A long but truly memorable day, Venice is certainly the pick of destinations on the Italian leg of our trip. While it rained overnight by the time we had breakfast the sky was Blue and stayed that way for the larger part of the day. On Michael's recommendation we travel to the glass works on the Island of XXXXX, the king tides once again came in at about 10:30 and flooded St Marco Piazza, plus many of the shops. Apparently this is not an uncommon event and can h...

Heavy rain all morning and king tides lead to the highest water levels the Venicians have experienced this year, so I donned a set plastic boots and braved the elements, it was something to see. In the afternoon Amanda and I traversed the back streets taking in all the local wares and produce. About 3:30pm I returned to St Marco Square and took a tour of the Palace Ducale, Amanda carried on with the shopping excursion.

We left Bologna and took a high speed .italo train to Venice which about an hour and a half.

A relatively early start, 8:30am, with pastries, cold meat platter, juice, and coffee, typical european start to the day what I can see. We walked down to the city centre, Piazza Maggiore visiting the Basilica di San Domenico and Basilica San Petronio on the way. Being Sunday both churches had services in progress and I was surprised by the welcoming nature of the clergy and the inclusive way they conducted the services. Both were well worth a visit. By the t...

We left Florence at 9:30am on a 40 minute trip ( High speed train ) to Bologna. This is the same train we will get to Venice in a couple of days. We walked 3 to 4kms across town dragging our bags along the way, even though it was a flat track, I am not sure we will make that same choice again. Given that our room was not ready we took a stroll down to the central city Piazza. Piazza Maggiore had about 100 stands selling chocolates and various sweets, Amanda had f...