November 5 - Venice, Italy - Day 1

Venice, Italy--the reason we booked this itinerary.  We will spend 48 hours in Venice over 2 nights and 3 days.  As this is the end of one voyage, many people will be leaving the ship and others just coming on for the the next voyage which will take us transatlantic.

Venice is Europe's best-preserved big city.  The power and legacy of Venice began 1,500 years ago when inhabitants from the mainland fled the invasions of barbarians that followed the fall of the Roman Empire.

Venice became a major maritime power during the Crusades by creating a great trading empire for the East-West trade.  In 726 A.D., the people of Venice elected their own Doge, who with his successors would lead the city for for 1,000 years.   By smuggling in the bones of St. Mark in 828 A.D., Venice gained religious importance as well.

Today Venice survives on tourism--20 million visitors each year.  And even though it is late in the year, we expect there will be crowds of tourists at the major points of interest.

The ship was due to arrive in Venice about 1 pm.  Prior to docking, we cruised down the Guidecca Canal, which brings us right by the San Marco area with views of the Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Square.

Our friends, Phil & Gay had a suite stateroom on the starboard side of the ship.  And that is where we went for fantastic views of Venice as we sail on by to the port dock.  

The ship turning into the Guidecca Canal; we are guided by tugboats...

San Marco (St. Mark's Square)

It was truly a beautiful sail in to Venice and we are anxious to see it all.

After reaching the port, we left the ship to begin our exploration of Venice.  We walked over to the People Mover, bought our tickets, and then boarded the 'train' for a 3-minute ride over to the Pizzale Roma where we will board a vaporetto boat and cruise the Grand Canal.  

We purchased a 24-hour vaporetto ticket for a ride down the Grand Canal.  It is good for 24 hours starting with your first ride.  We figured that was the best ticket for our plans.  It was easy to read the signage to find the vaporetto line #1, the one Rick Steves recommends as it coordinates well with his audio tour of the Grand Canal.

Where the vaporetto stops for boarding

We were able to get a seat on the vaporetto at the very back, which we thought would be pretty good for taking photos.  Unfortunately, the vaporetto became very crowded and we had people standing right next to us blocking many attempts to take a decent photo.  The audio guide was great, though, and as we cruised the Grand Canal for about 45 minutes, we listened as Rick Steves talked in our earphones about the buildings that we were passing.  

 Here is a map of the aerial view of the Grand Canal that winds through the center of Venice.  We started near the top left of the map and went all the way to the bottom right, St. Mark's Square.

The Grand Canal is more than 2 miles long and nearly 150 feet wide--it is the city's largest canal and is lined with its most impressive palaces and churches.

 ...and, of course, plenty of gondolas.

When we reached the stop for San Marco, we left the vaporetto and continued our exploration on foot.  We crossed over the pedestrian bridge and snapped a selfie with the Bridge of Sighs in the background.  The Bridge of Sighs connected the Doges Palace to the Prison.  Prisoners sentenced in the palace crossed to the prisons by way of the covered bridge.  They would look out of the small windows for their final view of Venice....and sigh.

and we sigh when we see our selfies

Bridge of Sighs

Then it was on to strolling around San Marco square, taking photos....

The Campanile (bell tower)

St. Mark's Basilica

The facade is a mix of East and West, with round, Roman-style arches over the doorways, golden Byzantine mosaics, a roof line ringed with pointed Gothic pinnacles, and Muslim-shaped onion domes.

We have a special tour of the Doge's Palace tomorrow.

Doge's Palace

Clock Tower

Gelato time

Next we set out to find the Rialto Bridge.  We easily followed the signs on the buildings pointing us in the right direction through the narrow, winding streets, crossing over small canals.

The Rialto Bridge is one of the world's most famous bridges.  There are stores on top of the bridge, but they are closed as the bridge is currently under renovation.

Rialto Bridge

Then it was just a 50 meter walk to the church where we would meet Alessandro Schezzini.  Alessandro is recommended by Rick Steves in his books and we had pre-booked a walking tour and also a pub crawl tour with him.

We really enjoyed both tours very much.  Rather than talk in great detail about the history of Venice and its buildings and canals, Alessandro focused more on the life of Venetians today and the many challenges they and their buildings face as the city is slowly sinking.  We walked the back streets that were empty, and Alessandro was funny, interesting, and charming.  Photos were difficult as by now it had become dark.

These platforms are stacked and ready to put down on the walkways when the area becomes flooded due to high tides.  We are fortunate there is no flooding during our visit.

The Lion of St. Mark, representing the apostle Mark, pictured in the form of a winged lion, is the symbol of the city of Venice.

After the walking tour, we stayed with Alessando to do the Classic Bar Tour, or bacari tour as he calls it.  We visited three different bars and Alessandro talked about the wines and how the Venetians socialize.  There was plenty of wine provided at each stop and cicchetto (nibbles or tapas).  We pretended to be locals and chatted like Venetians while enjoying the snacks.

All of the people on the tours were from our roll call from the ship. It was a fun time getting to know each other better, and we all felt a little bit tipsy by the time we needed to find the vaporetto and head back to the ship for the night.

Next.....we have all day to roam around Venice..

November 3 - Santorini, a Greek island

Santorini is not just a Greek island.....it is one of the Mediterranean's most beautiful islands.  Santorini was once a volatile volcano.  Around 1630 B.C., it exploded--one of the largest in human history.  Eventually the volcano collapsed and formed the flooded caldera that we see today.

Our cruise ship anchored in the caldera below the town of Fira.

We learned that there was a trail to hike along the top of the cliff from the town of Fira to the town of Oia, 5 miles away on the northern tip of the island.  Oia with its chalk-white houses and domes is the place one imagines when thinking "Santorini".  We team up with another couple and their daughter and off the ship we went.

We tendered into the dock and then made our way up the cliff to the town 500 feet above.  Our options were:  take the cable car, ride a donkey, or walk up 531 steps.

Since we had a somewhat strenuous hike ahead of us, we chose the cable car to save some energy as well as time.

The hike is estimated to take just under 3 hours.  It was a bit confusing to find the start of the trail in the town of Fira.  Our friends had the foresight to research the hiking trail and we had some direction. With a little help from the locals, we soon were hiking the cliff trail.

At first we were hiking on a sidewalk between the houses built on the cliff.  We could see our ship anchored far below.

We saw many beautiful homes and hotels alongside the cliff.  Once we left the town of Fira,
the sidewalk ended and we could see the trail and the cliff we would be hiking on all the way to the town of Oia.  The trail was up and down and on loose gravel and was tricky at times to keep one's footing.

We passed a couple of villages along the way...

A dog tagged along with us for awhile...

And at one point the trail led us down to the highway for about 200 meters....

We stopped for photos....

And to check our directions...

It was a beautiful hike and the weather was great.  And soon we saw the town of Oia coming into view.

Once we entered the town of Oia, we had some photo stops. 

We saw some friends from the ship and they told us of a bakery they walked by that smelled really good.  We soon came to it and were lured inside for a break and a treat.  We sat at a window overlooking the caldera below.  It was beautiful.

Now re-energized and ready to walk some more, we browsed along the many shops in the town.  It was the end of the season and some of the stores were ready to close.

We walked through the winding, narrow streets and found the windmill at the end of the trail.  

We made our way back into the main square to the bus stop.  We took the local bus back to Fira--it only cost us 1.8 euro per person.

After reaching Fira, we headed back to the cable car and decided to walk down the 531 steps to the tender dock below...

 with some stops to take in the beautiful view of the island and the caldera below.

We passed many donkeys on the stairs.

Soon we were back on the ship, and it was time for sailaway...

We enjoyed the view and some wine on our balcony.

Santorini was beautiful and our hike with our friends was a lot of fun.  A great day in Santorini.

Next we have a sea day and then we'll arrive in Venice, Italy, where we will spend 2 nights.