Coach trip part 2 : Venice

Hi all,
We have just spent 2 nights in Venice and it is a truly remarkable place. Our hotel was about 15 km from Venice, so on the first night (the temperature was still 26 C at midnight!) we caught the local bus to Venice.
We started by having a pizza and beer on the edge of the Grand Canal near the Scalzi bridge (one of the 3 bridges that cross the Grand Canal. From here we walked to the Rialto Bridge (#2), with Kristin only stopping at every second shop! The Rialto has beautiful views along the Grand Canal and we were there as the sun was setting, so all the canal was lit up.
We then successfully got to Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Plaza) the main centre of Venice without getting lost in the maze of alley ways, canals and bridges. There were bands playing for the diners at the restaurants on the Piazza. San Marco (the cathedral) looked very impressive and the façade was very ornate (see photos). We went around the corner to see the Bridge of Sighs and this was the only disappointing part of Venice. The building was being restored and only a little part of the bridge was visible! So we think the Bridge of Sighs in Oxford was better!
Next we walked to the 3rd bridge (Accademica) that crosses the Grand Canal on our way back to the bus stop. This wasn’t a problem, but for the next hour we took a wrong turn and ended up walking along the docks, so instead of a 20 minute walk it took 60! They say everyone gets lost in Venice! As a consequence we missed a bus by 2 minutes and had to wait another hour for the next! We were finally in bed by 12:30 am!
Wednesday morning we went back to Venice as a part of the “group sightseeing” day. We caught a motor boat along Canale Della Giudecca to San Marco. First we went to a glass blowing demonstration and showroom for the Murano glass. The products were not my cup of tea but you can appreciate the skill and style of the pieces. We then lined up (about 15 minutes) to go into San Marco cathedral, it was impressive but when you have seen so many cathedrals as we have this year, you get a bit “seen that before”, in fact later in the day we went into the church at Stefano (not far from San Marco) and it was much brighter and just as good (also no queues or many tourists!).
Billy, Andy and Lucy also went up the tower at Piazza San Marco (about 8 storeys) and it gave great views in all directions of Venice and its islands.
After some lunch we walked around more of Venice and the girls bought more trinkets!! Mid afternoon we went on a lagoon cruise and got off at the island of Burano. Originally a fishing village, now famous for lace making, The day finished with dinner at the hotel and a relatively early night, ready for the next start at 7:30 am and off to Assisi and Rome for 2 nights.
Ciao!