Last night we arrived in Venice after a leisurely drive up from Rome.

We left early this morning to park in the huge carpark Tronchetto and took a ferry around the back of Venice around to St Mark's Square for a glass blowing demonstration. It was great and the glass in the shop there is all handmade on the island Murano and is of course amazing elaborate, precious and expensive.

I was very excited to finally go on a gondola in Venice! There were six of us in my gondola and it was beautiful to get into the small canals with a bottle of champagne, good company and the atmosphere of Venice!

After poor Clare was harassed by a waiter when some of the group refused to pay the service charge as the service was so terrible, we had a good laugh and then returned to St Mark's Square. We visited the Doge's Palace, home of the former rulers of the Venetian Republic. It is a beautiful place but the highlight was definitely descending into the prisons and exploring them and of course the Bridge of Sighs. Prisoners were dragged across this bridge that is completely enclosed apart from some small windows on their way into prison. It is said that upon their last look on the lagoon, Venice and freedom they sighed.

We visited the St Mark's Basilica which is unlike any other church I have seen. The outside is adorned by five curvy domes while the inside is covered by glittering golden tiles. This is appartently because the basilica is built in Romanesque style which means it has few or no windows. For this reason they covered the ceiling in gold glittering tiles so as to spread the light around. It was very unusual at any rate, a real case of east meets west.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the alleys and canals again, determined to get lost. We were successful without too much effort and of course some shopping was involved! It was a lovely day that finished with dinner and drinks in a pub and then restaurant in a tiny lane near the Rialto Bridge. While I was not entirely convinced by Venice the first time around, it is most definitely a special city with character and charm, especially once you move away from the tourist hords.