May 15

Reid told us that we should get lost in Venice, as you can always either find your way back or have someone help you.

Arriving at our hotel.

There are no cars in Venice.

Tammy was tired so Mike set out, on his own; to get lost in Venice, while Tammy took a nap. It was nice to just wander the maze of streets in Venice, going nowhere in particular, not having a map (as if it would be useful there). Venice was interesting to see the winding streets and the canals running all over. Try as I might I was unable to get lost. Our Hotel was near Academia and St. Marks so it was easy to always find signs for these places, thus easy to find my way home.

That night the tour group met up at St. Mark's square and we went for a Gondola ride. The musician that was supposed to go with us took off with another group. Reid sprung into action, and got us a discount and a musician. The ride was quite nice, it was beautiful scenery at night, especially being right down on the water.

		St. Mark's Square.
We saw London. We saw France... Need I say more?

We also had Champaign in St. Mark's Square. We took turns trying to catch the corks of the bottles as they popped across the square. Ah…St. Mark's at Night, it was a wonderful evening. The restaurants had stages that faced into the square, where musicians played to entertain the small crowds left in Venice. There were two right next to each other and they would take turns playing. A group would go back and forth between the two. It was very pleasant and romantic, with the music and lights, people were dancing or casually sipping wine while enjoying the music.

May 16

Today we went to the Doges Palace and over the bridge of sighs (where prisoners would sigh at their last view of Venice). The palace was quite grand, but we also got to see the prison cells. For someone interested in old weapons, the Doges Palace has quite a collection. There is also some incredible artwork in the palace itself. After that we wandered around town. We found a cathedral to look at and we made our way over to Rialto bridge. I enjoyed the back streets off the beaten path and looking at the beautiful wooden boats in the canals. That night we had another beautiful evening at St. Mark's Square. There was classical, jazz and big band music for our enjoyment.

Venice waterways. Notice the barbershop poles.

The beautiful St Mark's Square. What a wonderful place to be at night.

May 17

Back on the boat from Venice and on to the bus to Florence.