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We walked down the gangplank of the Pacific Princess for the last time, feeling sad that our wonderful 12-day Mediterranean cruise had finally come to an end. But as we left the pier and saw our water taxi waiting near the western end of the Grand Canal, our disappointment instantly turned to delight.

In front of us stood the glorious City of Venice – the centuries-old masterpiece of art, architecture, canals and bridges that rest on an archipelago of low-lying islands in a lagoon on Italy’s Adriatic coast.

The “Serene Republic of Venice” was established in the 8th century, some 300 years after the first Venetians crossed the 4 km stretch of water from the mainland to escape the barbarian invasions. The lagoon proved to be a good defense, and the Venetians prospered, becoming one of the most influential and wealthy societies in the world, and the longest running republic until its breakup in 1797.

As we motored along the Giudecca Canal in our water taxi towards Piazza San Marco, we could see where the Venetians had spent those riches. Peaking up through the red-tiled rooftops of centuries-old houses, there were beautiful churches, clock towers, mansions and palaces almost everywhere we looked.

“What’s the name of that one,” Sam asked me as we glided by a particularly impressive looking church that was undergoing some renovations.

“The Sacred Church of Scaffolding,” I responded with a smile. “It’s an architectural technique you’ll find all over Europe, especially when you’ve traveled half way around the world just to see that very landmark!” I wasn’t kidding. Gail and I have seen just about every great church in the world in scaffolding, including Notre Dame Cathedral and Westminster Abbey.

Venice is made up of six quarters (San Marco, Santa Croce, San Polo, Castello, Cannaregio and Dorsoduro), and it has a number of nearby islands including Murano, where the famous hand-blown Venetian glass is made. Since we only had 2 ½ days in Venice, we decided to focus our touring on San Marco, San Polo and Murano.

After checking into the Hotel Colombina on a narrow canal near the Bridge of Sighs, we walked along a series of narrow, winding alleys to the stunning Piazza San Marco. Standing in the middle of the Piazza, we looked in amazement at the awesome landmarks that surrounded us – the 11th century Byzantine Basilica di San Marco, the 14th century Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace), the Renaissance Torre dell’Orologio (Clock Tower), and the 16th century Campanile di San Marco (bell tower), which was rebuilt in 1912 after collapsing in 1902. There was quite a crowd waiting to get into the Basilica, but we discovered it thins out in the afternoon when the tour groups leave.

The next day we took the vaporetto water bus over to the island of Murano where we saw a glass-blowing demonstration and walked through the Murano glass factory. Unless you just won the lottery, you’ll likely find the prices at the factory far too expensive. This is where they keep the most elaborate pieces made by their master glass blowers, and there isn’t much here under 1,500 Euros. In contrast, the glass shops back in Venice carry less opulent, but more reasonably priced glassware.

After returning to San Marco, we browsed through the market at the Ponte Rialto where Sam made me buy a silly captain’s hat with “Venizia” stenciled on it. “It’s your Commodore Dave hat,” she giggled. We strolled across the bridge to San Polo and had lunch in a waterfront café overlooking the Grand Canal. As usual, we all ate pasta – Lindsay had the spaghetti pomodoro, Gail the fettucine with porcini mushrooms and shaved truffles, Sam the spaghetti with pesto sauce, and I had the linguini with lobster sauce – all washed down with great Italian wine and beer. A superb lunch!

On our final morning in Venice, we boarded a gondola for a lazy ride through the canals of San Marco. While gondola rides are not cheap (you have to barter for the duration and price, but it’s about $35 per person for a 40-minute trip), it should be on everyone’s “must do” list. There really is no better way to see and appreciate the glorious buildings, bridges and canals of Venice than on a gondola.

Later that day, we left the hotel for Marco Polo Airport by water taxi, which came right up to our hotel’s waterside door to pick us up. The girls thought this was really neat, and sat outside in the back of the boat taking photos of each other all the way to the airport dock.

Our vacation was over and we were on our way home, but not before we enjoyed a few final moments at sea with the glorious city of Venice in our wake.

(Next, I’ll be reviewing the Pacific Princess, the cruise ship we sailed on during our 12-day Mediterranean cruise from Rome to Venice.)

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