For the rest of the day we were on our own. We wandered around and found a lovely place for lunch with a table conveniently located near some of the shops we wanted to visit. I enjoyed sipping a Venetian Spritz as we made decisions about our afternoon hours - divide and conquer. Commendations must be given to the husbands who waited patiently, carried the bags, and scouted out a good place for probably our last gelato.
In the evening hours after the day-trippers from cruises leave the island, the sounds and sights on the streets are rewarding. We followed our guide, twisting and turning around narrow streets and alleyways to the place selected for dinner, but some of us missed the turn. (Busy picture taking, no doubt!) However, good teamwork and girl scout skills got us back to Restaurant Il Giardinetto. We were seated in a spacious outdoor garden quite deceiving from the front entrance. and probably why we missed it at first. Seppioline con polenta (cuttlefish with polenta) was one of the many local dishes we enjoyed, and then topped off with tiramisu, a popular coffee-flavored Italian dessert which literally means "pick or lift me up."Caffeine in un cucchiaio - anytime.
We ended our evening back in St. Mark's Square listening once again to the orchestra, and sipping a limoncello. With a starlit sky above, friendly conversation all around, we could have stayed all night. But reminders about having luggage ready to be picked up early in the morning, and knowing we had to do some strategic squeezing to make everything fit, time to say goodbye became a reality.