29th June

Venice Light Cloud temp 24c.

Overnight we sailed north West across the Adriatic Sea toward Venice and about 11am we neared Venice. Sailing quite slow we passed close to the shore line and eventually docking about 1pm. In the past while sailing in there has been a commentary and often Italian music but the Port Authorities have clamped down and ships must just sail in silently. I am not sure if they have thought what might happen to their economy if cruise ships stopped coming here. Today Betty is feeling a little off colour so she decided to take it easy and mainly stay in our cabin. We did go to the service at 9am and Betty did have some lunch with me. Not long after we docked I decided to go ashore to see what was in the terminal. There turned out to be nothing just an empty shell so I ventured further and caught the shuttle bus which takes you to a boat which takes you to a landing near St Mark’s Square. The journey took quite a while. I then had another decision to make should I stay a while or should I catch the boat back because tonight I was booked on a tour which left at 6.15pm and I needed to have something to eat before then as it was 9.30pm before we returned. I caught the boat back as I did not know how long it would be before the next one came along.

As some of you will know we have been to Venice 3 times before and I have never seen inside the famous St Mark’s Basilica, one time my shorts were too short and other times the queues have been too long. This time I was booked on a ships tour which went into the church after it was closed to the public at night. In 828 the Venetians stole the remains of the Apostle Mark from Egypt and hid them in the city. The ownership of these relics brought both religious status and power to the city and St Mark was quickly proclaimed the city’s patron saint. By 1094 , a church was built to hold the remains and the Basilica of San Marco became the most important of Venice’s many churches.The church is a combination of Byzantine, Roman and Venetian craftsmanship. The inside dazzles you with colourful mosaics and five domes.  Four bronze horses greet you at the entrance; they are replicas of those stolen from Constantinople. The originals are kept inside. Other parts of the church like marble pillars were also stolen from Constantinople. When we arrived at the church mass was still in progress and the usher at the door did not even want to let us stand in the porch to shelter from a thunder storm which had just started. However as there was about 40 of us he would have had a lot of trouble moving us into the rain which by now was bucketing down. After our tour we were guided back to the shuttle boat through some back streets past some lovely shops. If I can remember where they where I will take Betty and show her them tomorrow. We are overnighting in Venice.

 Kotor from the mountain road That is the Dawn Princess.

 Our snack stop.

 The Old Walled Town Kotor Montenegro

 Te Town Gate