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.