Day 73 - Venice and back to Ravenna

Ravenna is famous worldwide for its artistic treasures. Ravenna preserves the greatest mosaic heritage dating back between the 5th and the 6th century AD, decorating Early Christian and Byzantine monuments declared UNESCO World Heritage sites. 

We are really still tired from yesterday but we are up and heading out of Venice by water taxi at 9:30a. The bus is loaded and we are on our way to Ravenna by 10a. Immediately upon arrival we went directly to lunch at Osteria Dalla Zabariona. It was delicious and soon we were on our way to see the amazing mosaics of Ravenna. The first was Mausoleo di Galla Placidia, which is believed to be the oldest in Ravenna. The mausoleum was commissioned in the first half of the 5th century AD (after 426 AD) by empress Galla Placidia, daughter of Theodosius and sister of emperor Honorius, as well as reagent on account of her son Valentinian III. She died and never was placed in the mausoleum. Then next to it we went to Basilica di San Giovanni Evangelista, also breathtaking to behold. We've really never seen anything like these mosaics. The colors are brilliant and the gold is stunning. Now on to the Orthodox Baptistry. The beauty of these places cannot be explained! It is amazing that they have survived all these centuries. The last site we visited was Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo from the 6th century. 

Now everyone is really spent and it is time to head back to the ship. It was a short drive of 15 minutes and we are ready to be back "home" to rest. We ordered room service that didn't come... called again and then it came, we ate, and went straight to bed!




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