Mainland Venice, Italy (Part 2- Palazzo Ducale)

PALAZZO DUCALE 

A month ago I promised to continue telling you about my trip on Mainland Venice, Italy with my wife. Since there are so many pictures, I'll have to save this blog post for various pictures of our next site: Palazzo Ducale.

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(Continued from Mainland Venice, Italy Part 1) We headed to Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace in English) and we were quite amazed by the interiors and the long stairways to get from floor to floor. The most amazing thing that stuck out in my mind was the view of the Grand Canal (particularly San Giorgio Maggiore Island) from one of the windows . You'll see this in my pictures later.

The structure of the Palazzo Ducale is made up of three large blocks, incorporating previous constructions. It has been refurbished countless times due to structural failures, new building installations, infiltrations, and restructuring of ornamental trappings.

Here's the configuration of the site according to the Fondazione Musei Civici Venezia website: The wing towards St. Mark's Basin (Basilica San Marco), is the oldest, built from 1340 and onwards. The wing towards St. Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco) was built in its present from from 1424 onwards. The canal-side wing housing the Doge's apartments and many government offices, dates from the Renaissance, and was built between 1483 and 1565.

This was the palace of the Doge of Venice during the late 14th Century. You can see the Venetian Gothic arches of the exterior, which was quite fascinating and it faces the Grand Canal on the Piazzetta Marco. Now onto the pictures:

This is your typical amazing Italian ceiling.

My wife with Mars and Neptune at the top of the stairway.

You can see St. Mark's Basin to the right.

The artistry between the walls and ceilings astounded me.

A view from one of Venetian apartments from one of the windows

A view of the Grand Canal from Palazzo Ducale

A view of San Giorgio Maggiore Island from Palazzo Ducale

The most stunning room

This place is one of the many must-sees on the mainland of Venice. You'll see beautiful paintings on the walls, ceilings, and get some different perspectives of the surroundings (the courtyard, the Grand Canal, and Venetian homes) as you look out of the windows. If you happen to make it here, take your time and enjoy every intricacy of this venue.


Scott Worden (The L.A./Seoul Guy)

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy

The Colosseum in Rome, Italy

The outside of the Colosseum

On the first day of my European trip with my wife, we dove right into the most famous site in Rome: The Colosseum or The Colosseo in Italian (Amphitheatrum Flavium in Latin). We took a bus from Tuscolana Station and got there in about 30-40 minutes. But for most tourists, just get to Termini Station (center of Rome) and take a bus from there. Click here for more details on bus routes.


After we picked up our Roma Pass near there, we got in the line that allowed us to go in before other people. However, since it was a weekday, it wasn't crowded at all but it was VERY hot (38 C or 101 F).

Just inside the entrance of the Colosseum

Let me give you a very short history lesson about the Colosseum. It began being built under Emperor Vespasian in AD 72 and was finished under his successor Titus in AD 80 after the reign of Nero. The name Colosseum actually derives from the statue of Nero's head that was standing nearby, which later became morphed into the head of Apollo or Helio, the sun god.

You can see a cross on one side of the Colosseum.

What was it used for? It was used for gladiatorial battles, which you seen in movies all of the time, mock sea battles, animal hunts, dramas based on Classical mythology, and executions. However, all that kind of entertainment ceased to exist after the medieval era and started to become used for religious purposes: a Christian shrine, personal religious quarters, housing, etc. On Good Friday, the Pope has a procession that begins around the Colosseum, so the facilities are used for that purpose as well. It's also the largest amphitheater of all time and could seat up to 80,000 spectators. However, the average was about 65,000. See picture below.

The inside of the Colosseum on a very hot day!

My wife and I were thankful that we didn't have too many crowds to deal with. We were able to get a lot of good shots of the amphitheater without having to elbow our way through. My wife thought it was totally worth going and definitely her favorite place in Rome.

A view of the outside of the Roman Forum from a distance.

The great thing about this place is that it was conveniently located just east of the Roman Forum (For Romano in Italian), which was probably my favorite area of Rome. There is so much history in Rome, and although everything is somewhat close by, it requires A LOT of walking. If you do come to Rome in the summer time, take water with you and wear comfortable shoes. Just be aware that bathrooms (toilets) are not easy to come by. So if you come across one, just go even if you have to wait in line. You'll save yourself some agony later.

The way to the Roman Forum

Here's a picture of my wife and I inside the Colosseum. I can cross this one off of my Bucket List!

Scott Worden (The L.A./Seoul Guy)
Instagram: l.a.seoulguy

My Crazy Adventure in Paris, France

Traveling is awesome but you should always be careful. I was debating on sharing my story to everyone because I felt pretty stupid and very worthless but after today's sermon, I felt like I should share it because Jesus really got us through that day:

On my final day in Paris with my wife after a 10-day vacation (Rome to Venice to Paris), we checked out at 11am. I was pretty much set on eating lunch and then getting to the airport despite our flight being at 7:50pm. Eunhee (my wife) didn't want to be bored so we explored one last area. We ate lunch near our apartment and I'm pretty sure I had my small carry-on bag (with my passport inside). We both had a suitcase and a carry-on bag each by the way. Then we took the bus to "Hotel De Ville" which was a popular area in Paris. 

Three possible situations happened. 1) Either I left my carry-on bag with my passport on the bus 2) I sat down to wait for Eunhee to look around the clothing store and I left it there or 3) Someone snagged it after I put it down while I was looking at my phone. I honestly have no idea what happened to my bag. After Eunhee looked around the store, we went to a cafe so I could wait for here there while she did more shopping. Then as soon as we walked into the cafe, I noticed that I didn't have my bag and I started to freak out inside. 

A very nice woman at the cafe called three places (a restaurant and two stores) that we were at previously and they didn't see it which leads me to believe that I left it on the bus. By this time it was 2:30pm. We went to the police station to file the report. Then we had to take a taxi to get to the US Embassy (3:15). We arrived at the Embassy at 3:45pm and it looked as if it was closing. I called from outside the Embassy and the lady told me that I needed 122 euros to pay for the passport and 4 euros for the photo and of course I didn't have that much. She told me to find an ATM and come back ASAP. Me getting my passport depended on how long it took me to get the money. I got back at 3:50pm and the whole process took an hour. We left close to 5:00pm and we tried to find a taxi while it was raining. Impossible. We finally decided to take the underground which was the best idea with bad weather and a Friday night. Thankfully we got to the airport by 6:00pm, checked in and it was now 6:30pm. We were hungry and our boarding time was 7:20pm. We finished dinner at 7:10, bought some macarons for my coworkers and Eunhee's friends and then had to go through security right by the gate. We boarded at 7:40. PHEW. 

God is good and my wife wasn't angry at me. I felt pretty depressed until hearing a guest speaker at church go through some major hardships in his life but got through them because of the Lord.

Scott Worden (The L.A./Seoul Guy)

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy