the Doge’s palace, though; some of us took advantage of the free time we had to explore the beaches of Lido, go shopping on the main island, or take a ride in a gondola. Whatever we chose to do, all of us had a great time today.
After dinner at Ai Do Mati, a decent sized group of us went back to the main island of Venice to watch the sun set one last time in the city, but we weren’t exactly able to see the sunset, as our view was obstructed by buildings; however, we had a great time nonetheless talking, taking photos, and listening to restaurant/street music, which included “My Heart Will Go On,” “A Thousand Years,” “Every Breath You Take,” “Funiculí Funiculá,” “That’s Amore,” and a Pirates of the Caribbean medley—definitely an interesting selection altogether.
Those of us on the island ended the day with gelato and tiramisu, then headed back to the hotel to pack for our final day on the trip.
Arrivederci, Gig ‘Em, 🤙, and safe travels to all our Italy Fish as we embark on the last leg of our trip, Bologna.
Andrew Mooney ‘27 & Hunter Guillen ‘27
