As we had been told, Venice was very expensive!! But it was really great too. I had been there nearly 40 years ago, ( for a day, by plane from Munich!) and it now looks a lot older. We were told that property prices have driven Venetians back to the mainland, and various ex-pats only care about the inside of their houses, so outsides decay (and, of course, sink into the mud!)

Day one, off the boat, we took ferry across the bay to city and walked for hours . Just taking in the atmosphere, looking at shops, food outlets ( hundreds) as well as canals, bridges and the exterior of churches. Wonderful day.

Day two, went to Galleria Academia, (free entry as it was a public holiday) which saturated us with ecclesiastical masterpieces. Then a round trip on the Grand Canal by Vaporetto, then to Murano, where they make the Murano glass. More restful then Venice proper and gorgeous in the warm sun. Museum and glass works all closed for holiday but showrooms of beautiful glass, once you get way from the cheap tourist rubbish. Boat back, more Grand Canal palaces, hundreds of photos.

Day three, the rain defeated us, and the queues! Because it was a holiday and poured rain, everyone wanted to be inside. We tried Peggy Guggenheim, queue too long, then looked at Santa Maria Salute Church, built when The Virgin Mary saved Venice from the plague, and then went to St. Mark's Piazza . Queued to get into the Doge Palace, then the loo, and to drop off back packs, all before we saw any of it. By the time we got out, still a queue for St.Mark's in the rain, so walked around the Square, spied out Cafe Quadri and Cafe Florian, both with small orchestras under cover, playing valiantly in the rain, then boat Vaporetto across the Grand Canal again. Guggenheim queue still too long, and in the rain, so next time..........

Our campsite overlooking the water had the added "entertainment" of constantly passing ships of various sizes, some HUGE, including seeing the sister ship to the ANEK ferry we had arrived on, arrive of the final day just off shore from our camp. In Venice itself, spied the seventh largest private yacht in the world, Carinthia VII, and saw the liner New Amsterdam sail out, like a floating apartment block, huge!

We watched the movie "Troy" at Troy, now watching "The Tourist" and have to follow up with "Indian Jones and the Last Crusade", "Moonraker" and "Italian Job 2".

Overall, Venice was fantastic, a great feel for an aged city that we feel may eventually price itself out of the tourist circuit but probably won't.