After breakfast, we took a boat to the island of Venice (€9 return), a journey that took 30 minutes (the boat jetty is just a 5-minute walk from our campsite).

We got off at the Zatere jetty and once on the island of Venice, our guide showed us some interesting places like Plaza St Marco, the Basilisk, Rialto etc.

Honestly, the only stuff to see there are historical buildings, shopping and the best, sitting down just people watching.

But there's 5 things (as they say) you must not miss when in Venice:

1. See how Venetian lace is made (and buy them)
2. See/buy Murano glass
3. Eat gelato (sold everywhere in Venice)
4. Get a Venetian mask (which I did)
5. Go on a gondola ride

I did all 5 in the list, although I did not buy any lace and Murano glass. We took the gondola ride (€90 per boat - so I paid €18 for 5 in a boat), although it is actually nothing special. We were just brought through the little canals and bridges, those routes inaccessible by foot. You can get the punter to sing for you but you'd have to tip him.

Well, the gondola ride is very much Venice, so if you come here, just try it for experience's sake.

We also had an Italian lunch of margarita pizza (tomato & cheese topping) and seafood pasta, just to taste what real Italian pasta and pizza tastes like. Well, of course my Malaysian tastebuds prefer the tastier and spicier Malaysian versions:! :)

We ate at Paganelli Restaurant by one of the many canals and it was quite pricey: €23.50 for one pasta dish, one pizza and one drink shared between the two of us.

It is super hot in summertime and the complicated roads and small alleys makes it easy to get lost in Venice (having a map in hand is not exactly helpful). Maybe going during spring or autumn would be a more pleasant experience.

One thing I noticed is that Italians in Venice are quite brash. They screamed at our tour group "silencio!" and the waiters were quite rude to their customers.

We took the 6.30pm boat back to our campsite and by then our dinner (nasi putih with brinjal/mushroom + kicap manis). Yes, we ran out of fresh Halal meat (but our tour manager went to buy some the next day in Florence).

After dinner I hung around the campsite, just chatting with the rest of the tour participants. Always interesting to meet and get to know new people.

The sky was clear and we saw many stars. It was a beautiful night in Venice (or Venezia in Italian)!