Into the Adriatic.

So, we lobbed into Venice about midday on Saturday, bone-weary from the flights.

We were picked up at Marco Polo airport by a somewhat exuberant Italian driver. He did not say much to Deb and I, but his conversations on the phone while driving without hands on the wheel were animated.

Getting into Venice was like catching up with an old friend. In this case, some things had changed, some had stayed the same, and much had been forgotten.

Saturday night brought some wandering before finding a restaurant on the tourist path. The food seemed did not seem as good as last time around. We were in bed early, still wonky from the flights.

Sunday (15th) has us doing some souvenir shopping before checking out and heading for the dock to join the cruise.  We were lucky to find that porters exist in the 21st century, and reached the cruise check-in about midday. By 3.00pm we were on board – the similarities between the Fantasia and the Pride of America (on which Deb and I travelled around Hawaii in 2008) were amazing. Fantasia seems the same, but bigger.

The cruise out of Venice was wonderful - we could see the city from a different perspective altogether. Fantasia is - to use the best alcohol-fuelled adjective that comes to mind - opulent. The stairs in the below picture could have been designed by Liberace himself.

We’ve just returned from dinner (with two other Australian couples), and are getting ready for bed. Tomorrow will bring us to Bari, a town on the east coast of Italy.