New breakfast buddies today, Stewart and Jackie, from a suburb of London. Lively conversation, very nice couple.

Since we’d only walked through St Mark’s Square and hadn’t fully explored it, today was the day. St Mark’s is ALWAYS jam-packed full of tourists, very commercial area. So we headed out early and went straight to the top of the Campanile, via an elevator of course. We had a beautiful view from on high, looking down on the piazza, the canal, the Doges Palace, and the residential areas. We were up in the Campanile’s belfry and we saw a couple who had bats in theirs. We made sure we left the belfry before noon, unlike Jackie and Stewart who experienced the ringing of the noon bell while in the belfry the day before. We think their ears are still ringing.

Next we toured the Basilica of Mark’s namesake. Beautiful church, the ceilings were lined in gold, but unfortunately we couldn’t take pictures. We toured the jewel room and saw the most gorgeous crown jewels and other pieces of art. We also saw the bones of St Mark and other disciples. Cool! Our bible lessons came alive.

Lots of shopping the rest of the day, looking for another piece of luggage because we bought too many gifts. Finally found a luggage shop near the Rialto Bridge and on our way back to our room, we had a wonderful dinner of pasta and lobster at a restauranti on the grand canal.

Back to the B&B and to bed after another magnificent day.