Amazing May part 7

 

A visit to Corfu.

The clouds looked a little ominous as we approached Corfu.  This island looked lush and green.  It is called the “Emerald Island”

Today we visited the Achillion Palace , built by the Empress Elizabeth of Austria in 1891.  She was the wife of Francis Joseph Emperor of the Austrian Hungarian Empire.  She had a sad life and liked to come to Corfu to get away from her troubles.  The Emperor built her a very ornate and costly palace, with a beautiful garden.

  

She was very interested in Mythology.

    

Achilles was her favorite.  Other muses were placed around her patio.   By now the rain was pouring down.

  

The view???                                               View of the Ionian sea.  It was a bit wet.

  

The plan was to take a little boat ride to see some sea caves.  The weather did not permit us to take the ride but the view was charming.

Next we took in the sights of Corfu city.

We set sail again for Venice.   The next day was a lazy day at sea.   That night we packed up so we could hurry off the ship in the morning.  We wanted as much time as possible to spend in Venice.

     

Waiting to catch the water Taxi into Venice.     Views from the water Taxi

The Doges palace.   Venice was ruled from this palace.  The palace held huge court rooms.  Apartments for the Doges,  meeting rooms and a prison. 

   

   

canals and bridges.

   

narrow streets and squares,         St Marks,  a place to feed the pigeons.

   

The clock tower on St Marks.       The grand canal

    

The famous Rialto Bridge.  

   

  

Our ride on the gondola.  We wove in and out of the small canals and into the grand canal.

  

Back to St. Marks square, to find some lunch and to visit St Marks Basilica and wander around the little narrow streets.   It is easy to get lost here, but fun.

   

St Mark is represented by a lion. The tradition is that St Mark brought Christianity to Venice.

Venice is the home of the carnival.  The traditional masks are easy to find.

Done, time to catch the water taxi to our bus and back to our hotel.

   

More views of Venice from the water Taxi.

I hope you have enjoyed a few of my pictures of our trip.  We had a wonderful time and made plenty of memories.   Thanks to you kids that gave me a digital camera, now I have real pictures to remind me of our wonderful trip.       Love Mom.