Our Journey
Venice On to Venice, a 45 minute ride from Lido de Jesolo to the ports where the ferries will take you to Venice. It was an overcast, cloudy day, but not too cold. The ferry ride was about 20 minutes. We landed and met our guide who gave us an overview of the history of Venice. Our first stop was Doges Palace, and St. Marks. At Doges Palace and inside St. Marks, no pictures are allowed inside. This is quite unfortunate, Doges Palace has amazing paintings and gold leaf ceilings. St. Marks was very dark inside and you had to keep quiet. A quick walk through wasnt nearly enough, but it had to do. Basically that was it in regards to the guided tour. We stopped off for lunch and then my husband and I split from group and wandered the tiny streets of Venice, until our group would meet again for gondola rides. Many quaint shops are in Venice. Venice is known for Venetian glass and lace. You might be inclined to shop at St. Mark's Square, but there are many little shops if you look for them outside the main square. The Campenille(Bell Tower) in St. Marks gives a fabulous view of the city. However, we opted not to climb. We did venture to the Rialto Bridge which crosses the Grand Canal, the main thorough fare of Venice. We met back at a gondola station and groups of six boarded this boats. We went down tiny canals and ultimately ended up at the Grand Canal. Because we went in March, we did not experience the extensive odors coming from the canals. The ride can last up to 30 minutes. I believe you can pay extra if you want a musician on your boat. Also, beware of peddlers in St. Marks square, you have to be really mean and say No, not interested. 
Pisa From Venice, we were on our way to Pisa for a quick side trip. We actually made our first stop at our hotel in a town called Montecatini, which was midway between Florence and Pisa. At Pisa, we saw the amazing Leaning Tower which they just re-opened to tourists in Dec. 2001. However, you need to buy your tickets in advance to climb it. our tour consisted of the Cathedral and the Bapistry. Climb the second level of the bapistry and you have a great view of both the cathedral and the tower right behind it.  There are 2 museums plus the cemetary, which my husband and I toured separately. Overall, this was a good half day trip. Again there are peddlers coming up to you. Plus if your with a tour group the coach bus drops you off at a parking lot where you will take a tram to the Pisa monuments.
Florence Our drive into Florence, started on a hill overlooking the whole city. It was a beautiful view and start of our day in Florence. We met our tour guide at Santa Croce, the cathredral that houses the tombs of Micheangelo,and Galileo. In Santa Croce and most churches in Florence you are able to take pictures inside. Our tour consisted of Santa Croce and the Duomo. After the tour, we ventured to the Academia to see the impressive statue of David. Reservations are recommended, however we waited the half hour in the non-reservation line to see the many works of Michelangelo. Inside this teaching art musuem you cannot take pictures. However, we did sneak some spectacular photos of this statue.  We also went to the Uffizi Museum, again you can reserve tickets as this musuem only allows 600 people in the museum at all times. We again waited in a non-reserve line for 30 minutes, then you are put into another waiting area for another 30 minutes. So expect to wait for atleast an hour. At this museum, you also could not take pictures. You saw original works of art by Boticello, Giotto and Michelangelo. The musuem is two buildings and takes about 2 hours to go through. Florence is filled with leather and gold shops (two of the cities specialities). I was in search of a leather jacket as well as some 18K souvenirs. Though, the leather is cheaper than in the states it was still a little pricey for my taste, so I settled on a leather purse. There were many jewelry shops to shop from or goto the Ponte Vechhio bridge which has goldsmiths selling there wears. Overall, I enjoyed Florence's musuems, churches and the whole atmosphere of this city. I would recommend staying here about 2-3 days to see everything.
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