We are definitely in northern Italy, as the temperature this morning was in the teens (low 60s F). Although it was sunny when we woke up, by the time we exited the train station in Venice it had turned cloudy.

Our strategy today was to stick to the lesser traveled districts of Venice, those streets where Venicians live and work . This meant heading east from the train station to the northern part of the Cannaregio district. Our first stop was the Jewish Ghetto. Originally a small islet unto itself, the ghetto grew to the neighboring shore to the west. From there we walked along several of the narrow canals that divide this part of the Cannaregio district into long rectangular strips of land.

It was already near noon and we were hungry. The guidebooks mentioned several good lunch options in this area, so we picked a nice little restaurant with an attentive young host. We had tortellini with rabbit & a quiche with soup, green beans & shrimp.

After lunch we walked to the Canale delle Navi waterfront overlooking the island of Murano and Isola di San Michele. Despite overcast skies, the views were magnificent and, since these were the less travelled neighborhoods, there were no crowds to fight to see the good views. We worked our way east across Cannaregio to the Castello district . Along the way we saw many wonderful churches and several lovely little piazzas in the charming neighborhoods tucked away on the back streets and smaller canals of Venice.

By late afternoon we had made our way back to the San Marco district and the Piazza San Marco. We stopped for one last look at its famous building and stunning views, before crossing back over Ponte Realto. From there we we retraced our steps through the San Polo district to a cozy little place we spotted yesterday that advertised live music on Wednesdays. Unfortunately they no longer had music on Wednesday evenings. (There was no explanation as to why the signs in the window advertising music had not been removed.) Disappointed, we worked our way back to the Cannaregio district. We stopped to buy a few gifts for our German hosts and then boarded the train one last time.

This was not only our last night in Venice, but our last night in Italy. We'll certainly remember the many sites we saw, meals we ate, and especially the people we met. They all combined to make this a very wonderful vacation. Now we head back to Germany to reconnect with our friends and celebrate a very special birthday.