Page 5: Venice 2010

Venice 2010

Our cruise departs from Venice so we arrive a few days ahead of time to explore the "City of Love" made up of 118 islands linked by bridges. 

Bill's glad we made it. Here he is showing off on the water taxi as we head off to our hotel from the airport.

All water taxis look something like this one. They are fast and sleek.

 I'm having a blast! I do love fast boats!

So beautiful!

The first night we go for a gondola ride and get entertained by a singer with a beautiful voice - very romantic...

We feel sorry for the people who did not get a boat ride to their hotel's private dock because they have to lug their suitcases up and down all the bridges that link the islands together. The bridges are all built in the form of archways so that boats can navigate the canals below.

This is the centre of Venice - Piazza San Marco. During the day, people play with the pigeons (there are hundreds of them) - don't they know they are the avian version of rats? At night, the Piazza turns into a magical spot all lit up with different types of bands playing outside at the several bars and restaurants lining the Piazza.

On our first night, Bill and I go for a walk in the backstreets of Venice and stop in one of the many charming bars one can find here and there along the way to have a glass (or two) of grappa. They say you have to get lost in Venice so of course, we did on the way back.  We were so happy to find ourselves back in Piazza San Marco and so charmed by the musicians playing there that we decided to have a glass of wine before going back to our hotel a block away. As we approached the doors of our hotel, Bill noticed that his "man-purse" was missing and he said he thought he left it at the bar where we had grappa.  Oh dear!  Well, we tried finding that bar for about an hour, but as you might guess, without success. We had a tour of the Venetian Hills planned for the next day, but I said "let's take a pass on the tour and go to the police in the morning and report the loss".  Everything was in the bag (except passports, thank God) credit cards, money, camera, etc. Needless to say we had somewhat of a sleepless night and were out the door early in the morning.  As we passed through Piazza San Marco, I said "Why don't we stop at the bar where we had the glass of wine? Maybe you left your bag on the ground next to your chair?"  So we went in and asked the lady if a black bag had been found.  She went upstairs and came back holding Bill's bag! What a surprise - we thanked her profusely. Imagine, nothing missing. The rest of our stay in Venice was wonderful.  

Here's Bill showing off again at one of the bridges crossing the Grand Canal.  See the strap on his shoulder? That's the infamous "man-purse".

The Basilica San Marco at the far end of the Piazza with the Doge's Palace right beside it - spectacular!

On our last day we took a bus/boat ride to the far end of Venice and stopped for lunch in the Jewish Getto.  I don't know why they call that district by that name, because it looks just as nice as elsewhere in Venice.

Here we are all dolled up for our first dinner on the Ruby Princess. Our cruise will take us (in order of arrival) to Athens and Corinth, Ephesus and Istanbul, Mykonos, the Amalfi Coast and Pompei (from the Port of Naples), Rome, Florence and Tuscany, Monaco and end up in Barcelona. 

View my next blog, Athens and Ephesus 2010.