Venice

Did you think I was kidding about the crowds?
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*I know the hotels right in Venice are very expensive, but one time I am going to do it!  It took about 40 minutes (with traffic) to drive to the boat dock and then another 30 minutes to actually get to Venice.  Once there, our guide took us to San Marco Basilica first.  Many places will not allow your tour guide to take you around the cities, and Venice was no exception.  We had to use one of "their" guides and she was ok at first, but then it seemed like she was talking just to hear herself talk.  If it wasn't for the fact that we needed her to get free admission to the Murano glass factory we would have left the tour earlier.  The glass factory was interesting, then the sales pitch started.  Nice stuff, don't get me wrong - but LOTS of money!  I bought a nice necklace for a friend of mine for about $60 with the "tour discount".  Another good souvenir/gift that isn't too expensive is the polished pieces of colored glass that are put on a piece of leather to make a necklace.

Kelsey in San Marco Square
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We walked around Venice to see the Bridge of Sighs where the story is that the prisoners walk across the bridge on the way to prison and sigh at the sight of the lagoon and lost freedom.  Well, it sounds good anyway.  The Rialto Bridge is pretty famous too and the guy who designed it beat out Michelangelo for the contract!  Worth looking at.

It has become pretty commercialized and there are just TOO many tourists there, but it has a mystique like no other city.

The Grand Canal
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We met the group again for a "singing" gondola ride.  Now I don't know if they got away with this because we were a group or what, but the singer and the accordion player were in one gondola with 3 other people and 3 other gondolas followed behind ... we could sort of hear him sometimes, but come on!  What if we were just 2 people there and paid extra for the singing... I can't imagine anyone would put up with the music being 3 gondolas ahead of them!

Our guide highly recommended the boat tour to Burano for deals on souvineers.  I think the people on the island know that the guides say this and most have raised their prices.  Add in the fact that it took about 40 minutes to get their by boat, I would say it was a waste of precious time.

Gondolas
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Anyway... I still love Venice. It has become pretty commercialized and there are just TOO many tourists there, but it has a mystique like no other city.