DAY 45 - MONDAY, 26 AUGUST 2013 VENICE, ITALY

Well Venice got a good drop of rain last night but it was fine today.  We got to St. Mark's Square a little earlier and there was barely a queue for the Doge's Palace, so we were able to take a look.

 

Another magnificent building – of gigantic proportions - dating back to the 14^th century, the Doge's Palace was the seat of power and the palace of justice.  We spent over an hour or more with audio players, going through the various rooms - the most spectacular being those  displaying their array of armory – very gruesome!!!!  We ventured down into the prison quarters, where those poor souls looked through brick vents towards a bridge over the canal – possibly their last look at the outside world – hence this bridge is called the "Bridge of Sighs", and today being one of the most popular tourist 'spots'.

 

What a brilliant place this is to meander the environs of the back streets to window shop.  Speaking of shopping, I did want to buy a mask to remind us of Venice when we return home…  and I did venture into many, many shops and finally found one that was not perfect, but Ok!!!  Of course the Murano Glass is another great item to purchase, but as we are trying to downsize, we just look and admire these most beautiful pieces.

 

Another lunch in a café that just passed the test, we continued being the typical tourists, until it was time for a coffee in St. Mark's Square – we were warned about the price, ($10 a cup) but it was well worth it to have a good seat for half an hour or more, and might I add, a really lovely cup of coffee!!!!

 

The queues for St. Mark's Basilica were bearable so we hopped on and did a quick tour – another beautiful and remarkable building, albeit fairly dark inside, but steeped in history - sadly no photos inside.

 

Think we did all that we wanted to do in the last couple of days – got a great feel for the heart of Venice and we just loved every minute of it – wonderful memories.  The sailaway in the evening was superb!!

 

Photos:  Day 2 in Venice.

 

DAY 44 - SUNDAY, 25 AUGUST 2013 VENICE, ITALY

With cooler weather and thunderstorms threatening it wasn't the best of starts to this port of ports, but it was not going to dampen our spirits.  A very quick bus shuttle to the boat shuttle and then a delightful trip into the main district of 'downtown' Venice, arriving near St. Mark's Square.  One of the first things that hits you is the sheer volume of people getting off all these little ferries and the fact that it has become a humungus tourist haven – BUT there is no place in the world like Venice!!!!

 

Colin hasn't been to Venice before, so it was all very new to him and apart from the massive crowds, I remember it well - as it hasn't changed much in 40 years!!!  We are lucky to be here for 2 full days, so we can pace ourselves and not rush around like we usually have to when visiting ports.

 

Today we just roamed around St. Mark's Square, then ambled through the mazes of little streets and canals with beautiful gondolas gliding by and found our way to the Grand Canal and the beautiful Rialto Bridge – what an awesome sight with so much activity happening in every direction.  The Bridge itself was packed to the brim, restaurants & cafés buzzing and so many ferry boats, gondolas and water taxis, it's a wonder they don't collide.

 

We had lunch at a great spot literally on the Grand Canal – it's a shame the food wasn't as good as the view!!!  I ordered Vegetable Crepes and I'm sure there was one spinach leaf between the crepes and it was covered with bottled cream cheese – I know the flavour, as it's a favourite of our grandsons!!!  Colin's Lasagne was not too bad….

We did sit there with a glass of wine for quite a while and watched the passing pedestrian and water traffic, as the tide came in and almost up to our table.

 

No thunder or rain and as it turned out a lovely sunny day, we hopped on a gondola and had a fabulous ride with 'Ricky' through the canals and also on the Grand Canal, which was just great.

 

After all that excitement, we decided to call it a day and head back – the crowds at the Palace and the Basilica were far too long to even consider – hopefully tomorrow!!!

 

Photos:     Venice!!!

 

 

DAY 44 - SUNDAY, 25 AUGUST 2013 VENICE, ITALY

With cooler weather and thunderstorms threatening it wasn't the best of starts to this port of ports, but it was not going to dampen our spirits.  A very quick bus shuttle to the boat shuttle and then a delightful trip into the main district of 'downtown' Venice, arriving near St. Mark's Square.  One of the first things that hits you is the sheer volume of people getting off all these little ferries and the fact that it has become a humungus tourist haven – BUT there is no place in the world like Venice!!!!

 

Colin hasn't been to Venice before, so it was all very new to him and apart from the massive crowds, I remember it well - as it hasn't changed much in 40 years!!!  We are lucky to be here for 2 full days, so we can pace ourselves and not rush around like we usually have to when visiting ports.

 

Today we just roamed around St. Mark's Square, then ambled through the mazes of little streets and canals with beautiful gondolas gliding by and found our way to the Grand Canal and the beautiful Rialto Bridge – what an awesome sight with so much activity happening in every direction.  The Bridge itself was packed to the brim, restaurants & cafés buzzing and so many ferry boats, gondolas and water taxis, it's a wonder they don't collide.

 

We had lunch at a great spot literally on the Grand Canal – it's a shame the food wasn't as good as the view!!!  I ordered Vegetable Crepes and I'm sure there was one spinach leaf between the crepes and it was covered with bottled cream cheese – I know the flavour, as it's a favourite of our grandsons!!!  Colin's Lasagne was not too bad….

We did sit there with a glass of wine for quite a while and watched the passing pedestrian and water traffic, as the tide came in and almost up to our table.

 

No thunder or rain and as it turned out a lovely sunny day, we hopped on a gondola and had a fabulous ride with 'Ricky' through the canals and also on the Grand Canal, which was just great.

 

After all that excitement, we decided to call it a day and head back – the crowds at the Palace and the Basilica were far too long to even consider – hopefully tomorrow!!!

 

Photos:     Venice!!!

DAY 43 - SATURDAY, 24 AUGUST 2013 AT SEA

At last a well deserved sea day for us all to catch our breath and have a rest after 7 ports in 7 days - and a welcome sleep in!! 

 

We went to our first Wine Tasting this afternoon and the Florentine Dining Room was totally full of "wine lovers!!!!!".

 

As we are approaching the half way mark of our cruise (we sail into Venice for 2 nights tomorrow), literally half the passengers – around 900 - will be getting off the ship, and of course, lots of new passengers boarding.  So it is a very sad day for many as they bid farewell to old and new friends they have made during this voyage.

 

Our lovely table mates, Anthea and Dennis are also leaving us to spend time in Europe before returning home – so tonight we gave them an 'all black' farewell - and Anthea was a good sport and spread herself for one of those photos – lucky Dennis just looked as handsome as ever!!  Great to have spent more sea time with you both and safe travels home!!

 

Photos:  The 'Dawn Nomads' at the Farewell Lunch for those disembarking;  A pretty sunset;  and Our "All Blacks" dinner for Anthea and Dennis.