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We made our way over bridges and down narrow roads to the Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari where we saw more grandiose works of art by Titian, and a statue of St. John the Baptist by Donatello.  Around the corner is the Scuola Grande di San Rocco with spectacular works by Tintoretto.  He spent 23 years completing 60 Old and New Testament scenes.

We retuned to our hotel, after getting a bit turned around in the endless tangle of narrow streets, to have dinner at the Restaurante Antico Martini where we had a delicious, if not expensive, dinner.

We were up early Saturday morning hitting the Rialto Fish and Produce Market, This Mediterranean market has enlivened the quayside since 1097 and is arguably still the best market in the world.   It was very difficult not to buy the amazing foods but hence, I had no where to cook it.  It was a very sad thing.

We had a couple of hours before meeting our walking tour of Venice so we hailed a Gondola for the mandatory gondola ride along the Grand Canal and the smaller canals.  It was a crisp morning, but not raining so perfect for the tour. 

We headed over to St. Mark’s Square to meet our walking tour but not before stopping in the square for cappuccino and a tart to share ($42).  Piazza San Marco did not disappoint.  The clouds were disappearing, there was chamber playing music, and the Basilica San Marco was beautiful.

We met up with our walking tour which started out at Basilica San Marco and the Doge’s Palace, traveled through winding roads to Santi Giovanni e Paolo where the monuments of 25 Doge's tombs reside, then on to the piazza housing the Santa Maria Dei Miracoli which had passed earlier in the day on the Gondola.  We ended up near the Rialto bridge where we did a bit of Murano glass shopping, headed for a slice of pizza, and back to St. Mark’s square for a more compressive tour of the Basilica and museum.  The museum houses the bronze horses captured in the ancient Constantinople.  When visiting the museum we were able to go out on the Loggia dei Cavalli where replicas of the horses look out over the square and Grand Canal.  We had a wonderful view of the Columns of San Marco and San Teodoro, erected 1172.  This was what visitors to ancient Venice would see first as this was the official entrance to the city.  When we got back to St. Mark’s square, the tide had come in and the Piazza was partially under water.  We got the “opportunity” to walk along the temporary wooden walk ways which come out when needed.

I had booked a Grand Canal tour before we departed London and the weather was perfect.  It was set for 4:30 and the sun was just going down so we had a lovely sunset cruise gazing at Venetian Palaces and Architectural features while sipping Prosecco, the sparkling wine of Italy.

After a fine, though expensive dinner, we retired to our hotel to prepare for early departure back to London.