John said nothing, feeling it was better not to, but the more he thought about the two of them as a couple, the less and less Michael and her seemed to have anything in common. He looked down at his watch and said to Jennifer, "Hey, how about catching a water taxi over to the Murano Island for their glass blowing tour?"
They enjoyed watching the artisans creating their beautiful hand blown glass objects. They toured their galleries of blown glass. Jennifer was most taken by their incredibly beautiful and elegant chandeliers and somehow managed to say no to the high pressure salesmen to buy anything. By the time they arrived back to the main island, it was well after six pm.
"Are we getting hungry yet? I think I spotted the perfect place to eat dinner tonight, you'll love it." They went to a restaurant on one side of St. Mark's Square. All of the seating for the restaurant was outside in the huge square. A bandstand with a live orchestra in front of the restaurant played favorite hit tunes. After they ate dinner, they got up and danced to a couple of slow songs. Jennifer leaned her head on Johns shoulder. They hardly noticed when the music had ended. They went back to their seats to finish off their glasses of wine. Both were quiet after their dance together.
After they had emptied their wine glasses John looked over to Jennifer. "Jennifer how about a gondola ride before we go back to the hotel? We can't miss going on one of those can we? Especially considering this is our only night here?" She agreed happily and they walked over to an arched bridge two blocks away where several gondolas were lined up waiting for fares at the small pier.
They boarded a sleek and shiny black gondola emblazoned with red plush seats and gold hardware everywhere. The operator was dressed in a black and white striped shirt. His hat was perfect, just like you would see on a travel magazine. Using his very large oar, he steered them to the middle of the canal and began to move them slowly and gracefully along the canal. He began to sing an Italian ballad. His voice deep and soft but very clear as it resonated off the walls of the buildings on either side of the canal they were passing through. Jennifer was having the time of her life; she sat there taking in all of the excitement that was this moment. The last few traces of the day were fading away and the dark blue sky was now turning a velvety black. There was a near full moon out and that reflected on the water in the rippling waves, it was picture perfect.