Sunday, August 23rd

On Sunday, we checked out of our hotel. The weather was much more pleasant – cooler and windy. We headed to St. Mark’s square where Scott and I went up the campanile (the bell tower). We fully expected to walk to the top, but as it turns out there is an elevator. At the top it was very windy and the views over the city – all the way to the Alps were breathtaking. We took a bunch of pictures that we will post when we get a decent internet connection.
Afterwards we finished exploring St. Marks while the girls shopped and then headed straight to the Oosterdam via water taxi. We witnessed the enormity of the ships up close as the taxi took us right between the Oosterdam and another ship. The taxi then did battle with several others to get a landing spot at the dock – great fun to watch for all of us except for Joanne who was busy looking for the life jackets. It turns out Joanne isn’t much of a boat person!
A fairly smooth check in and we were on the ship and in our stateroom. Then, it was back into town for one last look at Venice up close. Trouble is, we missed the turn for the ferry and ended up walking, and walking, and walking… I think we saw parts of Venice few tourists ever see. Our goal was to do a quick tour of the Doge’s Palace but unfortunately after all that walking it was closed. So, we had to settle for the one touristy must do – the gondola ride. As previously mentioned, Joanne isn’t much for boats, including gondolas. Don’t get me wrong, cruise ships are OK, just not what she considers little boats. The Gondola ride was amazing – lots of sights and history. Joanne was again looking for the life jackets… the ride was a bit rough at first and again when we docked at the mouth of the Grand Canal, but we all survived without getting dumped out.