Venice. Italy

Today we did the included tour primarily so we could get a ferry into Venice as our ship is docked in Fusino. The city of Venice no longer allows cruise ships to dock along the city piers. They have had 2 incidents where ships have hit the pier. In addition, the city of Venice claims that the cruise ships are damaging the foundation of the city.
As a result, we had a lengthy boat ride into Venice. This made it tricky to get in and out of the city for those of us with independent tours.

Venice is a city built on 118 small islands connected by 438 bridges. There are no cars, bicycles or skateboards allowed in the city. The city is built on a foundation of closely spaced piles of alder tree trunks topped with limestone. The original inhabitants were fleeing barbarian invasions on the mainland. The “official” date of the founding of Venice is March 25, 421 when the first church was dedicated.

After our included walking tour, we wandered through the city getting our bearings and enjoying the sights.

We did some shopping and enjoyed pizza for lunch.

Our first day was an orientation with more  detailed exploring to come.

Patty/BrendaLæs mere