Venice is truly like no other place in the world. Another of Italy's UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Venice is the capital of the Veneto region and is situated across 117 small islands separated by canals. Bridges link the pedestrian-only streets and vaporetti boats (water buses), gondolas, barges, and water taxis ply the canals bringing residents, tourists, and supplies to the city. Just as other cities have their police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks, Venice has its police boats, ambulance boats, and fire boats.

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We arrived in the afternoon on a very hot and crowded vaporetto. Our little hotel was near St. Mark's Square, down several twists and turns through the narrow cobblestone streets. After another of our excellent group dinners at a nearby restaurant, we capped off the evening with a gondola ride into the Grand Canal.

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We met our local guide, Elisabetta, the next morning for a very entertaining and informative stroll through the city. We visited Franco, a local craftsman who still carves wood forcola in the traditional method. Forcola are the oarlocks used on gondolas. Each one is customized for the gondolier according to his height and rowing needs. Creating one of these can take months. We ended our walking tour inside St. Marks Basilica. We were able to go out onto a balcony overlooking St. Marks Square and to the left toward where many of the vaporetti boats dock on the Grand Canal. Another highlight of the day was taking a pub tour with Alessandro through the back streets and alleys of Venice where the real Venetians live. The bacari, as the pubs are known, are classic old bars serving wine and traditional cicchetti  appetizers. Alessandro is a real character, and worth the extra cost of the tour just to hang out with him for a while. Check the Rick Steves' Italy book for more information on Alessandro's tours, as this is a separate and independent outing and not part of the official tour.