Venice, Italy

Today is our last full day on the ship. During the morning we finished sailing the Adriatic towards Venice. Around lunchtime we sailed in to Venice, going in front of St Mark’s Square. The views were wonderful! After we docked we spent the afternoon walking around Venice. We started out in St Mark’s Square. The last time I was in St Mark’s Square I was 10. It wasn’t too different than I remembered, but with more people and fewer pigeons. We went into St Mark’s Basilica, where they did not allow any pictures. The inside is completely covered with beautiful, gold mosaics. The Basilica was built in 1094 to hold the remains of the Apostle Mark, which were stolen from Egypt by Venetians. From there we walked through the San Marco quarter of Venice to the Rialto Bridge. This is a large bridge which goes over the Grand Canal. This ornate bridge opened in 1591. We decided to take a gondola ride. It was a little spur of the moment, but we all had a good time. In the morning we have to disembark the cruise ship. We will get to spend the day in Venice tomorrow before we have to fly home on Saturday.