A Day In Venice

We again woke to overcast damp skies. Today was a full day in Venice. After riding back to Venice on a Water Taxi the group arrived in St Mark's Square in Venice (see left). This is possibly the first place most tourists to Venice. At St Mark's square we saw St Mark's Basilica (see below). The square is surrounded by various sorts of shops and businesses. We viewed a Venetian Glass Blowing business and enjoyed a brief glass blowing demonstration and a tour around their sales department (see further below).

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St Mark's Basilica:

Glass For Sale:
We were then given a couple of hours to explore Venice. One of the first places we stumbled across was The Ferrari Shop.
Armed with just a simple city map we set off to explore even more. We had briefly seen the Rialto Bridge the night before so we now had more time to explore the shops around the bridge and do some souvenir shopping.

Rialto Bridge Shops:
Souvenir Shopping
Walking around Venice is something like being in a maze as the photo below shows. But we were never "lost". Throughout the exploring time there were some intermittent showers, mainly drizzle. Actually the weather was almost perfect for strolling around.

An included Gondola ride followed. We all arrived at the pier ready to hop on for our Gondola ride. We were quickly ushered onto gondolas and 'released' into the sea. A bit of a breeze was blowing and our gondola had two big guys on the same side so comfortable was not a word I would use to describe the early part of our experience. Once back into the canals it was very smooth and relaxing. Our gondola guy did not sing! We cruised quietly through quiet canals with the water lapping around buildings. It was an eerie feeling! We completed the trip with a lean to the right and tired muscles from hanging on.

That afternoon most of the group headed off for an optional tour of a Venetian handicrafts island for lunch and a look around. Left to our own devices, Trish and I visited St Mark's Square again and the Doge's Palace. The Doge was the ruler of the once City State of Venice. Cameras were not allowed to be used within the castle. It was amazing to view a magnificent building which once was the ruler's home. Attached to the palace (via the Bridge of Sighs) was the prison where Casanova was once imprisoned. Here photographs were permitted. It was incredible to wander around the cells and other areas and catch a glimpse of what life would have been like for prisoners and jailers.


Though not an 'included' tour, our visit to the Doge's palace was a highlight of our whole trip to UK and Europe, it was yet another time we were pleased to miss out on an expensive 'optional tour'. You wonder why this spot was not an automatic itinerary inclusion!

We caught a "Water Bus" back to our island 'Lido' and our hotel. Upon our arrival we had a good look around the shopping area and later found a great spot for our evening meal. That evening I enjoyed my first pizza in Italy! I don't know what they do to pizzas in Italy but they sure taste great! We both had a seafood pasta entree, again delicious!

Then it was back to our hotel to ready ourselves for the next stop on our tour, Rome!