A more relaxing start to the morning as the bus into Venice did not leave until 9am so Tonya made scrambled eggs on toast for the kids. 

The bus only takes 10 minutes and then we headed through the streets to St.Mark’s Square. Its a crazy layout and takes a good 20 minutes to walk across but what a sight when you walk into the square. 

I had booked a secret itineraries tour of the Doge’s Palace which takes you via a guide through the old rooms of the palace before joining the main rooms. 

The tour was great and then we spent an hour looking through the other palace rooms. Can’t have too many council chambers debating and voting on justice it seems

Then it was a mad dash across for Hannah’s roadtrip surprise of mask making. A 15 minute introduction from the tutor on the history of masks and then we spent over 2 hours making 2 masks each

We headed home afterwards and the kids spent a couple of hours in the pool before pasta for dinner.

We noticed that gondola rides cost 80€ during the day and 100€ after 7pm. No chance my Scottish heritage for tightness would even let me think about that for a moment. Much cooler looking are the private water taxis or even the police boat. It was hot, there are loads of crowds as the day goes on and the street layout is baffling but the whole place has such a wonderful charm and so much history flowing through it. Planning to spend tomorrow morning in Venice again before going to Verona for the evening.

Simon