Venice!

Just spent 3 days and 2 nights in amazing Venice! What a place! When we sailed in I could not believe my eyes, waterways everywhere. From the port we were able to hop on the shuttle boat that took us to St. Marc’s Square every 20 minutes. I did a tour the first day of St. Mark’s Basilica and Doges Palace, both beautiful spectacles of Venice. Doges Palace is made of gothic arches, delicate marble, and houses the remains of the old palace prison, very interesting! The highlight of the tour was the gondola ride! Usually cost $100 euro per couple for 30 minutes, but I got to go for free, as I was escorting the tour! The gondola took us up and down the small canals and through many waterways, it was gorgeous! There was no serenading however; I guess you have to request to have that. Venice is amazing, as there are no cars, only boats, and many, many bridges. I didn’t have to work until 10 pm that night, so I wandered around town, did a little shopping, and had dinner is a nice Italian restaurant on the waterfront. I ordered pizza, and a glass of wine, and watched the sun go down! Yesterday Chris and I took the water taxi from St. Marc’s sq. to Lido Island, where we met Sarah to go to the beach! Sarah had come back to Venice for a few days after leaving the Queen Mary on August 1 for holiday. The beach was a lot nicer, and quite bigger than I expected, we all ate Panini’s and lied in the sun. Later on, Chris and I got gelato and made our journey back to the ship. I worked my shift for the day (which was one hour embarkation), and then Alex and I headed out for the night in Venice! The Grand Canal was an amazing sight, we watched all the gondola’s carry people from point to point, and had a drink at an outdoor café. Venice is definitely one of the most amazing places I have ever been!