Europe 2011 - Day 12

St. Marks Square from the ship as we arrived

Venice – words cannot describe Venice. As you are approaching Venice, you pass by a number of other islands that are in the same location and for all of then there only access is by boat. Then you see Venice and again, words cannot describe it. There are no cars, there are no roads, there are no FedEx trucks - they are FedEx boats! It is all buildings, walkways and waterways, some very big, some very small.

The only problem was that it was very foggy as we entered Venice, but the pictures should still tell you the story of the town.

We were off the ship shortly after it docked at 1:00pm and walked to the people mover and took it to the bus station. The bus station is a boat station.

A bus stop

All of the glass companies were moved off the island of Venice and onto the island of Murano, which is a 10 minute boat trip and that is where we headed first. There are many glass makers and shops on the island and I think that we went into them all and finally found four light fixtures for the kitchen and the hall. What fun that will be having Murano glass lights. They only take 3 days to get our house by UPS so we had them hold shipping until next week so they get home just after we do.

We ate an early dinner in a delightful little café along the canal in Murano and then we took the boat back to Venice.

Part of Venice

We spent the next 4 or 5 hours just walking around Venice and seeing the sights. At about 9pm we decided that we needed something to drink and a bathroom break so we sat at an outside table in St. Marks Square and had two Cokes. One of the biggest mistakes we have ever made as the cost was $28 Euros or $40 US!! Oh well, I had great company, the sodas and chips were good and the music was fun.

Then it was back on the boat to get to the ship. Much to our surprise, the people mover at the port closed by the time we got there and we had to walk about a mile to get to the ship. No one told us and all the other people who arrived when we did and we were not happy about the walk – but Venice the first day was really fun.

Main Street - Murano

Bus ride down a canal

Tomorrow we have all day to enjoy Venice as e do not leave port until 7:00pm.

Night from Venice.

Barb and the shop owner with our new lights