After four days of exploring Venice and the surrounding areas, I decided to skip my plans to visit the city of Vicenza and spend a relaxing day in Venice before heading to Verona on Monday.

With this change in plans, I was able to attend Sunday Mass at 10:00am at the Basilica of San Marco.

I arrived early, not realizing I would not be allowed in the basilica until 15 minutes prior to Mass time. As I waited to enter, I watched the line grow around the building. It was quite refreshing to see this. Once inside, I could hear the magnificent organ and choir.

The Mass was in Italian, however, there was one American priest on the altar. I was thrilled as he read his part in English.

After Mass, I stood inside the basilica as long as they would allow to take pictures.

This was one of the side altars dedicated to the Blessed Mother.

This was the beautiful artwork directly above the choir loft.

I then decided that today was the day that I would get lost in Venice. This is what I found…

The taxis in the ***City of Water*** are gondolas and they are EVERYWHERE!

When I first arrived in Venice, I walked down a long alley to a courtyard area where my hotel was located. In this courtyard were two other hotels and a restaurant.

This was one of the beautiful stores in the alley before reaching my hotel.

The ***Theatre of Venice*** was located down the alley from my hotel and could be seen from the hotel’s roof top bar.

Venice is also known as the City of Masks!

The masks are part of the Venetian tradition. They are rooted in the territory and culture and symbolize freedom and transgression. It is said that wearing the mask allowed women more freedom to leave their neighborhoods and participate in Venetian culture. But no where does it say what type of cultural activities women were participating in!?!?!

The tradition of the mask started in the 13th century when Venetians would hold celebrations and parties from December 26 until the start of Lent. They would wear masks to conceal their identities, allowing the lower and upper classes to mingle together. Some Venetian masks have long noses. The long nose would hold herbs and flowers that would filter the air and cover up the horrible smells of plague victims.

More modern masks were easy to find on the streets of Venice as well.

Here is a display of beautiful pictures from all parts of Venice!

***Riding the Water Bus in Venice was a special treat!***

After several twists and turns down alleys and over bridges and a few water bus trips, I found the Venetian Arsenal.

This complex began in 1104 and became the largest industrial complex in Europe before the Industrial Revolution.

Shipbuilders regularly worked within the Arsenal producing most of Venice’s maritime trading vessels. The Arsenal is in the Castello neighborhood of Venice.

Leaving the Arsenal, I decided to walk the shoreline of the Grand Canal. In doing so, I found a beautiful park and lots of interesting statues.

This sign in the park on the shoreline of the Grand Canal when translated in English means - ***Wide Sailors of Italy.***

I am not sure what that means, but the name of this beautiful park is ***Parco delle Rimembranze.***

In addition to beautiful green spaces and trees, this park has a variety of statues in remembrance of the soldiers that died during WWII.

***I really enjoyed getting lost in Venice!***

After a nice relaxing day walking through the city, I turned on my portable Wi-Fi and the GPS on my phone and headed back to my hotel. The next morning, I left Venice for the beautiful city of Verona.

Let me know in the comments below if you allowed yourself to get lost in Venice and if so, what did you see?

The next blog will feature Verona, Italy. Stay tuned!