Venice

Another bucket list was Venice. It was a long drive from Perugia and we ended up in Lido.
Lido is an island part of the 117 island group which supposedly is the best place to stay on a Venice trip.
Our navigator, Lucy, took us into Lido by some narrow roading which we paid dearly for.
On a narrow street there was a BMW wagon parked half on and half off the road which incidentally seems to be common in Italy. Passing this car we heard a loud bang followed by a white beemer following us with the lights flashing.
The driver showed me a receipt for an earlier wing mirror fix up so I paid cash and shoke hands. No damage to the van as it clipped the door slider which protrudes by 30mm. Bugger.
When we got to the camp I was a bit fired up and had an argument with the camp over holding our passports.  I won that one.
In Italy, camps ask for your documents to fill in information to the local police. They then like to hold onto them until you leave. This goes against Italian law and against common sense. Identity theft is a big deal in Europe and it is practices like this that make it easy for criminals.
If you are in Italy sometime you have to be really staunch about this matter.
Aaaannnnyyyywwwwaaaayyyy.....

Venice from Lido is by boat so we booked a passage on a ferry.

The place is heaving with tourists all trying to get the best camera angles on each 

 shot. Easy with some people who only do selfies. 

Someone said a coffee in the Venice centre was 60 euros. I could not verify this but would not be surprised. 

Venice has been around during Roman times and the islands were first inhabited by fisherman escaping the wars which were a constant problem in those regions. Off course a church was established which meant written records started. 

On the island of Rialto the first church was established on 25 March year 421 AD.
Thats your history lesson for today.

A Venetian boat man plying his craft.

There are no cars in Venice city. Only boats and bikes.

Main street/canal.

Venice was so different it rated highly on our list of interesting places. 

They have their challenges which include pollution, over crowding, rising water and over pricing. 

The architecture is fantastic and comes from many periods in history.

Big day in Venice and by the end we were glad to leave.

Next stop Croatia.