Coffee and Mosaics

     After a good night's sleep and a strong cup of coffee (or two), we took off for the Rialto market.  We had been told by our guide yesterday that there was a fresh market there in the mornings.  Always the one interested in how the other folks eat, Mike was in search of their fresh fish.
     We took Connor with us and left the hotel the "back way".  Meaning we steered clear of the major thoroughfares that the tourists use and tried to navigate our way through the back streets of Venice.  One encounters many a cool view and a funky church or square or statue when you get off the beaten path.
     We arrived at the Rialto bridge and were momentarily confused.  The vendors on the bridge were all selling knick-knacks and novelty items.  After wandering around on the bridge, Mike got the idea to go get a Lemon Ice (frozen concoction somewhat like a popsicle).  In search of the frozen goodie, we stumbled on a set of fruit venders and bought some cherries.

From there we walked through several stalls of fruits and vegetables to the fish tables.  All matter of fish types chopped into steaks - cool swordfish with their heads still attached to the body and their sword noses up in the air, steaks cut and laying around the head.  Fresh Fresh Fresh
     We headed back to St. Marco's to meet up with the group for our 11:50 entrance time.  When the 10 of us converged on the church, Sam wasn't there.  After alarm spread through the group, we decided to go on in without her.  As the last 3 of us were entering the church, Jacob heard someone calling his name.  He turned to me and said, "Sam" and then I heard her call my name.  In the mass of people, I couldn't see her until the last minute and she emerged on the steps.  Yay!  We were all together!
    The church was lovely - ceilings and floor all mosaics.  Small glass squares painted on the backside with gold reflect and send the gold light everywhere.  The only drawback being the church was super crowded with tour groups and it made for intense crowding in some areas. 
     We left the church and headed back to the hotel the "back way" and found some good looking sandwiches on our way.  We took them to an open shaded campo with several shaded benches to stop and eat on our way back to get our bags and meet our water taxi.
     The group of us moved our bags from the lobby of the hotel out to the canal to wait for our boats. The first one came and we sent the 5 boys on it with extra bags.  The girls' boat did not arrive for a while, but it came right as the boat the boys were on doubled back in the canal. Our driver was not very talkative but took the canal to the other end and we were in the open water for our trip back to the mainland.
     We arrived on the mainland and Thomas was waiting on the dock for us.  We climbed out of the boat and up the dock to a parking lot full of buses and an overpass.  We found the rest of our group under the overpass taking shade from the hot sun and trying to decide where our bus was.

     Eventually, Mike went in search of the bus with Meghan and by the time Dad had a chance to call the bus driver and track him down the bus came and M&M hadn't come back.  I was super worried and about them and by the time they came back I was upset.

  We had a fairly uneventful drive to Florence (aside from a life-lesson Helen learned about taking care of personal needs when the time is available - not when you are ready).  The hotel was lovely and we went to a very yummy dinner to Ristorante Tito across the street from the hotel.
     After dinner we walked down the street to check out part of the town at night.  I was tired and ready for bed when we got home. I am looking forward to spending a few days wandering around these streets.