Today David did the "hidden tour of the Doge's Palace.
Besides being the official residence for the the Doge (grand Pooba) it was also the administrative and judicial headquarters with scribes,beaurocrats, judges, secret councils, grand councils, archives dungeons, prison and torture cells and various diplomatic offices. As far as the scribes, they had to make 3 copies of every note , letter or document. Remember no copy machines. The primary advantage was avoiding the lines (however at 9:00 am there are not many lines) but it was interesting to get a tour on the not so elegant spaces including the cell's of Casanova's inprisonment and to learn more of how the government was structured. My particular guide left out some advertised items but I got enough to be worthwhile.
The bridge is sighs so named for the sighs of prisoners as they walked over it.
The place side for the public courts and councils we just incredible. The artwork and architecture truly stunning. But me, being me, the coolest thing was seeing how they engineered the doors so that even with the buildings settling, they didn't get stuck. Of course now I can't find those photos.
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