Venice

My mum told me that you will never believe that Venice is exactly what it looks
like - and reluctantly, I have to say that once again she was right. Gondola's
and bridges over little water ways gave the cliche romantic feel. We came in on
a relatively choppy day but that didn't detract from the experience. First up on
the list of attractions was Saint Marco's Basilica which had an amazing 4000
meters squared of pure gold mosaic depicting religious scenes. Everyone in the
group was awe-struck and despite the obvious warnings, many sneaky pictures were
snapped. I learned quickly that porcelain masks and capes, Phantom of the Opera
type stuff, was what Venice was famous for after not being able to walk down the
narrow streets and bridges without seeing thousands of the things. Personally
the highlight was just seeing how the people live. People tying up their boats
to their front doorstep and stepping into their house or motel about a foot
above sea level, and an old man in a vintage sports boat out to do the daily
runs. An amazing experience and I'm sure everyone was disappointed not to spend
a little longer there.

Ben Gregson