Venice, Italy

The flight from Paris to Venice was uneventful. Thankfully so!

Public transportation is an indispensible part of life in Europe - and the exhaustive system that seems to operate seamlessly is wonderful. Land buses, water buses, water taxis - for the general public and for private individuals, and of course the gondolas! I was able to take the express bus from the airport to the port of Venice for a charge of 3 euros. The exciting experience for me today was to use the water taxi from the port (arrived there at noon and the ship was not sailing until 5p) to San Marcos square to get a glimpse of the famous Byzantine church - San Marcos Basilica. http://www.basilicasanmarco.it/

Lots of people, lots of renovations, shops full of designer items, delicious gelato. The picture above is of a frieze from the outside of the church.

And yes, there were lots and lots of shops - and yes I was drawn to the murano glass items.

Dinner gave me a change to catch up with the other Literary Sisters. Seems everyone took a different route to get to Venice - London, Paris, Rome, Madrid. Several people arrived early or are planning to stay over for a few days after the cruise ends. One group of friends from the west coast explained how the cost of the airfare almost excluded them from being a part of the trip. They realized that purchasing a ticket to London and then purchasing airfare from London to Venice made the trip so affordable, that they spent a few days in London pre-cruise and will be enjoying a post-cruise visit in Venice! Cheers for thinking outside of the box!