Day 16, Piazza & Basilica of San Marco, Palazzo Ducale Museum, and Campanille.

Today was a great day to explore the beauty of Venice. We started the day by exploring the Palazzo Ducale museum. It is a marvel of architecture styles and art. We saw wonderful examples of ancient frescoes and interesting examples of relief sculpture. Touring the museum, we were able to go through the "bridge of sighs", it is the bridge that leads to an ancient prison. It was very interesting and moving. Mrs. Orendorff got trapped in a little cell. After the museum, we visited the Basilica of San Marco. The Basilica is filled with relics and golden Byzantine mosaics all over the ceiling of its five domes. Yes, it has FIVE domes. Amazing! We later found out that St. Mark's relics are housed in this beautiful church. We finished the day by ridding an elevator up Venice's "Campanille" (bell tower). The view of Venice from about twenty stories high is breath taking. Venice has priceless architecture. After a very enriching day, we took the water bus back to our island. Buona Note from Venice.