So, as I mentioned in my Croatia posting, there was a harbour in Porec that did day trips to Venice.  Too good an opportunity to miss!  8am found our little family unit aboard a large high speed boat called the Princess of Dubrovnik.  2 hours later and we reached the Venetian lagoon.  It then took approximately an hour to cruise through the lagoon before we docked, went through passport control and organised ourselves into groups with guides too take us to St Mark’s square. 

Unfortunately, our guide must have been ex-SAS as we were route marched at top speed through the narrow, cramped and crowded streets, all of which was a little uncomfortable in the 30+ degree heat - I don’t want to know what the humidity levels were!  However, we eventually reached the square.  What a place.  It was full of people, pigeons, music and was just awe inspiring.  Here we met with Edna Everidge’s Italian cousin, who was a vision in red and spoke good English as she walked us around the square giving us the full tour before taking us to a glass factory.  After this we were left to our own devices for a few hours as we wondered the streets and visited the Rialto bridge market.  What an amazing place.  We have got to go back for a long weekend and do more exploration.  Its great just wandering up and down all of the little streets as you don’t really get lost, and there are so many interesting little shops and drinking holes.  There is also a Ferrari merchandising outlet with a replica F1 car in the window.  Plenty of ways to spend your Euros with a cash machine on every corner to help you on your way - as my darling hubby discovered.

When we got tired of our wonderings, we tootled back to the square to  await the organised trip on the water taxis along the Grand Canal back to our ship.  If you enjoy people watching, then the steps in St Mark’s square are the place for you.  We were fortunate enough to see a wedding whilst we waited.  After this we caught our water taxi for a  cruise down the Grand Canal before going home.  This was fantastic as there are so many beautiful buildings along the canal.  It also looked a lot safer than taking a gondola!  We were dropped off right next to our ride home - which my sore feet were very grateful for - and just under 3 hours later we were back in Porec.  We were sunburnt, tired and  footsore, but if you gave us the chance we would all do it again.  A truly amazing place to visit if you should ever get the chance - just take your sun cream and sharpen your elbows!