R&R Day 4 - Venice and going to sea

This was our last day on shore, we were to embark from Venice in the afternoon, so we woke up early, ate breakfast on the ship and went ashore to get our last views of Venice before we sailed out into the Mediterranean. We caught the vaparetto again to get around the canals.

Our first stop was the Rialto where we finally got our first picture together of the trip, which was also our only picture together of the trip.

A bell tower framed by the arches of the vegetable market.

One of the stalls of the vegetable market; very interesting variety of vegetables and fruits, some of which we did not recognize.

The neighboring fish market was absolutely amazing. Here are some of the live snails for sale, which were migrating across all the sealife in the surrounding bins.

A pile of octopus, or is it octopi….

This guy was actively hawking his catch and doing a good business. We didn’t understand a word he was saying, but he was energetic enough we wanted to buy from him. Wen and I decided that we could travel there every day for some type of seafood for dinner and after a year of trying new things, not be through the variety offered.

The Venice shrimp that looked more like the Atlantic mantis shrimp, I never got an opportunity to try them, but look forward to it the next time I am in Venice.

A huge slab of tuna. I wanted to just take a slice for sashimi.

A spice shop on the edge of the market, no idea what any of them were, but so wanted to experiment with them and the surrounding fresh vegetables and seafood.

The flag of Venice that many Venetians proudly displayed.

The mosaics in the exterior alcoves of St Peter’s Basilica. Intricate is an understatement.

The bronze bell-tolling statues again, I will never understand artists.

The statues and onion shaped domes of St Mark’s Basilica.

Another bell tower, but with a crazy, massive clock on it… oh, would that make it a clock tower?

The forward pool deck on the cruise ship. We started off the trip well, being one of the last people back onto the ship, a trend we could continue the entire trip. The ship got underway, and two nerdy naval architects were in hog heaven watching the ship maneuver itself from the pier with bow and stern thrusters.

A view from the top deck towards the channel we would use to go to sea. We ruled the law of gross tonnage in this port.

The power of the three bow thrusters stirred the slip into a muddy mess as we pulled out.

The mega yacht at the next pier, but it’s too small for us, it only has one helipad.

A forest of bell towers across the city, notice that each have a slight tilt.

One of the side canals, which has a gondola storage yard about 50 yards up on the left. I saw a Discovery Channel program about the making and storing of the gondolas, so I was excited to see this.

An intimidating church, the shear marble face just appeared ominous.

An example of some serious foundation issues, which is prevalent across the city that was built on marshy/sandy islands centuries ago that are now eroding.

The domes of the Customs House with the Campanile in the background.

The domes of the Customs House.

The entrance to the Grand Canal with the Customs House at the point of the western island.

The crowded St Marks Square. The cruise ship inched out the channel and past some of the other islands before entering the Adriatic Sea.

R&R Day 3 – Venice

On this day we checked into the cruise ship, but later in the day. This opened up the morning for more adventuring around the island of Venice.

This is the hotel we stayed at just off of Piazzale Roma, it was nice but 5 times the cost of the one from the night before outside of the city.

A line of gondolas along the Grand Canal.

St Mark’s square from the vaparetto, the public ferry/water taxi.

Statue on the top of Doges palace.

The corner of Doges palace with the Campanile in the background.

The flagpoles in St Mark’s square with the life-sized bronze statues that ring the bell.

The Customs House in Venice, adorned with a gold ball on top and a statue of a frog out front.

One of the many seriously leaning bell towers around Venice.

A church, one of many, many around this island.

The stern of our cruise ship, we passed it on the vaparetto heading back to the hotel to check out and get to the cruise ship.

After checking into the cruise ship, we went back out onto the island. We decided to go over to the island of Murano, which is known for its glasswork. It took going on a different ferry over to this other island about a ½ mile away.

On the way there we got to go through canals we had not traveled in a section of city that is sinking faster than other parts. Many of the homes have sunk so much that the first floor is now under water.

Another nice three arch bridge, this canal was wider than most, but not the size of the grand canal.

A bell tower that was tolling, can’t you hear it in this photo.

The chapel on the cemetery island, an island specifically dedicated for the burial of Venice residents.

One of the glassworks on Murano. We unfortunately found out all of the tours are in the morning, not the late afternoon.

A beautiful building on the canal cutting through Murano.

A work of art in a small square of Murano made of their famous glass. Unfortunately it was really dusty and dirty, requiring a lot of processing to make it look clean.

The white lighthouse on Murano.

On the way back to Venice proper, we passed close to the cemetery island again, here is the chapel and one of the entrance docks.