Venizia Finale

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Didn't really get much done today. Took us a while to track down a Fedex to ship off my Murano vase. I have a lot of fingers and toes crossed that it gets back home alright. It's considered precious, so the shipping companies won't insureit for private individuals.

We finally got into Basilica San Marco, and it's quite spectacular inside. The ceiling is very much in the Byzantine style, with hundreds of thousands of tiles (most golden) forming elaborate mosaics. I discretely took a few pictures.

After that, I just wandered around for a bit. Did you know the Venetians even have an island cemetery? That's right, the whole island is one big cemetery.

I was going to catch the 8:30 bus back to the campsite, but as chance would have it, I met up with Charlie, Nicole, Jess and a few others who were just coming off the bus. They were going to catch a Gondola, and as they say, the more the merrier. In other words, I got to experience a gondola ride in Venice after all! When you don't cut their prices too savagely, gondolieri have quite a sense of humour. The girls tried to convince him to sing for us, and his response was "I only sing in the shower. You come home with me, I'll sing to you tomorrow in the shower".

The day hit a bit of a snag though, as in there being no hot water. The mechanics and logistics of a freezing cold shower weren't easy. Camping Alba D'Oro is definitely not on my recommended list.

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Photos

Basilica San Marco
The ceiling mosaics are incredible. Lets just say I didn't...notice the no photo signs.

Altarpiece of San Marco
Incredible detail.

Rialto Bridge from a Gondola
Blurry, I know, but you try taking a decent picture with a tiny camera in a rocking gondola.