We left early in the morning, but because of traffic it took longer than usual. We didn't want to miss our tour so we took a water taxi straight to St.Marks. Our timing was perfect, the guide walked up within minutes of us arriving. She was very friendly, a nice change from our last guide. Our group was much smaller than our last tour, making it easier to see our guide. We had to buy cover-ups at the door because no bare shoulders or short shorts are allowed in the basilica.

We entered the basilica marveling at the golden glow of the mosaics. Sheets of gold were placed in between clear glass tiles making the entire place shades of bright and soft gold, depending how the light was hitting them. We started by going up steps until we could look down onto the sanctuary. We were up close to the tiles and could see into the ceilings well from our vantage point. Our guide began talking but we were frustrated by the bad reception of our head sets.
We did pick up some details though. The basilica was originally only for the doges, but in 1807 opened up to the public. Because most people couldn't read, and books were expensive, one major way bible stories were conveyed to the people was through art.

Owning relics of a saint was very important to people in that time. It was a symbol of power. Venetians initially stole the supposed remains of St.Mark from Alexandria in 828, the remains went missing and were supposedly re-discovered in a pillar by the doge in 1094. The stealing continued, in fact much of the adornments were stolen from the orient. In 1204 during the 4th crusade the famous Greek horses were looted from Constantinople and brought to Venice. They were stolen from Venice by Napoleon in 1797, and taken to Paris, but returned to Venice in 1815. Unbelievable! They are nice horses but not that nice! The original horses have been restored and are kept indoors to protect them from weather and pollution. Bronze replicas stand outside where the originals use to stand.

We walked past the original horses on our tour and then into the museum. The museum had a lot of intricate tapestries. We recognized the picture in one of the tapestries from the Ufitzi.

Our guide also showed us old ways they use to restore and new techniques that work much better. Some of the old techniques ended up ruining works of art.

Our guide said goodbye to us in the museum and we were able to take our time looking around, as well as go out on the balcony overlooking St.Marks Square. The balcony was narrow with a stone floor. The view was beautiful. We stood next to the horse replicas, took pictures, admired the clock towers and the view of the Grand Canal. When we went back into the Basilica we could hear a men's choir singing, the acoustics were beautiful. We went downstairs and walked through the main floor of the Basilica giving us a new perspective. A service in one of the naves was just finishing and the men's choir filed out. We left the basilica and went looking for an air-conditioned restaurant, not only was it hot but the cover-ups made us even hotter.

The food always amazes us, it could be that the restaurants are smaller so they can offer better quality food and service. Our group is so big that we usually take up a lot of the restaurant. We joke about overloading the system everywhere we go.

The shopping in Venice also doesn't disappoint. The kids found beautiful carnival masks, Tammy and I picked out leather purses, and Brennin and Doug found jackets. Tim found a couple of shirts, and Deborah was shopping up a storm too.

We waved in two Gondoliers along the way. Tammy asked the gondolier if we had time to purchase some champagne for the trip, they were in a hurry and said no, but Tim flew across the street returning in a flash with a bottle for each boat. There is always time for important things according to Tim. No one had to wait because it takes a bit for a group our size to get into the wobbly gondolas.

Our gondolier was a proud Venetian, one of the few 8th generation gondoliers in Venice. We moved slowly through the canals, narrowly passing other boats. A lot of long narrow boats with construction materials and workers
were busy restoring and renovating buildings. We drifted past Casanova's place, under many bridges, and into shady canals. Again the shade felt so good because the sun was blazing. Every now and again our gondolier would sing, sometimes he would shout out to fellow gondoliers in Italian joking around about something, or call out around a corner to arrange the turn without colliding into another boat. The organization was impressive. The gondolier also used a net to collect garbage out of the water - saying "I caught another butterfly" each time he pulled out some trash, which the kids found amusing. Half an hour later we arrived back where we started.

We decided it was definitely gelato time. The gelato shop we found had the best gelato since Rome. By this point we were becoming expert gelato tasters, finding gelato almost every day.

We followed Doug and Tim, finding our way out of Venice's maze, back to our car.

We were home in time to make supper and enjoy the pool.