Saying goodbye to Rome didn't cause much heart ache! We were on the road to to Venice. Venice did not disappoint. The night we arrived in Venice we had a nice relaxing meal at the hotel and then a free night to kick back and relax. Just what the doctor ordered! The next morning we were up early to depart for Venice old town. We hoped back on the bus for the ride to the boat and then went across. First up we did a walking tour which took us around the local sights such as the Piazza San Marco (or St Mark's Square) where were saw the bell tower, St Mark's Basilica and the Doge Palace. We continued on our walk to the Rialto Bridge which is the oldest bridge that crosses the grand canal. We learnt some interesting facts about Venice like it is made up of 118 islands, 416 bridges and 177 canals. While we were walking around we noticed these table like things stacked in piles everywhere. They are platforms which get put out during high tides as St Mark's Square often floods during these so the people walk on these platforms. The water doesn't actually come in from the edge but up through the pavements. It was a really interesting place to see how and why it was built. Definitely a favourite place of mine so far. After the walking tour we had a lace demonstration (Venice is famous for its lace and glass) except we missed that because we were too busy enjoying the AWESOME TOILETS! Let me just go off track here for a bit....people have been complaining about paying to use toilets in Europe! But let me tell you! I am MORE than happy to pay to use these toilets because they are the ones that are kept clean and lovely to use. The free ones...eek! Anyway we missed the lace demonstration so we went off and bought our masks. Funny moment right here....Jacqui goes upstairs in the shop to have a look. I wasn't a fan of those masks so I go back downstairs to look at the ones there. We meet at the checkout at the same time with the same mask but a different colour! Great minds people! After getting our masks we headed back for the glass demonstration. This guy was amazing! He made a horse on a vase, out of glass, in about 5 minutes if that! That was really interesting to watch. Then it was off for a quick loo break (back to the flash ones) and time for our Gondola ride. Ok so I wasn't too keen for this! I was worried we'd end up in the Grand Canal but we managed to get in without a problem. I have to say for the first 10 minutes I was a nervous wreck! These things are not relaxing at all. It kept rocking side to side and I was freaking out man! But it's ok....we had a glass of sparkling wine and that calmed my nerves! The rest of the ride I spent in wonder at the beautiful views going up and down the canals. What an amazing city! Gondola ride done and it was finally time to sit down for a break an a bite to eat. Then we just walked around and took in the sights. Gosh it was so beautiful. I know I've said that before but I just loved this city! We had lovely dinner before hopping on the boat and heading back to our hotel. Satisfied and with smiles on our faces after such an extraordinary experience!