On the road again heading to the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare at Classe in the Provence of Ravenna (one of Italy's oldest active churches) then onto Venice.

Every moment is an event- as we were getting ready to board the coach in the morning Allen saw the Pope's chopper fly over on his way to Assisi. He hadn't realised what he was seeing until the locals told him.

The Basilica of Saint Apollinare in Classe is an important monument of Byzantine art. UNESCO cited this basilica as "an outstanding example of the early Christian basilica in its purity and simplicity of its design and use of space and in the sumptuous nature of its decoration".

The imposing brick structure was erected at the beginning of the 6th century by order of Bishop Ursicinus, using money from the Greek banker Iulianus Argentarius. The Basilica was consecrated in 549. It was located next to a Christian cemetery, and quite possibly on top of a pre-existing pagan one, as some of the ancient tombstones were re-used in its construction. A significant feature within the Basilica are the numerous large marble sarcophagi from different eras of the 5th to 8th centuries.

Lunch in Classe resulted in Allen breaking a tooth! Gianlucca our Tour Director is organising to get him an appointment with a dentist. Fortunately he's not in pain YET but the sooner the better.

We continued travelling onto Venice arriving mid-afternoon.

We left the coach on the mainland and went by water taxi to our hotel with our bags transported by another water carrier. After checking into the hotel we took a water taxi ride to St Marks for a gondola ride around the Venetian canals. It was amazing, we were with our friends Julia & Stewart and Izzy & cathy. There was even a tenor in the gondola ahead of us, singing old italian songs. Off the gondola and another water taxi ride around the Grand Canal - and it is aptly named. The Grand Canal is the largest ,and the major canal from which all the smaller canals emanate. The buildings fronting the Grand Canal are themselves grand in architecture, style and size and include a number of palaces, mansions and exclusive hotels.

We finished the day with dinner at our hotel. Tomorrow is another day in Venice.

Today's insights:
The uniforms of the Italian Polizia and the Carabinieri (army) were developed by fashion designers. The local joke is that the police and the army may be in-effective and uncomfortable but at least they look good!

Venice is comprised of 117 islands connected by over 400 bridges.

The reason for the development of the famous Venetian masks was to allow rich and poor to mix and talk to each other at the annual carnival with total anonymity.