Day 1 - Welcome Aboard!

Venice, Italy * Thursday, June 15, 2006

Where Waters Rich with Historical Importance Carve Out a Unique Culture

The bewitching city of Venice has always considered itself to be "married" to the sea. Overseas commerce and investment made the metropolis wealthy and powerful, and much of the city's unique charm comes from the reduced noise and slower pace of life along the canals. But don't be deceived; the Venetians are second to none in their astuteness, vigor, and capacity for hard work.

Venice was founded originally by refugees from the mainland seeking a safe haven from the Huns, then later from the Franks between the 5th- and 8th-centuries. At one time Venice controlled Cyprus, Crete, and much of southern Greece. Centuries of naval warfare with the Ottoman Turks cost Venice control of those areas, but they didn't lose their commercial edge until Napoleon abolished the Republic in 1797.

Because of its strategic location at the head of the Adriatic Sea, Venice quickly became a transit port for trade between central Europe and everywhere in the Mediterranean, but especially the Holy Land. Much of the commercial and military traffic during the Crusades was carried by Venetian ships, which acquired untold wealth for the city's merchants. The Crusaders also helped to expand the land controlled by the Republic to islands and coastal enclaves along the Balkan peninsula and the Aegean Sea.

In 1204, the Venetian Doge Enrico Dandolo led a powerful army to Constantinople and captured it from the Byzantine Empire. Some of Venice's greatest artworks and treasures were violently looted from the East at that time, and triumphantly brought home as booty. Although the Greeks were able to recapture their city within just a few years, the treachery of the over-eager Venetians has poisoned relations between the two peoples ever since. It also became a major source of the great rift between the Eastern and Western Christian Churches, which continues to this day.

Today Venice spans 118 islands, with a well-planned web of 150 canals and 400 bridges. Although the motorboat, or vaporetto, is well accepted today, the gondola is the more traditional means of transportation. A surprisingly agile craft, each gondola is lovingly built like a piece of fine furniture, sometimes requiring more than a year to complete. Gondoliers belong to a centuries-old guild, steeped in tradition, and are quite adept at moving their boats easily with a single oar. The tall mooring poles with distinctive spiral striping are the original models for barber poles.

One thing that strikes you immediately is the wide use of Venice's characteristic emblem, the winged lion of St. Mark the Evangelist. The saint's bones were brought from Alexandria in 823, and reburied with honor in the Basilica. Symbol of the patron saint of Venice, St. Mark's lion has been used to identify outlying possessions of the city ever since, and is found all over the eastern Mediterranean.

The heard of Venice centers around St. Mark's Square, which has been called "a great, marble salon" open to the sky. The piazza is huge yet harmonious, with covered galleries all around, sheltering luxury shops and cafes.

The Basilica San Marco was built in 830 to accommodate St. mark's tomb, and then rebuilt during the 11th-century in its present Byzantine style. Built as a Greek cross with several eastern domes, the Basilica is so richly decorated that it is called the "golden church." The acoustics inside are so intricate and unique, that musical works by Venetian composers like Vivaldi and Monteverdi do not sound the same when performed elsewhere.

To the right of the Basilica you will find a smaller extension of the square called the Piazzetta or the "Broglio" (the Intrigue), since entry was restricted to noblemen each day for two hours before noon. It was the ideal time and place to exchange gossip and hatch intricate plots. To the left of the Basilica is the commanding Clock Tower, with its large 15th-century dial with signs of the zodiac.

Away from the huge Square, a ride on the Grand Canal will reveal some of the more "ordinary" Venetian palaces and churches, and they are uniformly splendid. The tall Rialto Bridge, in the heart of the business district, is intentionally arched to allow fully armed galleys to pass underneath. Venice's large Jewish community was concentrated on the island known as Ghetto, and flourished because of the many commercial contacts all over the Mediterranean. The term "ghetto" for a Jewish quarter originated in Venice.

And now, some fun bits offered by Princess:

• Local cuisine - Pasta and seafood make up much of Venetian fare. Recommended foods include: Pasta e fagoli, risotto, bigoli, and tiramisu.
• Drink specialties - White wines like Tocai and Pinot from the Friuli region, both dry; Prosecco, a naturally fermented sparkling wine; and Cartizze, considered my many to be superior Prosecco. Red wines like Merlot, Cabernet, Raboso and Fefosco.
• Martini of the Day** - Chocolate Mint Martini (Stolichnaya Vodka, White Creme De Cacao, Peppermint Schnapps)

** Martini of the Day had to be one of the best tidbits from the daily Princess Patter booklets, so we just had to include this for your entertainment. :)

About the Captain: Captain David Calabrese was born in San Paolo, Brazile in 1954. At the age of six, together with his family, he moved back to South Italy where he spent his formative years. David came away to sea in 1972 and studies and graduated at Sorrento Nautical College. His first appointment as Captain was on the Fairstar in 1992, becoming one of the youngest Captains in the fleet at the age of 38. He has been in command of almost every Princess ship. David lives in the Gold Coast, Australia, with his wife and two children.