Yesterday morning I woke up way too early. I tried to go back to sleep, but went outdoors in search of photo opportunities. The sun was just coming up and illuminating the towers of Venice. I walked to the Accademia Bridge and crossed the Grand Canal. Eventually the sun lit up the facades of the classic Venetian structures that line the water. It was a wonderful experience walking through the nearly-empty streets and sitting alone by the canal. The only people I saw were persons dragging wheeled suitcases across the bumpy cobblestone streets on their way to an early train or flight out of Venice. I knew that within a short time the streets would be teeming with people (tourists, like us), so the quiet was much appreciated.
We had to change rooms again, but at least it was within the same building this time! Our last-minute reservation didn't allow us to book the same room for two days, so we moved two flights down yesterday. Our new room is bigger and has more subdued decor (white fabric instead of red on the walls) except for an elaborate glass chandelier hanging from the gilded fifteen foot tall ceiling. It is a traditional, antique Murano glass light fixture.
After breakfast yesterday, we took a free tour by private speedboat (we were picked up at our hotel) across the bay to the island of Murano which is famed for the production of Murano glass. After a very brief introduction to glass-making, we were ushered into a showroom filled with fabulous works of art in glass. They were all for sale, and that of course and that was the real purpose of the free tour. We politely visited all the displays. We were duly impressed, but realized there was nothing there we could begin to consider buying! Even if we could pay several thousand dollars for a small glass sculpture, how would we bring it home?! We strolled the canals of Murrano for awhile and admired the many shops, all of which sold glass.
Since the free tour only provided transportation to the island, we had to take the Vaporatto back to a station that was a long walk from our hotel. We checked out the interiors of some beautiful churches and bought fruit at a market set up in a public square. Back at Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square), we stood in line to visit the fantastic St. Mark's Basilica which was begun in the tenth century. The church is an eclectic mix of eastern and western architectural styles. Within the basilica is the alleged corpse of the gospel writer, St. Mark, which was captured during a raid on Alexandria, Egypt by Venetian merchants. 
In the evening after dinner (most of our meals have been outdoors at non-touristy restaurants frequented by locals), we walked to a nearby Gondola station where we had a reservation for an 8:30 p.m. ride. Gondola rides last for forty minutes and generally wind through some of the small canals of Venice before ending on the Grand Canal. Gondoliers are required by local law to wear striped shirts. They also have straw hats with colorful ribbons, though they do not always wear them. They are not required to sing, though some do. We stepped carefully into our gondola and made ourselves comfortable on the ornately cushioned seat. Our gondolier was the quiet sort; no singing, though he did occasionally point out a place of interest like Mozart's home of three years and the birthplace of Marco Polo. 
After the successful completion of our gondola ride (no tipping over, no one got wet) we walked by to St. Mark's Square and had desert in a classic ice cream parlor that reminded me of Parkside Candy on Main Street in Buffalo. Waiters in white tuxedos served us a large sundae which we shared while listening to live music by an instrumental ensemble outside the door. Afterward, we stood in the square with many others to hear the scores of Phantom and The Sound of Music. It was a perfect evening, with a crescent moon above us in the darkening sky.This morning, the waterbus operators are on strike, so we will be carrying our luggage across all of Venice (up and over countless canal bridges) to get to the train station on our way to Florence!
