We had a very lazy start to the day as we had nothing specific booked. Breakfast at the hotel then we began walking.

We headed over to an area We hadn’t been in before, the Dorsoduro quarter, to find Campo San Barnaba, where they had floating markets and apparently the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was filmed. We found several boats selling all kinds of fresh vegetables and fruit. Silas purchased some strawberries, which has been one of the things we’ve enjoyed here as they are fresh, and sweet and juicy all the way through.

We walked further until we reached a Vaporetti site. This was one of our smart moves when we got here – we purchased 3 day tickets. That way we could ride as often as we liked just by swiping a card. The Vaporetti are like a bus route on the water. Very efficient. We hopped on one that eventually led to Lido, a long, separate island. It was like we were transported elsewhere! There were actually cars! It felt more like a regular city than a tourist city.

We found a pleasant sidewalk cafe for lunch. Actually, most of our meals have been seated outside. The weather, aside from our first day in Rome has been phenomenal. Sunny and pleasantly warm. After lunch Silas declared it was gelato time – no surprise for anyone who has been regularly following this story. The rest of us were too fill from lunch. Silas said he was lunch full but not gelato full. So there you are.

Walking around this rather pleasant, sedate and mostly tourist free area we were surprised to come across a rather large expanse of beach. Perfect time to stop for a pick me up glass of wine and for Jayne and Silas to take their shoes off and wander down to the water.

Eventually we walked back to the boat landing and decided to go the full length of the Grand Canal. We managed to get seats at the stern and had a clear view the entire way, though at times the boat made such a racket we feared it would just quit running. But no, we made it clear to the end, got off, crossed a bridge and got on anther boat to take us back to the Rialto area. We did a little souvenir shopping, then went back to the hotel to drop things off and plan our last evening.

Even though we had spent much of the day on the water we saved what I consider the best for last. We had our gondola ride! Something I didn’t get to do when I was here as a teenager. We went to the nearest gondola spot, but soon Jayne was up to something- she was off talking with the gondoliers and then she and Silas ran off. Hmmm. They returned shortly and we climbed into the next available gondola, but she and Gulgun had a surprise for me – they hired a musician to play for us while we were boating! Oh, the joy! It was magical! The guitarist played beautifully and at times the gondolier sang, but not well. However, he whistled well. I mentioned that he ought to stick with that. He was quite the character and called out to all the other gondoliers as we passed by. All too quickly it was over.

We went off in search of tiramisu for Gulgun as she’d been hankering for well made tiramisu. Apparently what she’d had after earlier meals was not satisfactory. Jayne found a place online that makes it fresh every hour. That worked. We now have it in our hotel fridge for a final goodbye treat tomorrow.

Dinner followed that excursion. We were all full but of course Silas thought he had room for gelato. We found that we were only a very short wall from Fantasy Gelato, which we’d had once before, so we all decided to splurge one last time. That made it a double double gelato day for Silas as he always gets two scoops.

And now we’re packing up and ready to head home tomorrow. We’ve ordered a special water taxi to come pick us up from the hotel to take us to the airport. It may mean I’ll have to write a small addendum tomorrow if it turns out as much fun as we think it will be.

This has been a joyous journey for me, sharing it not only with Silas , but with Jayne and Gulgun. All terrific traveling companions! We all did well together with no upsets or craziness and all were willing to go with the flow. It helped that I had done a lot of research ahead and had booked the hotels, trains and many tours. But equally wonderful was Jayne’s ability and willingness to be our direction guru – she steered us everywhere from her phone through all six cities. Plus, she found all the great restaurants for us. I was happy to play caboose as we walked through all the crowds. Speaking of crowds – I’d advise future travelers to come at this point of the year, if possible. Weather was wonderful and though the crowds were bigger than I like I can’t imagine what it would be like during the heat of summer and with more tourists.

And so, readers, I shall say arrivederci until my next journey. Thanks for joining us virtually on this one though I know I only captured a small portion of it here, in writing and in pictures. Frankly everywhere we went and looked was a picture. I’ll be keeping them in my mind’s eye for years to come. My hope is that Silas will as well.