Kotor and its rainy weather seems an eternity away right now. We departed Venice last night (Monday) and now are sailing towards Greece with a full day at sea and a huge change over of passengers.
The average age of passengers has dropped by 10 years to around 70 and the sound level in the dining room has dropped around 20 decibels. Some of those Americans are quite brash in their manner and they seem to begin every second sentence with 'I' or 'we'. There appears to be quite a few Aussies have joined the cruise so I guess those brash Americans will be replaced by loud Australians!
We met a delightful American couple from Alabama, Ryan and Donna who were travelling with 4 other older family members. We seemed to hit it off very well straight away but then we did meet over a cold beer during Happy Hour. They left the cruise in Venice and are now winging their way home.
We sailed into Venice soon after lunch on Sunday. The weather was fine and most passengers were on deck as the ship sailed by The Bridge of Sighs, St Mark's Square, and the Grande Canal. This was yet another sensational experience.
During that afternoon and after docking we decided to defy all advice and set off for a walk from where the ship had docked to the famous Rialto Bridge over the Grande Canal. We purchased a tourist map and set off on our way. Now can you imagine a road map of Venice? There aren't roads in Venice, just pathways some 5 metres wide, others a mere 1 metre wide.
Street name signs are different too. We did see yellow signs saying Rialto which gave us a hint. These signs did seem to be few and far between. But we defied the odds and after more than an hour arrived at The Rialto Bridge to discover it was being renovated and had scaffolding all over it. This was quite a disappointment for us.
After a look around and because of large weekend crowds we decided to head back to the ship. But we had seen and discovered much of Venice, its canals, small shops and busy lifestyle.
Being a little tired we stopped at little eatery near The Rialto Bridge for a 300ml can of coke, hot chocolate and 'free' wifi to update our Facebook page and check emails. Trish posted photos on Facebook but I would often find my photos to Blogger wouldn't upload. I suspect Facebook isn't blocked but other programs may be.
We asked for our bill and was handed an account for almost 10 Euros (around AU$12). Thanks for the free wifi! We completed our walk back to the ship.
Monday morning saw the end of one cruise and the beginning of another. Many were leaving while others were waiting to embark.
We decided to head out and explore some more. This time we caught a water bus to St Mark's Square and yet another peek at The Bridge of Sighs. We planned to walk back all the way to the ship from St Mark's Square.
We had a really good look around at everything and being a Monday the place wasn't at all crowded. It did cost a total of 3 Euros for us to use a toilet though.
As we were now experienced Venice map readers and knew the signs to look for, our walk to the Rialto Bridge and onto Rome Plaza (and on to the ship) was straight forward but tiring.
This time we stood outside the expensive 'free' wifi shop from the previous day and caught up with emails and Facebook. I think Trish even uploaded some Venice photos!
I will try to upload a photo with this post, it may or may not publish with the photo.
Today is a full day at sea. Tomorrow we are in Greece and hopefully on our way to Olympia (and to have good 'free' wifi).
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