Dang, Thump, where you gonna go, now???....

[Big Muddy]

First, ya'll get cancelled for Istanbul....then, the hammer falls on Turkey....now, this morning, Italy has a 6.2 mag. earthquake....maybe "somebody" is trying to tell ya to stay home??? ;)

[Thumper]

Naaaa, the quake was in central Italy. They felt it as far as Rome, but I doubt they even knew it happened in Venice where we'll be spending about 4 days. Besides, Lynn was born and raised in Los Angeles and I lived there close to 15 years ... we're veterans! ;)

[DeputyDog]

Have you ever been to Venice before?

[Thumper]

No sir. I flew over the Mediterranean in the military, but all I remember is brown rocks and sand. 'Course that was almost 45 years ago! My sister and BIL as well as our best friends here in town (had dinner with them Sunday) have been and all have given us a bazillion suggestions on what to do and see. Do you have additional pointers? This "tourist" thing just isn't me, but due to health restrictions, the "adventure tourism" that I like is a thing of the past I'm afraid. I leave the shore excursion planning to Lynn and pass all suggestions on to her. We're open for suggestions.

[BarryBobPosthole]

We're gonna need a bigger gondola!

BKB

7613

[Thumper]

Bite me! I will say, that's about how I feel whenever we finish a cruise. Man-o-man, eating is my favorite part of the cruise. But then again, that's how ALL of our trips are!

[DeputyDog]

Kind of hard not to do the touristy things in Venice. Are you staying on the island or on the mainland? We stayed on the mainland and saved a bunch there and just took the bus to the island when we went.

Hit the backstreets for the restaurants. The ones along the grand canal and around San Marco are good but very high priced even for Venice.

You have to do a gondola ride just because it's Venice. There is the Peggy Guggenheim museum if you're into the art but you can see a lot of artwork by "the masters" for free just by going into the churches.

You can take the water bus for free and cruise the grand canal and get on and off at any stop if you see something you want a closer look at. This will also get you a look at the majority of the main touristy things as you cruise by them. They are neat to see but they are crowded and everything is more expensive near them.

Is your cruise sailing out of Venice? If so, you can get some great photos of the Piazza San Marco as you sail out and many other great views of the city.

A couple things struck me on our Med cruise. When we we sailing between Greece and Croatia and Turkey, it was kind of neat to realize that I was sailing on the same sea that the Greek "heroes" and the Trojans and the ancient Romans sailed on. The other thing was the color of the water. I don't think I'd ever seen that shade of blue before. I'd done Caribbean cruises but the water was nowhere near that color of blue. The pictures I took did not do it justice.

[Thumper]

Yes sir, sailing out of Venice (12 day cruise) and returning to Venice. Plus we'll be staying for 3-4 days (total). We arrive in Venice the day before the cruise and Lynn has a hotel lined up for that night (not sure where), then when we return from the cruise (early am), we have a day to visit, will stay on the cruise ship that night, disembark the following morning, then stay in Venice at an apartment Lynn arranged (again, not sure where), then we fly out the next afternoon.

[Chicken Dinner]

One thing you'll find is that this is a great time for an American to travel to Europe. The EURO and the USD are almost 1:1 and your month really goes far.

[Trav]

If Venice finally goes under we'll know Thumper fell out of his gondola.

[Thumper]

Can there be a canal tsunami? ;)