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What an adventure Venice was!! On Wednesday we took a water taxi from Lido island to Venice. Our Venetian tour was at 11 but we arrived early to check out the meeting spot. When we arrived there was very few tourists walking around. It was nice to see Saint Mark's piazza before the rush of tourists. There are shops lining the bottoms of almost every building. We met our tour group at the royal gardens. It was a walking tour and we wore small headsets which the guides voice was played through. We started at Saint mark's basilica. We entered the church at noon. It was beat because noon is the only hour that the church is lit. The ceiling is covered in gold mosaics so the whole building sparkled in the light. The guide told is about the mosaics and the Venetian faith. How the ventians stole the bones of Mark and believe he was the 13th apostle. You could see his tomb on the alter. Outside the guide showed us the belltower, the Piazza, the gates, and the statues. She then led throughout Venice taking back alleyways and through town squares. Everyone you cross a bridge in Venice it's another town- each town has a courtyard, a church and cistern. She showed us old towns with buildings dating back to 1200s. You can tell the age of the buildings but the windows- Gothic, Romanesque, etc. she also explained how they have to keep raising the floors and doors of Venetian homes. The town is sinking and the water is rising. Some steps were under water and some doorways were very short. She said they have had to raise the floors almost 6feet. The tour ended on the Rialto bridge. We had spaghetti alla carbonara for lunch and gelato and wine in the afternoon. We did some gooooood shopping :). We went into the bell tower and rode an elevator to the top of the bell tower. You could see a 360 view of Venice and surrounding islands. It was a great to see the tops of the churches and all the red terra cotta roofs. In the evening we took a "romantic" gondola ride on the grand canal. There was a group of a couple gondolas and in one boat was an accordion player and an Italian singer. We floated through the streets and enjoyed the music. After the ride we took a ferry to lido and enjoyed a very delicious pizza. We were exhausted by the end of the day but totally worth it!!
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Dad It is one thing to read about the long rich history of cities like Venice... but it is great to experience it first hand.