Merchants of Venice

After having a great night in Venice, we did not know how things could get any better. Then we toured the St Marks basilica. It was amazing!! There were painting of Christ's life on the walls and Ceilings. There were Statues of 14 men and Christ on a cross in the middle. There were mosaic's on the floors and walls. Needless to say, it was a breathtaking experience. Unfortunately there were no camera's allowed in so I was not able to photograph any of this.

Because it is a church, there were guards at the entrance of the church strictly enforcing the dress code. If you had shorts or bare shoulders, you were either have to find some way to cover your shoulders or not go in at all. These guards were tougher than any church dance chaperones that I ever had.

After St Mark's, we went to the Market in Venice where vendors had setup their shops and were selling the basic tourist stuff: plates, teeshirts and other authentic Venice artifacts that were made in China.

We also took a water bus around all of Venice, and got to see all the island.

In the afternoon, we left for Rome, and when our plane landed, there was clapping again. I think I will start doing that whenever I fly now.

When we were taking the bus into Rome, we saw an Ikea and both commented that this ancient city reminded us more of Phoenix than it did of the most ancient city in the world. When we got to our hotel, it was of the modern style as well.