St Mark’s Square, the principal square of Venice, Italy. Napolean called it ‘the finest drawing room in Europe’. We took the ferry boat to the San Marco’s stop. The square is filled with tourists, pigeons and vendors. The Piazza is dominated by the Basilica, the Doge's Palace and the Basilica's campanile, which stands apart from it. There’s a line of tourist queuing to enter the Basilica di San Marco. There is some flooding at the main entrance since St Mark’s Square is the lowest point in Venice, hence a temporary wooden plank bridge were put up to bypass the water pool. Bel and I decided to just view this Basilica from the outside. The craftsmanship of the Basilica (exteriorly) is pretty impressive, there are bronze horses’ statues above the entrance (replicas of statues ‘liberated’ from Constantinople in the 4th Crusade) and mosaic murals. While we were there, we saw the bronze mori (Moors) striking the bell of the 15th-century clock tower. 
It’s a little man statue with a hammer striking on the bell. The centre of the square is crowded with pigeons. Many tourists tried posing with the pigeons or as this man did, had bird feeds in his palms attracting pigeons who came standing all over him. Ooo… I just hope the pigeons didn’t leave anything behind for him. Several high class, expansive looking cafes surrounded the square. Each café has their own live band. However, they had some sort of agreement that only one band is performing at a time. This is very wise as the singing of one band can be heard in all corners of the square.
Gondola
Gondola, a traditional Venetian rowing boat. For centuries the chief means of transportation within Venice and still have a role in public transport, serving as traghetti (ferries) over the Grand Canal. Their primary role nowadays, however, is to carry tourists on rides at established prices. Besides hiring a gondolier, you can also get another guy to sing for you should you have the spare cash. Whilst there, I only came across 2 gondolas hiring singers. Otherwise, you can also follow the footsteps of this group of ladies in their 50s who sang cheerfully and quite loudly, entertaining themselves and attracts the attention of everyone on land. I think that if you are visiting Venice with a few friends, then it may be worth it trying the gondola ride just for the sake of experiencing it. But it would definitely be wise to avoid the main canal and focus on the narrow back alley canals. Murano Island
We took a boat out to the Murano island, approximately 20mis away. On the way there, you will see there is another island with some white buildings, which is actually the cemetery land. There is a man with his elderly mother on board our boat, with a bouquet of flowers, which apparently wanted to go to the cemetery land. However, the boat just went past it and headed straight to Murano island. The guy panicked and started shouting at the captain, after some conversation (which of course I could not understand), he had no choice but to accept the fact and sat down again. However, he started complaining and grumbles away with the other passengers. One thing we noticed is that once the Italians didn’t get what they wanted, they will start grumbling and complains to the next person beside them, even though they do not know each other.
Arriving at Murano island, we find it so much quieter and peaceful as compared to the Venice island. To be honest, the Murano island better fits my own imagination / perception about Venice, as I find the main island too busy, too crowded and a tad more commercialized. We had a peaceful stroll along the quiet canal, enjoying the tranquility. Here, its all about Murano glass and the products here are different from those found in the main island. They are much more sophisticated and creative in their design. After Murano, I had to go back to the hotel to rest as I really wasn't feeling well again. Bel went out for souvenir shopping while I was down. So, of our 3 days here, about half of my time here was spent in the hotel. Bummer.
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