8th September.

Much more relaxed start to the day from yesterday. I forgot to mention that yesterday the boat trip into San Marco piazza took a lot longer than we thoughtit would. Our tour up the clock started at 10am and the boat landed at 10am. Run, run,run we made it and caught up to the tour guide. Today we allowed much more time to arrive for our "Secret Itineraries tour of the Doges Palace. It was very interesting and we went into the chambers of the public servants, record keepers and chief councillors. The torture room and prison were very eerie.A fascinating maze of cells linked by corridors and staircases are on both sides of the canal. Famous prisoner Cassanova made his dramatic escape from here in 1756. It was used as a prison until 1940. The Palace itself is richly decorated in 24 carat gold on the ceilings and paintings by many famous Venetian artists including Tintoretto and Bellini.

This afternoon we caught the vaporetti to the end of the line to Lido. Here there is a beach on the Adriatic Sea. Sand is importedinand is lined with hundreds and hundreds of beach umbrellas that can be rented.

This "Golden City" continues to amaze us at every turn. Venice is divided into 7 Sestieres. We are staying in Santa Croce. Once again away from the touristy places. Our apartment is tiny, smaller than the one in Paris. Our boat stop is Riva de Biasio. There are restaurants andcafes around us and it's only a short walk to the nearest campo (square).

There are always people wandering around. We can only pick up the internet from around the corner, so each night we must go and sit and surf and download this journal.

Going out tonight to try and find a beautiful mask to buy.

xx