In the evening of Day Four and on Day Five, we explored the intriguing city of Venice. The first thing our tour director, Elisabetta, told us to do in Venice was to "get lost". She said that is the best way to see this remarkable city. You never truly get lost, because you can always following the signs to the major landmarks (Piazza San Marco and the Rialto Bridge), or you can just hop on a waterbus, which will take you anywhere you want to go.

Venice is dazzling, fairytale-like labyrinth of canals, alleys, picturesque houses and impressive squares and buildings. However, it is known to be romantic, which I do not agree. It is very intriguing, but is also dirty, run down, and rather smelly in the summer heat. I was surprised at how dirty and mossy it really was. But that only added to the charm of the city.

Venice consists of hundreds of small and large islands. Central Venice alone has 118 islands. As you cross over one of the 177 canals on one of the 400 bridges around Venice, you are actually crossing onto another island. Other islands close to Venice include Burano, known for lace making, and Murano, know for its glass.

Venice was formed when thousands of refugees fled the mainland during the brutal invasion of Attila the Hun and headed into the Lagoon. These very resourceful people imported billions of trees from neighboring forests and inserted the trunks into the mud and clay. They built a stable floor with stone and marble. Houses had to be built on piles and had to be small and close to one another in order to use the ground as effectively as possible. The tree trunk foundation has since fossilized, as there was no oxygen in the mud to cause the wood to decay.

People have said that Venice will become the next Atlantis, sinking into the water during the next century. That is not true. The city was created about 500 AD and has only sunk 22 centimeters since it was built.

Venice was finished being built in the 16th Century and has not been added to since. Of course, there have been yearly restorations of buildings damaged by the harsh climate, but what you see now is what the people saw centuries ago.

Some very famous people made their name in Venice, among those people are Marco Polo and Giacomo Casanova.

Venice has two Leaning Towers in the city. Venetians are very prideful people, and it is very much a badge of honor to say they have more of something than others. They like the fact that they have two Leaning Towers and Pisa only has one.

There are several lighthouses in Italy. We saw this one on our way to the island of Burano.

Chiesa della Salute is a beautiful church that sits on the Grande Canal across from Piazza San Marco.

On our last night in Venice, we were able to have our first meal as not part of a tour group. We walked around the city for a while and found a lovely restaurant, the Ristorante Gazebo con Giardio. We ordered a la carte and ate outside as the city passed us by. It was a very Venetian experience.