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July 2, 2025
Venice, Italy: Mediterranean Odyssey


Venice, Italy… for the second time in a week

Today, July 2, marked the end of the “shakedown” cruise for the Viking Vesta. We returned to Venice, Italy, where the invited guests, families and children all departed by 9:30 am. Only an hour later, at 10:30 am, the new guests started boarding.

We are overnight in Venice tonight, so we had all day to explore the city. This time, Gail joined Russell. We took the shuttle boat to Venice, walked to Piazza San Marco, then proceeded across town to the Ponte Rialto. Along the way, Gail was able to do some more clothes shopping.


The shuttle boat took us past the island of La Giudecca. We have fond memories, as this is where we stayed the very first time we visited Venice with our sons in 2002. We stayed near the “Palanca” vaporetto stop.


The Bridge of Sighs


The Piazza San Marco


The Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge), the oldest of four bridges that span Venice’s Grand Canal


Venice is a maze of narrow, winding streets where it is easy (and fun) to get lost


Everywhere you turn, there is a romantic scene of a gorgeous canal. (We did not take a gondola ride.)


Posing with random lion statues


We were in Venice the same weekend as multibillionaire Jeff Bezos’ wedding. The locals made their feelings known.

We will sail Vesta’s first two 14-day guest itineraries. Today begins “Mediterranean Odyssey,” where Russell will present four lectures. Unfortunately, Gail is still experiencing some mobility challenges. Fortunately, she has visited all the upcoming ports before. She may leave the ship seldom if at all for the remainder of this contract.

We have already met some old friends: a couple who booked this cruise for the sole reason that we are on it! The wife is delighted she will get to hear three new lectures, plus a repeat of her favorite one from last time.


Our itinerary and lecturer slate for the next two weeks


We mentioned that Viking Vesta’s godmother is Lene Catrine Tangevald-Jensen, a Norwegian humanitarian and friend of Chairman Torstein Hagen. Lene gifted the ship with an extremely rare collectible.

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