7:00 bags and breakfast then off to Verona.
A pleasant drive down the motorway we passed through the Dolomite mountains and gorgeous Italian country side. We saw many fortresses along the river which were built to protect the river from invaders, often there was a fortress on both sides of the river.

We arrived in Verona just before lunch . Bern gave us a quick history and orientation, took us to Juliet’s balcony and then we are on our own for an hour and a half. So here I am sitting in the Verona market square having just ordered “Spaghetti ragu a pomadora”. Spag and tomato sauce :). I don’t even pretend to speak Italian but with food I can generally work out what some of the food is 🙂  And of course I know “vino rossi” is red wine. Too many meals at decent decent restaurants where the menu is on Italian 🙂 Today, instead of vino rossi, I am having an aperitif called Aperol Spritz as Bern suggested it …. Yummmm I am a convert, slightly bitter, citrusy and served over ice.

Soon we were back on the coach and onto Venice.

oh my gosh!!! Now I totally get why everybody RAVES about Venice…. What a fabulously amazing place. We arrived at the port and got water taxis up the grand canal to near St Mark’s square. An orientation then a gondola cruise around dome of the back canals, 45 mins of free time to explore them back to the coach and a short 30 min drive to our hotel for a fabulous meal of lasagne, salad and cake dessert . Tomorrow we have a lagoon cruise, a visit to Murano Glass and then 3 hours free time to go crazy. 🙂