No rush to get up again as we weren't due to dock until 2pm. Some people were camped out on the starboard side quite early, some were really excited (see pic 1) but we just had a leisurely breakfast and even managed to lose at morning trivia before a light lunch, prior to meeting Sandie and Dave at 2:15pm, ready for a 5 hour Princess tour. We'd arranged to meet them, as according to the tour itinerary, the first item was a gondola ride and they seat six people.
Yes, a Vodafone signal and not that it means much, but we were berthed on the starboard side this time, alongside a large terminal building.
Down to deck 3 to board the 'Michael d' Angelo' which carried groups 3 & 4 and our first stop wasn't the gondola at all, but the tiny island of St George where we had half an hour to wander the impressive San Giorgio church, where they also had a sculpture exhibition, the first being a massive head made out of wire. In a long gallery behind the church was a display of about six heads, probably sculpted out of marble. There wasn't really enough time to climb the belfry (€6).
On then to the island of Murano, world famous for its glass.
We were warned not to use the toilets until after the glass blowing demonstration. We now know why as by the time you'd washed your hands, it would have finished.
We stood in a gallery overlooking the lone artist with one glass furnace who simply blew one plain bowl (about 60 seconds) then formed another blob of molten glass into a prancing horse – about 90 seconds. And that was it! On then into the inevitable grossly overpriced showroom, which was massive and although there was a stunning range of items, it would have been far more interesting to have seen more manufacturing, particularly as they may have only made one or two sales. Finding a way out to the street wasn't so easy, but we managed it and with only about 20 minutes to spare, we didn't walk far. We did walk into one small shop where one artist was just finishing hand painting a set of about 5 different pieces with the same basic design. On the other side of the shop was a small work bench where presumably, another artist made the small figures out of sticks of different coloured glass.
We had already heard that buying outside of the factory was much cheaper – and from what we saw, maybe there were far more interesting places to visit. Back onto the boat for the ride back to town and to form a Disneyesque queue for the gondola ride. We shared with Dave and Sandie plus Danny and Wolfgang and it was a bit of a squeeze for Dave and Sandie, as they had to sit knees to knees. Very cosy – yet not so romantic!
Our gondolier didn't sing – nor did any of the others – and spent most of the 30 minutes bantering with the boatmen in front and behind, as he steered us through some of the minor canals. We looked in vain for our singer Martin, so we had to make do with the six of us singing instead. Not quite the same somehow.
We were first gondola back and our guide said that our boat would be '3 bridges along', so along we went, with time to look at one or two stalls and also to chat to some cruise beer samplers on the way.
As it turned out, it was the usual chaotic traffic jam on the water and our boat came in after bridge number two! A few stayed in town, using their Princess ($29) shuttle ticket to get back later, but the majority hopped aboard and instead of going back to deck 3 and the ship, we had to go to the very end of the pier and walk all the way back to the ship – probably about 500m.
In the terminal building, in addition to the bag scan, we also had to show not only the cruise card, but also a tamper proof Government photo ID, such as a driving licence or passport (no photocopies). Stronger security than at any port so far and the staff were being very thorough. The ever present illegal immigrant threat is taken very seriously by Italy, so although this was a minor inconvenience, you had to admire their dedication. We can expect the same at other Italian ports.
Although there appeared to be a small duty free shop in the terminal, at that time of night (7:45pm) it was closed. Back on board and the first call was to the cabin for a quick wash and then Italian night in the buffet (open dining in the restaurants). Eggplant parmigiana (sp?), pasta and a hunk of roast beef from the carvery plus a few other bits and pieces of course.
Although there was local group playing later, we watched the old James Bond movie, "From Russia With Love", before a latish hot chocolate and coffee down on deck 5.
We had a good day yet the weakest part was the one part I was really looking forward to, the glass factory. It would have been nice to have seen exactly how they made some of the colourful items they had in their extensive showroom. Would we recommend this tour to others? Not really.
Tomorrow, we leave at 12:30pm, so for us, with no second tour booked, we'll just relax aboard and enjoy the sail-away, maybe even from our cabin. We may even call at the gym, to see if the scales are still reading high…
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