Venice

By the time we reached Venice we were tired from our travels. It was a good relaxing place to end our vacation. When we got to the city we decided to take the water buses around the lagoon and down the grand canal. Venice is such a neat city and it was incredible just to see it. After we had our fill of riding around we decided to explore Venice by foot. It is simply charming and very confusing. Luckily the city is not very large and you always end up somewhere recongizable.

The following day we took the water bus out to the island of Murano. Murano is known for its glass making. We were able to see a glass factory and the sculptures being made. The city was filled with tons of store filled with the most beautiful glass objects. We fell in love and could have easily bought tons of sculptures. Brian limited me to just one and we found a heron sculpture to bring home.

On our last day we headed to Piazza San Marco. In the morning we visited the Doge's Palace and took a tour of the prison cells. In the afternoon we headed to St. Mark's Basilica. The line to get into the church was long. The church was okay. It is Byzintine style and not our favorite. However, we can appreciate the mosiacs and history of the church. Since our last day was Good Friday we decided to find a church and attend stations of the cross. Not sure how much we got out of the service because it was all in italian.

As a final treat to ourselves we got tickets to a concert for our final evening in Italy. It was a performance of Vidali's Four Seasons and Pachbel's Canon. The concert was wonderful and a great way to end our trip to Italy. It was a wonderful two weeks, but we were glad to be going home.