Welcome to Monday! It may be hard for some to get back into the swing of the work week, but we have a couple of things for you to that may help you take your mind off of the week ahead and relax a bit. If you happen to be in Venice, Italy or plan on visiting soon, this installment of Dollars & Sense is just for you. Check it out below.
Visit the Basilica di San Marco (Saint Mark’s Basilica):
The first view of the Basilica di San Marco from the western end of piazza San Marco is an unforgettable experience. It is particularly impressive in the evening, when the mosaics on the façade glow in the light of the setting sun.
Often seen as the living testimony of Venice’s links with Byzantium, St Mark’s basilica is also an expression of the city’s independence. In the Middle Ages any self-respecting city state had to have a truly important holy relic. So when two Venetian merchants swiped the body of St Mark from Alexandria in 828, concealed from prying Muslim eyes under a protective layer of pork, they were going for the very best. Fortunately, there was a legend (or one was quickly cooked up) that the saint had once been caught in the lagoon in a storm, and so it was fitting that this should be his final resting place. The Basilica is free to visit and open from 2-5pm during the week
Address
San Marco,
piazza San Marco
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Visit La Zecca
La Zecca or The Mint was designed by Sansovino and completed by 1547. It coined Venice’s gold ducats – later referred to as zecchini, whence comes the English word ‘sequins’. It is stronger in appearance than the neighboring Biblioteca Marciana, though the façade had to accommodate large windows on the piano nobile (for relief from the heat) and open arches on the ground floor, where the managers of St Mark’s operated a number of cheese shops. It now houses most of the contents of the civic library. It’s free to visit and look around between 8 and 1:30 during the week, but be careful to not make too much noise, there may be people reading in there.
Address
San Marco 7,
piazzetta San Marco
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Financial Tip Of The Day
Create Your Own Compost
Create your own compost with yard and kitchen waste. It’s great for enriching your soil, and you’ll be recycling your waste in a productive way and you wont have to buy it when it’s time to garden next year.
Setting up your own compost is simple. The first step is to buy a bin; plastic or wood will work fine. Next, just dump any organic waste into the bin. Anything that comes from the earth is fair game, although you should avoid animal products and anything treated with pesticides. Adding live worms to the bin is a great way to speed the process along. The mixture will break down to form a nutrient-rich substance perfect for mixing into your soil and putting on your plants. It’s a sustainable way to boost your garden over the long run!
