Exploring Venice...

I was very pleased with the hotel I’d chosen as it was nicely decorated and conveniently located. Here’s the view from our room looking out to the right...

...and looking out straight ahead. We dropped off our stuff and hit the streets...

...or rather the main canal. No, we didn’t fork out the big bucks for a gondola ride; instead we paid just € 2 each for a gondola ride to cross the canal.

We shared our journey, and the next few hours of exploring, with an ex-Marine who was on vacation from his job in Iraq as a security contractor--he sure had some interesting stories to tell!