All the Venetian Glass You Could Ever Ask For

The Ruby Princess sailed into Venice on a gorgeous afternoon. The sail into Venice has to be the scenic highlight of the cruise as you pass by some of the city's most treasured highlights, including St. Mark's Square. My mom and I did not miss a single moment of our arrival snapping pictures by the minute. Once the ship docked in the not so scenic part of town, we took a water shuttle to St. Mark's Square. We had a few hours to kill before our reservation to enter the church, so we walked around Venice. Our first time there, my parents and I were enchanted by  this Italian icon. But being there a second time doesn't bring back the magic. My grandma complained that the streets look dirty, which they do to an extent because it's basically ally ways and narrow pedestrian streets. Even though they didn't enjoy the scene, I still am absolutely crazy about Venice. I had two shopping goals in this city: a Venetian mask and glass ring. I found my mask in a small souvenir store. This mask isn't full of color, its white with gorgeous white feathers. It's the most dramatic mask I own, and I own two more apart from this one. 

 

St. Mark's is one of the most interesting churches. Not necessarily my favorite, but you really get a sense of what Venice is built on. The floor of St. Mark's is uneven because the foundation is  over marsh instead of dirt. But when you look up, the entire church is filled with symbolic mosaics. Absolutely gorgeous mosaics that go into the most minute detail. With just one glance, you can't even tell they are mosaics. And St. Mark's tells its story through the museum, which is located at the entrance/exit of the church. The museum displays artifacts that are original to the church, including the original famous horses. Replicas now stand where they once sat, but the real ones can only be seen in the museum. 

After uncovering the history of St. Mark's, my grandma was tired and wanted to go back to the ship. Meanwhile, my mom and I explored Venice a little more, searching for more fun gifts to bring back home. We didn't last too much longer because we were both equally tired. But we didn't mind because we still had one more day in the city.

 

Our ship was docked over night and our next day was time to depart the cruise ship for good. The final departure is always a sad one because all you can think of is how you're going to miss the food, the service, and the facilities of the ship, but in all honesty, I was ready to go home and see Jonathan. Instead of walking around Venice again, we had the idea of going to Morono, another island of Venice where glass is made. We took a tour of a factory and saw the private gallery. The private gallery was absolutely amazing, but wayyy over priced. After that factory, we walked into several other stores until it was finally time to begin our journey to Marco Polo air port.