What - 2 posts in one day after nothing for 2 weeks? Well they go together. :) Warning - lots of pictures.
We booked a ship's tour as we wanted to make sure we weren't late being back on board as we were setting sail at 2 PM - Humph! More about that later. What a tour! Put it this way - we were glad we somehow survived ti. It started with catching a boat (long motor boat) that was tied up to the tendering platform of the ship instead of having to go catch it on the dock. No problem - that came later when it came time to get off at the first stop of the tour.
We had decided on a tour of Murano (supposedly home to some of the finest glass art in the world) & Burano (noted for lace making) but couldn't make that one and instead got one of Murano, San Georgio Maggiore followed by a gondola ride on the Grand Canal. We weren't sure about that part but were assured with it being last that we could depart the tour then. Ok.
We arrived at Murano for our tour of a glassworks there when they pull out this teeny little plank about 12 inches (if that) wide with a loose rope strung along one side of it and nothing on the other side and that's what we had to use to get off the boat. Plus they had a moveable step at the end of it that kept moving. Great! To say the least I was not amused. Oh yeah and it was high tide so there was quite the angle. Everyone however managed to get off it safely after a few starts & stops as they would realign the step at the bottom. Time now for the tour of the glass factory and showroom.
If you're wondering where the pictures are from the showroom - there was no picture taking allowed there. None of it really grabbed our attention plus there would be the problem of getting it home or onto that stupid boat so we went for a short walk along the street the showroom is on before heading back down to the "dock" to attempt getting back on that boat again.
Getting back on the boat was even worse than getting off as by now the winds had picked up and there was quite the chop on the open water.
Next up was supposed to be San Georgio but they changed it to the gondola ride. Turns out even if it had been last we could not have got back from there on our own as it was a very, very long walk and through tons of alleyways to get to where the shuttle boats were leaving from.
We didn't tie up to the "dock" but instead they through the rope over a pole and people slowly got off. We got off ok although it was quite frightening but soon after we got off there was almost a disaster. With the rocking & rolling of the water because of the weather and the passing boats creating even more chop while at high tide the rope slipped off of the pole. The first we knew of it was when we heard an awful scream - someone was on that little plank when it happened and almost got thrown into the water. They had to grab her fast and quickly fix the rope situation. Great - something to look forward to - we had to get back on it after the gondola ride.
As they divided us up into 6's we were lucky and were at the head of one bunch meaning we'd get the best seats on the gondola - right in front of the gondolier.
While we were on our gondola ride one of the members of our tour in a gondola beside us decided it was the perfect place to pop the question. Now talk about excitement. The poor gondolier was frantically trying to get them to stay put in their seats so they wouldn't upset the boat.
Just after the proposal.
After a brief ride on the Grand Canal they took us down some "backalley" canals that were extremely narrow. It was interesting seeing how high the water was on the doors seeing as it was still high tide.
Venice Opera House
Ponte Maria Callas by the Opera House
We were soon back out on the Grand Canal and heading back to where we got on the gondolas for our walk back to the motor boat. Ugh!
Last stop of the day was San Georgio Maggiore - across from St. Mark's Square. After what happened at the last stop getting off the ship I decided I'd just stay on as we were running behind and were advised that we did not have time to go into the church and it in essence became a photo stop.
The Bridge of Sighs
St. Mark's Square at High Tide with the special platforms out that we thought were tables for people to walk on.
We were really running late and needed to be back on the ship by 1 in time for our 2 pm leaving the port (it was already 12:56 so there was no way we could get there in 4 minutes). Thankfully it was a ship's tour so even if we got back after 2 they'd have to wait for us. It seemed to take forever for that boat to get back to the pier where it dropped us off at one of the docks and we all had to hotfoot over to the ship and clear immigration and security before getting on the ship.
We had been invited to the helipad yet again - this time for sailing out of Venice but we decided it would be too much of a rush what with having to get something to eat so instead decided to go up to the hamburger station on the deck above the pool and watch us sailing out from there and get a bit of a different view from when we sailed into the lagoon.
The area where we had the little episode of the motorboat's rope coming off the pole.
St. Mark's Square - you can still some of the "tables" out there for people to walk on during high tide.
Looking back at the entrance to the Grand Canal
What was on the other side of the ship
A last look at Venice.
We finished up our day with a lovely dinner in one of the specialty restaurants - the Tuscan Grille.
What did we have ahead - Dubrovnik, Croatia.
