Chris&#39; Blog of Venice, Italy

Hey guys,

Today was our last day in Italy and our last stop was Venice, Italy. It was kind of funny to sail into port because there were a lot of little boats and ships moving past us. Most of the people on our ship were out on their balconies waiving to the people on the other boats. No one in Venice port had seen a ship that was as big as the Royal Princess.

Next to our ship, the Royal Princess

It was funny to see all their faces when they were looking at the ship. :) Here are some pics that we took from our balcony...

Entering The Grand Canal in Venice

Chris gazes out at the parade of small boats that followed us

Water taxis were everywhere!

When we actually went into Venice, it was very pretty to see all the boats on the water in the canal. They call it the "the sinking city" and it is rightfully named.

And now for a little history lesson about that... Venice was built in the 13-14th century and they built it on a marsh (basically), so the people had to build around the water. Over the years the water has risen a lot. That then creates a soft foundation for the buildings. The weight of the city then pushes the ground down. The water used to be 3 1/2-4 ft lower than it is today. This means more flooding, which used to happen a couple times a year... now it happens every other day. When it does, there is siren that goes off around the city which means they have to put on water boots. Luckily, this did not happen when we were there. :) Here are pictures of the water height and some of the canals we saw.

Venice and rising water levels

Steps to get into small boats

We saw canal after canal..

...just like these.

Here is a picture of one of many dry (luckily) places we walked through. Venice was a very nice place to walk through.

These streets are only for pedestrians

Enjoying some in the sun in a plaza

On one of the many canal bridges in Venice

Later, we went to formal night and ate dinner. The food was AMAZING (as always) and Ruslan had an interesting experience. He tried snails for the first time, but I said heck no to trying them. Now, I know I sound like a wuss, but they really did not look appetizing. Here is a pic of Ruslan trying them and us at formal night. He said they tasted great!