Visual Memories....

 Those horses..... the authentic Roman horses that proudly stand inside protected from the air and birds.  It seems sad that they can't be out overlooking the Piazza where they did once stand.  Here they stand in a dark corner with lights shining down on them for the tourist to view. 

This is another view looking from above down into the sanctuary and it is an incredible view. 

We could stand close to the mosaics and admire their detail and wonder at how long it might have taken to do all the walls.  In comparison to the Duomo in Florence this church is considerably small and intimate.  I wish I could hear a choir sing in here.  Back in 2001 we visited the church Sant'Agosino in San Gimignano where I listened to a traveling youth choir from Ipswich which is north east of London, sing.  It was a memorable evening for me to sit in that very old church and hear it filled with music.  I thought what a wonderful experience these young people were having going from one town to another and singing in places of such history. 

Back to the mosaic.....one more view up close.

We walked out into the bright sunshine and took off without a plan or a direction.  It was liberating to do this!  

Little bridges we crossed and a scene of charm would be there.  Balconies of rod iron railing, some with flowers some empty and forgotten.  A gondola slowly making it's way down a narrow and empty canal.  The hush.....

   
 Another crossing of a bridge and two empty gondolas sit.  E. and I looked down studying how different their interiors were.  Which one did we like the best?  A third sat back behind, all awaiting their gondolier who in turn will await for customers.

Sometimes we would be walking and off to our right another narrow calle would go off somewhere.  So of course we had to take that path and sometimes it would lead to an opening such as this.  A tranquil spot right to the briny water.  I suppose this would be a spot a boat would let someone off at or pick someone up. 
 

Once you leave the tourist zone there is an immediate silence of sound.  Amazing that most people who visit here never venture far.  We may not have gone to see all the main historical sites but we were richer for taking the quiet scenic byway.