The first attraction is the Frari Church, whose full name is the Frari Glory Church of Santa Maria. Yunluo saw this church in the guide. On the altar is Titian's famous work "Assumption of the Virgin". The ticket to this church is 3 euros. Yunluo asked the window if the Venice tourist card can be used. She said yes, and ordered a card.
Then I gave them a map showing all the churches that can be visited with this pass, a total of 20, but they are all relatively small churches, and some are very remote, so it is really not worth going there just to use this card. However, the architecture and churches in Venice are really unique, and there is almost no duplication in style.
Every place she went to was a new experience, so if she had enough time, Yunluo would definitely visit every corner of Venice without missing any! Then Yunluo and An Chuyu crossed the Accademia Bridge and came to the Accademia Gallery. This art treasure house houses many masterpieces of the Venetian school of painting. As a result, they were told that Yunluo and An Chuyu's cards could not be used.
Of course, we were in too little time. We went to the Church of Our Lady of Health, a typical Venetian Baroque building. In 1630, when the Black Death was raging, the Republican government decided to build this church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. When I walked to the front of the church, my legs were already broken, so I sat on the platform for a long time.
Looking at the nearby St. Mark's Square on the other side of the river, the bus boat is only one stop away, and if they walk, Yunluo and An Chuyu have to go back to the Accademia Bridge to walk there. In order to save the 10 euro boat ticket, Yunluo and An Chuyu's feet are on the verge of breaking. St. Mark's Square consists of the Ducal Palace, St. Mark's Basilica, and St. Mark's Bell Tower.
The Grand Canal is surrounded by the New and Old Executive Residences, the Napoleon Wing connecting the two buildings, the quadrangular bell tower of St. Mark's Basilica and the St. Mark's Library. Mark is the author of the Gospel of Mark in the Bible, and the Venetians regard him as their patron saint.
According to legend, in 828, two Venetian merchants smuggled the remains of Saint Mark from Alexandria, Egypt to Venice. In the same year, they built a church for Saint Mark, which contained Saint Mark's tomb. The cathedral was named after Saint Mark, and the square in front of the cathedral was named "Piazza San Marco".
St. Mark's Square has always been the center of public activities for politics, religion and traditional festivals in Venice. The four cities that Yunluo and An Chuyu visited this time all have highly influential iconic church buildings and squares. If you think you will get tired of the aesthetics after walking all the way, you are wrong!
Because, although these four churches are incredibly beautiful, they are all very different in style from the exterior to the interior. Yunluo thinks the one in Venice is the most exotic. The moment she stepped into St. Mark's Square, Yunluo felt an extraordinary shock. Italy, how many more surprises do you have for Yunluo and An Chuyu?
St. Mark's Basilica closes at 5:00, and Yunluo and An Chuyu started queuing at around 4:45. So they just had a quick tour. The exterior of the church looks like a mosque, with five large round roofs (said to be from the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey).
This is a typical oriental Byzantine art, which can be found in many buildings in Venice. The reason should be that Venice had developed sea routes at that time and had close exchanges with Eastern Europe and the Arab region of Asia. Therefore, it absorbed a lot of exotic elements. The whole church is oriental Byzantine art and ancient Roman art.
The church is a combination of medieval Gothic art and Renaissance art. The interior is immediately dazzling, from the floor, walls to the ceiling, all covered with detailed Byzantine-style mosaics, with themes covering the preaching of the twelve apostles, the crucifixion of Christ, Christ and the prophets, and portraits of saints.
These paintings are covered with a layer of glittering gold foil, making the whole church shrouded in golden light. No wonder the church is also called the Golden Church! St. Mark's Basilica was the private chapel of the Doge of Venice until 1807. This is the temptation of power! Unfortunately, due to time constraints.
Yunluo and An Chuyu did not visit the most valuable "Golden Altar" of the church (entry is charged). The Golden Altar is located at the back of the middle of the church, and under the altar is the tomb of Saint Mark. Behind the altar is a 1.4-meter-high and 3.48-meter-wide golden screen (paladoro). There are more than 80 pictures depicting Jesus and the Virgin Mary on the screen.
The porcelain tile of the disciple Mark performing his deeds is decorated with more than 2,500 diamonds, rubies, pearls, topaz, emeralds, amethysts and other jewels. It is extremely luxurious. I will continue to include it in my next trip! The Ducal Palace next to St. Mark's Square is the highlight of this trip. I first walked around and admired the appearance of the Bridge of Sighs.
Yun Luo had always thought that the prisoners walked across the Bridge of Sighs to enter the prison, but when he entered the Duke's Palace, he realized that the prisoners didn't even have a chance to leave the Duke's Palace! People walked into the prison from the inside of the bridge. Looking at the bustling and happy crowd on the bridge, this is really cruel!
After scanning the QR code on the Venice Card (16 Euros if purchased separately), I entered the Ducal Palace. The Ducal Palace, also known as the Doge's Palace of Venice, was once a government agency and court, and also the residence of the Doge of Venice. The current building was mainly built between 1309 and 1424. In 1574, the Doge's Palace suffered a fire.
The current building is a Gothic building built in the 15th century. In the inner courtyard there is a "Giant Staircase" built in the early 16th century. On the top of the 30-step marble staircase stand huge sculptures of the god of war and the god of the sea. There is a "Golden Staircase" in the building, which is named because of the gold-painted walls on both sides and the gorgeous murals on the top. The main halls are:
The map hall, four-door hall, conference hall, ten-person hall, elders hall and conference hall are all in the hall. The interior decoration is mainly oil paintings and murals, with marble sculptures and wood carvings. The "Paradise" by Tintoretto in the meeting room of the Grand Councillors on the second floor is 22 meters long and 7 meters wide. It is based on Dante's "Divine Comedy" and has more than 700 characters in the painting.
It is regarded as the largest oil painting in the world. There are 7 seats in front of the painting, the governor in the middle and 3 senators on each side. Going down the stairs, you will reach the "Bridge of Sighs" (ponte dei isospiri), which is the one Yunluo and An Chuyu saw outside. There are several small windows next to the passage for people to take a last look at the outside world.
Then he walked into the small cell from which there was no return. It was really terrifying. After leaving the Duke's Palace, the day's journey was almost over. Yunluo and An Chuyu found a shop and tasted the local specialty - cuttlefish noodles... To be honest, the taste was really unaccustomed to. Especially for someone like Yunluo who was averse to seafood, An Chuyu enjoyed it with relish.
Tiramisu is a dessert that is more suitable for Yunluo:) After dinner, it was already dark. We followed the navigation back to the hotel. An Chuyu said that if you get lost, you can basically just follow the crowd. Because many roads in Venice are paved with pebbles, and the straight-line distance looks short, but in fact you have to go around.
So the actual distance they walked was much longer. The fatigue from the previous few days had not yet dissipated, and today's trek became the last straw that broke the camel's back for Yunluo and An Chuyu. In short, Yunluo felt that after the first day in Venice, his physical strength and legs had completely reached their limits. It was just like the day he ran away in Las Vegas last year.
A day of rest slightly relieved the fatigue that was already at the limit yesterday. Today, I decided to make full use of transportation! I got up early and had breakfast. Although the rooms in Italian hotels are a bit shabby, the quality of breakfast is excellent, especially the desserts! After the meal, I bought a one-day bus and boat pass at the tourist service booth next to the train station for 20 euros.
The second day of the Venice trip began! The bus routes and procedures in Venice are so complicated that it's dizzying. Yunluo and An Chuyu studied the map for a long time before they figured it out. But it was a really fresh and incredible experience, and it was super exciting. It's best to download a Venice bus route map in advance.
First, check which ferry you take to which station. Then, check the direction clearly. Because the same ferry has different docks for the round trip. After finding the dock, wait. The sign will show the time of the next ferry's arrival. In short, you must be familiar with it on site. There are bus lines 1 and 2 at the train station.
They all pass through the Grand Canal, a classic sightseeing route! Just the stops are different. Our goal today is the Glass Island and the Colored Island. We need to transfer at the northeastern pier of the main island, so we got off the boat after a few stops and walked over. By the way, we visited a beautiful little church! As mentioned before. Venice has different architectural styles, and you won't get visually tired even if you visit it for a few weeks.
This church is like this. It shines like a small pearl on the island. Its name is Our Lady of Miracles Church. Why does Yunluo like it so much? Because other churches are recommended to be visited for paintings, sculptures and decorations, but this church does not have a large number of paintings or sculptures.
The church itself is made of marble of various colors, not only the front door but the whole building, which is a representative work of marble architecture. Maybe Yunluo is particularly fond of this kind of low-key luxury, as can be seen from the Medici Chapel that I have been thinking about before:) We had lunch before leaving for Glass Island.
Ordinary but authentic Italian Bolognese, very tender and fragrant! A seabird pecking at a cuttlefish, eating with relish. After lunch, we headed to the pier to take a boat, the first stop was Glass Island! Glass Island is a world-famous glassware production site with unique craftsmanship, and the most widely spread is the glass blowing skill.
There is also a glass museum on the island, where you can visit a variety of glass products, among which the glass products from the 14th and 15th centuries are the most famous. I personally think that the characteristics of this island are average, especially the glass museum, which is very disappointing and a complete gimmick. If you are on a tight schedule, you can ignore it. After leaving the Glass Island, we continued to take a boat to the next stop, the Color Island.
There was a small incident on the way. An Chuyu forgot his backpack at the Glass Museum, and then took the boat back to the main island of Venice. In short, there are endless problems. It is really troublesome to travel independently! According to your stomach, we finally set foot on the colorful island. The journey is quite long. It takes about half an hour from the glass to the colorful island one way.
Although it seems like a waste of time, considering how exhausted I was in the previous two days, it is also good to comfort my tired body:) The Colored Island is about 7 kilometers away from Venice. It is famous for its lace textiles and the colorful houses on the island. It is stipulated that the residents of the island must paint their houses once a year.
I guess it's also for the development of tourism. The style of the water city is matched with colorful colors, just like a fairy tale world. The island is also famous for lace, and most residents make a living by selling various lace crafts. When mentioning lace, I can't help but feel a little evil in my heart, as if this word has been linked to temptation, sexiness, ecstasy, and even bad professions.
In fact, real lace was a fashion for nobles in medieval Europe. It was elegant and pure! The craftsmanship of making lace was very sophisticated, which reflected the slow pace of life of Italians. It was indeed very quiet. I visited the Lace Museum on the island. It was as disappointing as the Glass Museum mentioned above.
However, they are all included in the Venice Pass that Yunluo and An Chuyu bought, which shows that this card is also quite a rip-off. The Colorful Island is very small, and most people come here by boat to take pictures. A short stay is a bit extravagant compared to a long-distance trek, but I personally think it is definitely worth it for ladies to dress up and take pictures here.
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
It's a rare photo location in the world! After leaving Colorful Island and returning to the main island, Yunluo suggested taking bus No. 1 to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Grand Canal all the way back to the hotel. An Chuyu readily accepted it! By the way, I would like to emphasize the weather issue again. That is, Yunluo was frozen today! Because I was going to take photos at Colorful Island, I deliberately wore a skirt + black stockings.
I put on a thin windbreaker, but it was bearable during the day. At sunset, the wind was howling after I boarded the bus, and I was shivering with cold. My endurance was completely at its limit. So I had to huddle in the cabin. It was also because of this today that I caught a severe cold after the return trip! 555 This temperature must be considered seriously in the future!
Because the No. 1 bus is a sightseeing route with many stops, Yunluo and Anchuyu were tossed on the Grand Canal for a long time until they were hungry and finally docked. After docking, they looked back at Venice in the twilight again. The postcard-like feeling will be forever imprinted in their memory. Goodbye Venice, the dreamy city.
Yunluo will definitely come back! For dinner, An Chuyu suggested to pack up and eat in the room! It was great. I bought wine, ice cream, pizza... from the store next to the hotel and came back with a lot! After a full meal, ah ah ah ah ah~~ This ended Yunluo's favorite water city Venice trip, and the next stop was the last destination.
Friends have all had a mediocre response to Milan, the fashion capital, but Yunluo has a special liking for the shape of the Milan Cathedral. In addition, Yunluo has a special expectation, which is the masterpiece "The Last Supper" that Yunluo has gone to great lengths to arrange. What kind of visual impact will it bring?
If I think that I had a full itinerary in Rome and Florence and had enough time, then I didn’t have enough fun in Venice! Actually, if I had to mention the attractions, I could say that I had visited most of them, but I really think that Venice is such a beautiful city that even if I were to spend a month here, it would not be too much.
Just thinking about walking on the numerous islands, the exquisite gondolas passing by when crossing the intertwined rivers, and the cultural treasures that are everywhere and may surprise you at any time, I can't help but be fascinated again! Parting is always inevitable. Before entering the station, I took another reluctant look at the Grand Canal.
Yunluo will definitely come back! When Yunluo boarded the train to Milan, a melody kept echoing in his mind. It was Hu Yanbin's "Roman Holiday". It was very nice, and the lyrics fit his mood at the time: "On the train to Milan, Yunluo watched you fall asleep." Now when he recalls it, the scenes of the trip always come to his mind.
Yunluo originally booked the train ticket from Venice to Milan on Ctrip, but found out that he had bought a ticket departing from an inland station, so he canceled it before the trip (because it was a full-price ticket and 80% of the fee could be refunded), and only bought a ticket departing from Venice's main island train station at the ticket machine when he arrived in Florence. The Italian Railways train is really much more luxurious than the two Italo trains I took before!
The full price is worth it! Milan has more time and convenient transportation, so Yunluo booked a European chain four-star hotel called NH. The conditions should be the best one on this trip, and the price is not expensive. It's just that you have to walk a distance from the train station with your suitcase. Milan train station itself is a tourist attraction.
It has a long history and is quite artistic. Yunluo had a general mental preparation for Milan, which is just a modern city, so he did not expect any surprises. But in fact, compared with the dusty and noisy big cities, it is still quite quiet and peaceful. I especially like the trams here.
Yunluo and Anchuyu bought a one-day transportation card at a convenience store, which was very convenient. The hotel they stayed in was not far from the train station, so Yunluo and Anchuyu dragged their luggage directly there. The hotel they stayed in was a four-star hotel in a European chain called NH. It felt similar to the Holiday Inn in China, and was quite standard.
However, this is the best hotel in Yunluo and An Chuyu's trip. After settling in, Yunluo and An Chuyu had a meal next to the hotel, and then they couldn't wait to go to Milan's landmark - Milan Cathedral! The cathedral can be found everywhere on the Internet, but when you actually walk out of the subway station, you will see it.
The visual impact is still unimaginable. The Italian churches have an incredible magic that makes people sigh at the greatness of mankind. Because Milan is about to host the World Expo, the top of the church is still under construction, which is a bit of a spoiler:) The interior of the church is relatively simple and similar to the style of Santa Maria del Fiore.
The Gothic style is magnificent, and the stained glass elements are still loved. After visiting the entire church, Yunluo came to a conclusion that although Milan is not as retro as Rome, Florence and Venice, it is worth visiting this city as it is the only top church that has gone through hundreds of years of vicissitudes! (To be continued...)