I started my walk with the Jewish Ghetto, the world's oldest, remains intact and is still marked by dark porticos, peeling paint, laundry hung out to dry, and windows placed so close above one another that you're back aches just thinking about the low ceiling.
Until the 14th century, Jews were allowed to come to Venice for money-lending activities, but were not allowed permanent residents permits. The first Jews were allowed to settle in Venice only in 1385, when the city was involved in a war against neighbouring Chioggia and needed loans from the Jewish money-lenders.
But racism persisted, and in 1516 Venice's ruling council confined all the Jews in a smallen getti, or foundries. The gates were locked at night, and restrictions were placed on Jewish economic activities. Jews were only allowed to operate pawn shops and lend money, trade in textiles, and practice medicine.
They were allowed to area not far from today's train station, where there had be leave the Ghetto during the day, but were marked as Jews: Men wore a yellow circle stitched on the left shoulder of their cloaks or jackets, while women wore a yellow scarf. Later on, the men's circle became a yellow beret and still later a red one.
The first Jews to settle in the Ghetto were the central European Ashkenazim. They built two Synagogues. the Scola Grande Tedesca in 1528-29 and the Scola Canton in 1531-32. They are on the top floors of adjacent buildings, above the Jewish museum and from the outside, are not easily distinguishable from the apartments around them.
Space was limited, and according to Jewish law it is forbidden to have any thing between the Synagogue and the sky - hence their strange attic location. The canton Synagogue was probably added to house the large number of Jews already in the Ghetto.
Next came the Levantine Jews, who practiced the Sepharadic rite. When they got their own neighbourhood, an extension of the Venetian Ghetto granted in 1541, they were wealthy enough to build a Synagogue on the ground, rather than in cramped top floor apartments. The rich red and gold interior of the Levantine Synagogue is particularly beautiful. If you're their in the summer and get to see it. note the intricately carved wooden bimah , or pulpit, and the carved wooden decorations on the ceiling.
Mixed in with the poorer Ashkenazim were Italian Jews who had migrated north to Venice from central and southern Italy. In 1575, they built their own Synagogue on top of some apartments in the same square as the German shul. The Scola Italiana has a cupola, barely visible from the square outside, and a portico with columns marking it's entrance. Inside, there's another exquisitely carved wooden ark of the covenant, housing the Torah.
Levatines and Ashkenazim, Italian and Spanish Jews all lived together in the Ghetto through hard times - including the plague of 1630 - and better times, until Napoleon threw open the gates in 1797 and recognized equal rights to the Jews of Venice. At its height, around 1650, the Ghetto housed about 4,000 people in a space roughly equivalent to 2-1/2 city blocks. Before World War II there were still about 1,300 Jews in the Ghetto, but 289 were deported by the Nazis and only seven returned.
Then I wandered over to the church of San Marcuola and the church of Maddalena.
The Church of San Marcuola was built between 1728 and 1736 
by the architect Giorgio Massari, but the facade overlooking the Canal Grande was never completed. The most important works of art are "The Last Supper" by Tintoretto (1547; Presbytery, left-hand wall), a popular interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci's Milan picture (1495-97), and an old copy of his "Washing of the Feet" (opposite). It is also worth noting that the altars are richly decorated not with paintings but with sculptures.
I wish I could have gotten pictures of the insides but Saturday and Sunday the churches are in use and while you can come inside, you are not allowed to act like a tourist and take photos.
The church of Santa Maddalena, designed by Tommaso Temanza, is one of the few churches in Venice having a hexagonal plan on which rests a big semicircular dome with a lantern. There are six
chapels inside the church keeping important paintings of the 17th century, most of them came from Piazzetta's school.
After that I felt like looking at the shopping in the area and so I walked along the Strada Nuova which is like main street in Venice and leads to San Marco Plaza. 
Along the way I passed some
cute dogs, lots of great stores and restaurants and the Rialto Bridge. Along the way are interesting architectural features such
as this small shrine.
I enjoyed this shot of the very cute gondoliers taking a break next to their boats.
I came across this statue on my walk. The history of it is below, but I also wanted to point out the beautiful garden on the building in the background.
Paolo Sarpi (1552-1623)
Pietro (his birth name) Sarpi was born in Venice, the son of Francesco Sarpi, a struggling merchant from San Vito (northwest of the city), and Isabella Morelli a Venetian from a good family. Francesco died young, and young Pietro was educated by his mother's brother, a priest and school master, and then by Fra Giammaria Capella, a monk in the Servite Order.[1] In 1566, at the age of fourteen, Pietro was received in the Servite Order and took the name of Paolo. By the time he was ordained a priest, in 1574, Sarpi was an immensely learned monk, trained in philosophy, theology, mathematics, Greek, and Hebrew. His first assignment was as an assistant to Cardinal Carlo Borromeo in Milan. He was recalled to Venice a few years later and rose rapidly in the Servite Order. In 1579 he became Provincial of Venice and was chosen as one of three Servite scholars to revise the constitution and rule of the Order. He lived in quiet retirement in his monastery, performing his religious tasks and pursuing his private studies.
The Rialto Bridge is the most famous of the bridges that cross the Grand Canal. In this area, which originally housed the food market, there has always been a canal crossing, at first, a simple bridge of boats, and later a real wooden bridge, made from two inclined ramps with a mobile section in the middle, in order to
allow the passage of ships.
The current Rialto Bridge, a stone arch, was constructed under the supervision of Antonio da Ponte, between 1588 and 1591. The construction was made difficult by the conditions of instability and by the height of the sea bottom. The structure, very similar in style to the previous wooden bridge, is formed by two inclined ramps, with shops on each side, covered by a portico.
When Venice was a marine power, that navigated and traded throughout a good part of the modern world, big cargo ships coming from many other countries stopped here in order to unload and sell their merchandise wholesale. Here gathered Venetians, with silk and spices from the Orient, traders from Lombardy and Florence who offered work in metal and textiles, together with Germans and many others coming from other parts of Italy and from across the Alps. Today the Rialto Bridge is one of the most visited tourist attractions of the city.
Sestiere San Marco - Chiesa di San Moise. Beautiful facade of the church dedicated to San Moise is almost hidden inside the area around Piazza San Marco. The front facade of the church is richly decorated by the sculptures, works of Alessandro Trenignon.
Once I got to the plaza I took a few pictures and then went on a gondola ride.
The Moors' Clock Tower is one of the most famous architectural landmarks in Venice, standing over an arch that leads into what is the main shopping street of the city, the old Merceria. It marks both a juncture and a division between the various architectural components of St. Mark's Square, which was not only the seat of political and religious power but also a public space and an area of economic activity, a zone that looked out towards the sea and also played a functional role as a hub for the entire layout of the city.
In short, the Tower and its large Astronomical Clock, a masterpiece of technology and engineering, form an essential part of the very image of Venice. For more than five hundred years, they have measured out the flow of life and history within the city.
From the archway at ground level, the vertical structure rises on a rectangular base of around 9 x 6metre through a quadruple series of scaled architectural orders to a terrace with the statues of the Moors. At the time of its construction, it marked a clear break with the architectural language and layout of St. Mark's Square, which was still substantially as it had been created in the time of Sebastiano Ziani (12th cent.); the appearance of that series of old porticoed structures is known to us from the account of them given in Gentile Bellini's painting The Procession of the Holy Cross.
From St. Mark's it stands as a triumphal archway and monument marking access to the city's main commercial artery; from the Merceria, it serves as a sort of telescope, offering a perceptive view that takes in the seats of political power and the city's waterfront.
By this time it was noon and I had been up since 4am. I was tired and hungry. Rather then try to stand in line to see the inside of some of the plaza I decided to just walk back to the hotel, eat lunch, take a nap and relax.
Thank you to Francesco. He is the waiter at the hotel. He is very sweet and charming and I was surprised when he offered to meet with me after he got off work. Unfortunately, I am so jet lagged that staying up late just isn't an option. But he did bring me flowers and kiss me good bye before I left. I really wish I had allowed him to seduce me just for the fun of it, but I was a good girl.
There was champagne in my room when I got there. Once I unpacked my bags I walked around the boat, had a drink and took a tour of the spa. I signed up for the Persian Garden for the trip, which means I have access to the salt water hot tub and soaking pool, turkish bath, steam room and sauna. I also had a hot stone massage that evening.It was open seating for dinner, so I sat with a bunch of very nice folks, who I would end up seeing occasionally on the boat, but never really got to know. It was a very relaxing day over all and I am happy to be on the boat and not carrying my luggage around anymore.
