St. Marc's Cathedral

We are water taxied through the grand canal to meet our guide near St.Marc's Catherdral. By this time George is good and sick from the aches and pains of a cold. It is cold and pouring. The 20; minute walk in the rain and the 20 minute drenching wait outside the church were well worth it. Again, numb with cold, and unprepared, we find it stunning. There are two acres of mosaics. Every square foot is covered with colored Tessera, some of them with 18 to 24 carat gold. It brought to life Yeats. two Bazantium poems, which pay homage to the artificial, "a painted bird to keep a drowsy emperor awake", in contrast to the savage unruliness of nature, "the dolphin-torn, the gong-tormented sea". I (George) would put it as a high point so far, along with the church at Orvieto, Though they were entirely different in style, they moved me in similar ways. We would have gladly spent the afternoon there, but we were damp to the bone, exhausted.