Venice, Italy

Our plane touched down in Marco Polo airport in the early morning of August 19th, on a beautiful, cloudless day in the Mediterranean. We were lucky to get an aerial view of Venice as the plane descended, which looked like a tight cluster of islands floating serenely in the middle of the sea. A few hours later, we boarded Princess Cruises' Grand Princess cruise ship, one of the largest cruise ships in the world at the time it was built and still a veritable city of over 2,500 people. We had actually cruised onboard the Grand Princess once before and were already familiar with its variety of entertainment and dining options (as with most cruise ships, it served unlimited quantities of food 24 hours a day), so after a quick walk around the ship we boarded a water taxi for Venice proper.

Piazza San Marco

We visited the usual tourist highlights, starting with the Piazza di San Marco. St. Mark's square is precariously balanced between positives like charming cafes and interesting architecture, including the long colonnade surrounding three sides of the squre, and negatives like the swarms of tourists and even larger swarms of pigeons. But it was still a pleasant place for an afternoon stroll. We also visited the famous Rialto bridge over the Grand Canal - like the Piazza di San Marco, it's an iconic piece of Venice with good views of the Grand Canal, a lot of shops - if you can stand the swarms of tourists (at least in the high summer travel season). As with many cities, some of our most fun times were wandering the side streets, enjoying gelato breaks, and just watching the crowds of locals and tourists go by.

The Grand Canal

Compared to other cities we would visit on this cruise, Venice was certainly a logistical challenge, given its narrow, winding streets full of people, but its charm was undeniable, with grand architecture from its history as a powerful city-state, classic Mediterranean colors, and abundant shops and cafes. The cruise ship even played Bocelli's "Con te Partiro" as we sailed away - a little bit much, but it did add to the charm of Venice!

Venice Architecture