𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 • 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤

thirty-seven

We walked out of our hotel and walked the short distance back to where the boat had dropped us off, and then continued walking beside the water. We crossed one white bridge, and then approached another. Colby stopped in the middle of it, which made me halt as well.

"So," he said. "I did my homework."

"Oh. yeah?" I chuckled. "Let's hear it."

He pointed at another bridge, a little further down the alley. It was enclosed and white, with smalled windows with stone bars. "See that bridge?"

"Mhm," I hummed in a way of saying yes.

"That's the Bridge of Sighs," he replied. "It connects the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace with the prison. Back in the days, when people were convicted of a crime, they were escorted to the dungeon through that bridge. Whatever daylight that came through those windows, was the last light they saw."

"Wow," I said. "That's horrifying, really."

"Also a fun fact, famous prisoners were Galileo Galilei and Casanova," he chuckled.

"Interesting," I said. "What else do you got?"

"Well, the history behind the Venetian masks is also quite the story," he said.

"Really?" I asked. "I guess I never really thought of it. What about them?"

"They were worn, obviously, to keep people from finding out your identity. I bet you can imagine what kind of things they were worn for. And of course, there's the influence that plague masks had on the design of some sorts of masks."

I looked at him. "So Venice's romantic side is really just a disguise?"

He shrugged. "Isn't every romantic city a place of terrible history with a good cover? I mean, look at Paris, they literally beheaded about ten people in the middle of the city."

I chuckled. "I guess it's true."

He chuckled back. "I hope I didn't spoil the city for you."

"Oh, come on, you could never," I said. "I love me some dark history."

"Great," he replied. "Then you're gonna love this city."

I laughed and continued after him, as Colby walked down the bridge.

"This place is beautiful," he said as we headed towards the San Marco square.

I nodded. "It is."

"Next up, the pillars," Colby spoke up when we reached two giant columns. "The story goes that Venice got three columns as a present from Constantinople. On their way here, one of the ships tipped over, cause one column to slip into the lagoon right here, where it supposedly still remains. When they arrived, the other two columns remained on the ground for over a hundred years because no one knew how to lift them up, and then someone came with an idea and they actually did it. They say that the missing column was supposed to be in the center of the ones standing there."

"They're absolutely massive, I see why they struggled to lift them up," I said as I looked up at them, using my hand to shield my eyes from the light.

He nodded. "Especially thinking about the fact this was a thousand years ago," he replied. "Either way, executions were usually carried out in that exact spot the missing pillar was supposed to be, hence the locals try to avoid walking in between them."

"Executions? Man, they sure had a nice last view," I replied. "Whatever way they were facing."

"The clock tower, I read somewhere," he answered. "So they could see what time it was when they died."