1:48 pm: Our first minutes
at the city on the water.

From this point, you can take a water taxi around the lagoon or access Venice via this footbridge.

The water taxis pull up to
the "stations," trimmed in yellow.

Dana on our first (and
only) water taxi ride.

Our boat prepares
to leave the station.

Doesn't seem like it should take us 90 minutes to get over there, does it?

The water taxis are greatly reduced today, since it's Christmas Day...

...and this particular boat
has a compromised route,
different today from what
was posted on its signage.

So this driver is taking us
in the opposite direction from
where we need to go.

But with views like this,
we can't really complain about
our ride being extended.

We approach Doges Palace
(on the right).

Dana with Doges Palace
and the Campanile of Piazza
San Marco behind her.

There we have the Campanile, the Basilica, and Doges Palace.

It's not the architecture; it's not the masks.  When you say "Venice," this is the image everyone conjures.

Our bathroom at the
Antico Doge Hotel

toilet and bidet

Wrapped hand soap,
small shampoo bottles, and
a boxed shower cap all
bear the hotel’s logo.

That big wrapped cake was a Christmas present from the hotel... but we never cracked the packaging.

Dana explores room 106.

We were upgraded for
free to this suite...

...with the bedroom up
a flight of stairs.

Germs from trains and theatres and the stress of travel
caught up with Matt...

...who would spend as much time in
this bed as on the streets of Venice.

The staff here treated us
very well.  When we return to
Venice, we'll stay here again.