Our stop in Venice was so amazing. Just going through the pictures for this I was having a hard time weeding out what to post. I decided to break it up.

Our day started with an incredible sail-in just before dawn. The ship we were on, Vision of the Seas, is a smaller, older ship so it can navigate through the canals into Venice, rather than having to approach through the lagoon. This made for a spectacular site. We also had the same benefit when we sailed out just after noon the next day. We had an overnight in Venice which meant no worries about having to get back to the ship at a certain time.

We had booked an early tour of St. Mark’s Basilica that met in St. Mark’s Square. We took a water taxi from the cruise pier to St. Mark’s Square. It was fairly empty that hour of the morning, which was nice. I didn’t appreciate until later in the day how nice it was to walk around here with no people.

We had time in the Square to really appreciate the architecture and detail before everyone met for the tour.

It dominates the Square and is stunning. There was a lot of construction going on while we were there in an effort to save it from the rising water.

We weren’t allowed to take photos inside. Somehow, in the translation, we thought that meant we could take it in the Narthex but not inside the Basilica itself. We were promptly scolded. Like everywhere else, the artwork and detail is amazing.

At the end of the tour, we were allowed out on the balcony that overlooked St. Mark’s Square. We could take pictures there. The crowds were starting to grow by then. In the large photo on the bottom, the last set of tables on the right have yellow tablecloths. That was where we would later get the best gelato I had this entire trip.