Line Jumping and blow jobs

20-08-2003

After another very hot and humid night. After a quick chat with what to do with the day, the consensus was…beach. Rubber dingy and snorkelling kit purchased, we headed for the sand. Jacq Custoe, eat your heart out.

21-08-2003

Having missed the Basilica two days ago we headed back into Venice. Boarding the Vaporetto and purchasing our tickets like regulars we soon arrived back at Piazza San Marco.

The queue to get in was already long and the idea of standing in line roasting wasn’t a pleasant one. Over hearing our conversation, we were asked by an Oriental man if we were English, “yes” we replied. “You don’t have to wait here to go in”, he continued. “Take your bags to the room around the corner and they will give you a pass for free to enter the Basilica and you can then use the side door entrance and miss the line”. We thought this sounded a little too good to be true, but to our surprise it was exactly as he’d described.

Bags stored for free and passes acquired we went in, no queuing. How smug did we feel?

The Basilica is beautiful, intricate mosaics line every wall and ceiling and the age and splendor leave you a little overwhelmed.

OK, a little history.

The Basilica of St.Mark the Evangelist is the cathedral church of the city and seat of the Patriarch of Venice since 1807, when it took the place of the former cathedral of San Pietro di Castello The present Basilica is the third church to be built on the site, following the one commissioned by doge Giustiniano Partecipazio to celebrate the arrival of the body of St.Mark in Venice in 828, and the 10th Century rebuilding ordered by doge Pietro Orseolo I after a fire in 976.

In the second half of the 11th Century doge Domenico Contarini had the church entirely rebuilt on a much larger scale, though using much of the ancient foundations and masonry. The re-use of much of the original masonry is what gives the Basilica its eclectic appeal. I knew we’d kept those little historical flyers for something

Beauty and history aside, Max wasn’t thrilled with the idea of spending more time wondering around ‘a big dumb old church’.

A trip to the glass blowing display was also on the cards and to our surprise Miles was really keen. After getting ourselves to the other side of Venice though we were met with disappointment as a large sign read…’closed today, we are on holiday’.

We jostled through the mass of tourists and finally arrived back at the Vaporetto and shortly after arrived back at our campsite. The evening was drawing in all of us were a little tired. 8:30pm rolled by and our evening meal plan was hatched. Takeaway pizza’s from the Restaurant Al Bacaro a couple of cans of Coke and a bottle of wine all eaten on the beach. What a great evening, after eating we buried both the boys in sand and then decided to sculpt (from the sand) new bodies for them both. At midnight a swim was definitely in order.