Today after breakfast we headed out to the Doges palace and bought the private guided tour. (We spoke with a couple of people who told how good it was. They were right- we passed by a huge line.) the history lesson was amazing - definitely better than reading a book for a high school test. We saw Casanova 's cell in the prison, and learned about the doges being chosen like the pope, at a very old age so they didn't live long enough to garner power to take over. Right next door to the Grand chancellors room was the torture room - they could work in the night when the clerical help was at home. Murano was our next stop, and we were so hungry we stopped at a little bar - with barely passable microwaved food. But it fueled us to go to a glassblowing factory and then do a bit of shopping. Da Robbia or da Rioba (depends on which street you enter) was our choice for dinner but when our vaporetto dropped us at fondamente Nove it was too early for our reservations so we stopped at Algiubagio for drinks. It is a lovely restaurant that was recommended a few years ago by one of my brother's friends - and it was excellent - but today we focused on hot chocolate because of the weather. Then on to a fabulous meal at da Rioba and the walk back to the bus.