DAY Three:

Guided tour of

Venice

9:30 AM meet guide Maria Guana near San Marco Basilica

10:00 am Guided tour of the Basilica, Pala d’Oro, Museo

11:00 am Guided tour of Palazzo Ducale

12:30 pm Individual lunch near St Marco

1:30 pm Guided walking tour of the Dorsoduro neighborhood

4:00 pm free exploration

6:00 pm Meet Princeton alumnus, Prof. Carlo Carraro, at Ca’ Foscari ​University for a campus tour

7:30 pm Group dinner at Trattoria Da Ignazio with Prof. Carlo Carraro

Before the Tour

Louisa

Meeting @ Piazza San marco / St. mark’s square

The day began with an early walk to Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square) to meet up with our ​guide for the day, Maria. To no one’s surprise, Louisa was running late. She and Dr. Gisollo raced ​to the piazza and ended up beating the larger group, as they had taken a wrong turn after ​attempting to meet up with Tam after his first excursion to Fluffy Brunch (where he became a ​large enthusiast of their french toast pancakes). Eventually, we were all reunited in the glory of ​Basilica di San Marco (St. Mark’s Basilica), which dates back to the 9th century.

Louisa

Basilica San Marco / St. Mark’s Basilica

Basilica San Marco may be among the ​most impressive examples of mosaic ​tiling to ever grace the earth. These tiles ​are made with 24 karat gold. However, the ​Basilica itself took centuries to complete ​and now, like the rest of the city, finds its ​columns tilting and floors sinking. Regular ​repairs to the mosaics inside the Basilica ​are necessary to maintain its beauty--​many of these used Orsoni glass.

Louisa

Photos!

Piazza San marco

There was a small mix up with the ​tickets. Never fear, though; we ​came equipped with three digital ​cameras and thus captured the ​moments of waiting.

Louisa

Palazzo Ducale ​/ Doge’s Palace

Guided tour

These ceilings, despite not being ​made of glass, were absolutely ​amazing. In this home to the doge, ​marvelous canvases were inserted ​into the ceilings of an endless series ​of rooms. The only downside was ​that, to be the doge, you could not ​leave the island freely, but I guess ​that wouldn’t be a problem if you ​could entertain yourself with gold ​ceilings.

Nyla

Lunch in San Marco

Birreria Penasa

After a few of hours of walking ​through the ornate arches of the ​Basilica and under the gilded ​ceilings of Palazzo Ducale, we were ​all famished. We left St. Mark’s ​Square in search of food, marveling ​at the quaint beauty of Venice in ​the process. In the end, we decided ​on Birreria Penasa, a casual Italian ​lunch spot with a pretty expansive ​menu. We all ordered drinks and ​tore apart tasty sandwiches many ​of us wished doubled in size.

Vivien

Dorsoduro

While there is only one piazza in the city ​(Piazza San Marco), we visited plenty of ​Venice’s piazzales, campiellos, and campos ​on the tour. The Santo Stefano Bell Tower ​(shown left) is one of many old buildings in ​Venice that are now “leaning” due to land ​subsidence.

GUIDED WALKING TOUR

Re-energized from lunch, we met ​up with our lovely guide Maria ​and set off for a walking tour ​from San Marco, through the ​Dorsoduro neighborhood, and, ​finally, through San Polo.

Since the weather was so nice, we had a great view of the ​Grand Canal as we crossed over from San Marco to ​Dorsoduro!

Free Time: Exploring San Polo

Vivien

SUSO & THE FRARI

After the tour ended, we had just a ​few hours before dinner to walk ​around. A group of us stopped by ​Suso, near San Marco, for some ​delicious gelato (I was very hungry ​and settled for a three-scoop ​mango-lemon-hazelnut combo), ​then walked over to San Polo to ​experience more of Venice’s rich ​art and architecture. There, we ​visited the largest church in the ​city, Basilica S. Maria Gloriosa dei ​Frari (the Frari), home to two of ​Venetian painter Titian’s most ​famous works (The Assumption and ​The Pesaro Madonna).

In terms of an introduction to Renaissance Venetian art, ​this was the perfect complement to the Tintoretto we’d ​seen in the Palazzo that morning. Spent quite a bit of time ​reading about the fascinating history of the monument in ​the Frari to Giovanni Pesaro, the 103rd Doge of Venice.

nyla

Free Time: Exploring San Marco

Shopping & Bridges

In our afternoon free time, we ​walked around San Marco, ​window shopping and taking ​bridge pics on probably every ​bridge we crossed--the weather ​was the nicest this day, so we ​wanted to make the most of the ​sun and blue sky. Nyla, Nolani, and ​Vivien passed a jewelry store near ​the restaurant and simply could ​not fight the urge to go in and ​spend money, so that is what we ​did! We got cute, affordable ​Murano glass earrings and ​necklaces!

Tour of Ca’Foscari University

CA’FOSCARI UNIVERSITY

Nyla

Around evening, we headed to Ca’Foscari ​University to meet Princeton alumnus and ​Ca’Foscari professor, Dr. Carlo Carraro. Professor ​Carraro gave us a tour of one of the old university ​buildings, shared some insight on the history of ​Ca’Foscari and how the university building we ​toured once housed the Ca’Foscari family.

Prof. Carraro also shared a little about his own Princeton ​experience, which was fun to hear. Saving the best for ​last, he took us to the rooftop balcony and showed us ​“the best view in all of Venice” (pictured above), one of ​the only vantage points in the city with views of both ​Ponte di Rialto and Ponte dell'Accademia.

Vivien

Dinner with Prof. Carraro

Trattoria Da Ignazio

From Ca’Foscari, Prof. Carraro led the way to our ​dinner location, the nearby Trattoria da Ignazio. I ​got to try several traditional Venetian dishes, ​including creamed cod with polenta, tagliolini alla ​graseola, sea bream, and my personal favorite ​that night, scallops au gratin. I was seated next to ​Professor Carraro, and enjoyed the opportunity ​to chat with him about his experience as a grad ​student at Princeton. I’d expected to learn more ​about Venetian architecture on our trip, but came ​away with several stories from Professor Carraro ​about Princeton buildings with strange origins. ​We ended our dinner and day with a platter of ​Venetian biscuits--zaeti, esse, and the s-shaped ​bussolai.

Day Three Reflections

Wednesday was one of my favorite days out of our entire trip. Besides the fact that Wednesday had the nicest weather, I really enjoyed how active and educational our day was. Yes, we were exhausted by the end, but I feel like it was worth it! To start, being in a building as beautiful and grande as the Basilica was surreal–I felt like I couldn’t stop looking up every step I took through the Basilica, so much so that my neck hurt by the end of the tour! I also really appreciated having the tour guide with us to make sure we didn’t miss anything during our tour. It was also really interesting to learn about the extensive history of the Basilica. When you realize the Basilica has been around for centuries, it becomes even more surreal to walk through the halls and underneath the ornate domes. The architecture of the Basilica and Palazzo Ducale were insanely intricate and fascinating. Learning about the history of the Doges of Venice and Venetian history in general was very educational for me–I enjoyed how our tour was a mix of art and history lessons. Walking around and exploring the “touristy” parts of Venice was super fun, and really gave me a good idea on the historical importance of Venice as an island and a pioneering figure in the world of European art history.

Though the forecast had predicted it would rain for almost the entirety of our trip, we were incredibly fortunate that the weather cleared up in time for a ​lovely (almost warm!) walking tour on Wednesday. Maria, our tour guide, was both kind and knowledgeable; on later days, I ended up walking back through ​many of the places we passed through on the tour and, recognizing these places from one detail or another Maria had pointed out on the tour, was ​surprised at how small the city felt. I’d say this was one of my favorite days of the trip--not only did Wednesday have some of the best meals and weather of ​the trip, but I had been looking forward to getting to see some of the magnificent artwork inside Venice’s churches and basilicas, and our tour did not ​disappoint. Also, by Wednesday, I had finaly begun to adjust to the jet-lag, which probably explains my enjoyment. The activities we did this day didn’t ​directly relate to glass--however, experiencing other facets of Venice’s rich art/architectural history (whether the frescoes in Palazzo Ducale, the intricate ​mosaics covering the interior of Basilica San Marco, the paintings of Tintoretto and Titian, or layout of the campos) gave me a much greater understanding ​of the kind of city in which the artistry and craft of glassmaking would thrive.

Wednesday, being our first day out on the town, had given us much to look forward to. After working in the glass studio, our class had a much greater appreciation for glass and we were hyper aware of the use of glass as both an art form decorating the walls of the basilica and a souvenir, and could use our well-trained Murono glass knowledge to distinguish between real Murano glass and tourist-trap souvenir glass. For me, the Basilica was unlike any other church I’d been to (my dad is a priest– I’ve been to a lot of churches) because of its Byzantium style. Just minutes after the basilica, seeing the elaborate canvases and frames which made up the ceilings of the Doge’s palace blew my mind for a second time. We found a small spot for lunch where the waitress reluctantly served our large group. Don’t worry, we had already learned we could not ask to split the bill. Afterwards, we embarked on our walking tour which was a fantastic way to see the city. A few of us ended in a cicchetti shop, a classic venetian aperitivo which was so delicious. That night, we toured the University of Venice with the most incredible view and entered awkwardly into a cocktail hour celebrating the world’s first bank which was established in Venice! Our dinner that night was lovely, and they served the most amazing seafood appetizer. To round off the night, we went for gelato. Overall, I felt like I really got a sense of Venice: the religious, political, educational, and gastronomical sides all in one day!

Nyla, Vivien, & louisa

would like to give a huge thank-you to Dr. ​Feng, Dr. Gisollo, and Princeton University for ​making this trip possible. Did Nyla, Vivien, ​and Louisa know one another before the ​class? No. But nothing brings people ​together like glass making, severe jet-lag, ​and learning about a city together. Cheers ​to glass!