Visit to Venice, Italy - May 21-26, 2007

I visited Venice May 21-26, 2007. Jimmy Narisma CSsR also visited Venice on the same dates. I came from Milan, while he came from Rome, having arrived from the Philippines a few days earlier. We were guests of the CSsR community in Venice, made up of 4 confreres. An Italian confere, Luigi Mazzotti CSsR, was our tour guide as we visited the various spots of Venice.

At Venice, one sees the winged lion, the symbol of St. Mark, the patron saint of this "floating city".

Jimmy poses in front of the lagoon at the back of St. Mark's where gondolas wait to be hired by tourists.

Tourist shops along the side of the lagoon, selling postcards and other souvenir items.

The awesome and magnificent Basilica of St. Mark's with tens of thousands of tourists coming to see it throughout the year. Even at winter time, Venice has a lot of visitors. It is said that there are less than 3,000 people who are the permanent residents of the center of the city, but that more than 20 million visitors arrive here each year.

A symphony orchestra maintained by one of the restaurants play to the tourists during the day and night in the summer.

The interior of the Redemptorist church in Venice.

Me and Jimmy pose inside the church.

The icon of the Mother of Perpetual Help inside the church. Note the Filipino flag beside the icon. The Pinoys come here for services. Most Pinoys work as domestic workers or in hotels.

An image of Mary outside a church in Venice showing her with a big cloak protecting children. It reminds me of the image of Mebuyan, the goddess who takes care of the souls of dead children, an element of the Bagobo indigenous belief system.

A statue of one of the emperors of this kingdom in the past.

Luigi and Jimmy in front of one of the main churches.

One of the ancient buildings in Venice influenced by architecture coming from the East, a unique feature of Venice architecture.

At the main terminal, Jimmy and I went to meet Fr. Rico of the Diocese of Pagadian. We spent the night in one of the Pinoy families living near this terminal.

One of the canals where the gondola can cruise around to the delight of the tourists.

Improvisational artists dress up in various costumes to "earn a livelihood", that is, while they pose they ask for contributions from the tourists. This guy stands like a statue all day long.

Supper with OFWs who work in Venice. Most are women who stay at home in the houses of their employers, although in this case, the couple rented an apartment.

We went on a tour to the islands nearby. This is the island which is used as cemetery. One can see the tall cypresses that cover the entire island.

This is one of the shops in the island of Murano where the glass ceramics are made.

The church of Sta. Fosca in the original settlement.

The ruins of the early settlement of Venice.

A post-modern sculpture in the island of Burano which is near the ferry boat terminal, which is across a children's playground.

The colorful houses of Burano. Compared to the other parts of Venice, the houses in this island are painted to bright colors - yellow, green, pnk, red, blue and violet in their various shades.

Burano's colorful houses by the canal.

An OFW dancing at the house of a family we visited in

Trevisto.



Jimmy and OFWS in Venice.










Dancing the swing at the party.












More interior of Basilicas which we visited as pilgrims.