It was a day where we didn’t have to get up too early, the bell tolled for 8:30 AM breakfast and 9:30 AM departure for Venice (but that makes up for what awaits us tomorrow). It was nice to catch a bit extra shuteye as the room was quaint, but nice and cool. Our air conditioning had stopped working the day before, and the hotel staff showed up right away and got it up and running again. Given that it was 34 degrees Celsius with about 90% humidity, it felt HOT! Today was going to be something similar.
We boarded the boat and it took us over to the isle of Giudecca, where we took in a Murano Glass blowing demonstration. It was something to see the gentleman work with the glass. We were told by the representative from the factory, that it takes years to become a Master at blowing glass and that it is typically something that is passed down from father to son (as there are no schools to teach this art). Murano’s glassmakers led Europe for centuries, developing or refining many technologies including crystalline glass, enamelled glass (smalto), glass with threads of gold (aventurine), multicolored glass (millefiori), milk glass (lattimo), and imitation gemstones made of glass. Today, the artisans of Murano are still employing these centuries-old techniques, crafting everything from contemporary art glass and glass figurines to Murano glass chandeliers and wine stoppers, as well as tourist souvenirs.
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| Glass blowing demo/showroom |
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| Artisan working on a glass vase |
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| Artisan working on a glass horse |
After the demonstration, we were ushered into their showroom which had many, many pieces for sale. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures in the show room. We picked up a few things from here: one item to add to the collection on our dining room table; a little bit of jewelry for Laureen and a set of cuff-links for me. There was some pretty expensive stuff in there – including a glass blown chandelier that was priced at $250,000.00 Euro. A little over our budget! ;-)
After that was completed, we hopped back into the boat and it took us to Venice (remember, it is a grouping of a bunch of islands). Upon arrival, we all followed Kassie to a lace store, where the owner of the place talked a little bit about lace, how they learn how to do it and showed us a number of different kinds/samples of lace. It was quite interesting as she showed some lace (in a glass frame) that was from the 1300’s. The stuff, if done correctly, can last a very long time. We all got a small little sample (looks like a linen coaster with a little lace on the edge) just for coming. It was nice to be in there because they had Air Conditioning! By now we all were already dripping.
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| Lace demonstration |
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| Caught our Tour Director (Kassie) with a lace fan |
After the lace demo, essentially, we had a bunch of free time to go and wander the area and do what we wanted. There were already long lineups to get into St. Marks Basilica, and the Tower, so we decided to wander around and see what we could find. It was kinda fun gliding through the little narrow alleyways and crossing the little bridges everywhere. Kassie had indicated that there were signs on the buildings with arrows pointing you to three different areas of Venice. The area that were we looking for, as the shopping area and it was called “Rialto”. There were lots of little stores tucked in the very old buildings along the narrow streets. There are no cars in Venice, so you are only dealing with foot traffic and the occasional guy with a cart-like device, hauling things from place to place.
We stopped at a little pastry place and had a snack – as we were told that we were having a late lunch/supper at a special sea-food place on another Island (Burano). We found a couple more things, and we also purchased a $2 Euro fan for Laureen. It was a great purchase as she used it a number of places along our travels today.
We finished our travels and headed back to the rendezvous point about 45 minutes before it was time to leave. While walking along we ran into Maureen and Murray who were sitting at a little restaurant having a Bellini. It looked too refreshing to turn down, so we joined them. I think I’m going to have to learn how to make a Bellini for when we get home!
The boat was right on time and we headed for Burano at 2:50 PM. This little place was an amazing little spot for photos and I’m sure you’ve seen postcards of this place at some point in your life. It’s here where there are rows and rows of brightly colored buildings, little narrow streets and small bridges over the canals. I could have spent all night just taking pictures there! But first, we headed into the restaurant and had a magnificent spread of sea-food, wine and desert. It was very tasty! After dinner, we had just over an hour to check out the shops and look around. Everywhere I looked I wanted to frame another picture. I threw on my polarizer and took a number of pictures of this very cool little space. Laureen looked in a few dress stores, and while I was walking along, looking for more photo opportunities, a watch store caught my eye. In the window was a pretty nice Maserati watch that I eventually purchased (one more to add to the collection).
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| Just one of the islands on the way to our destination |
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| Inside the restaurant on Burano |
We walked back to the final meeting spot of the day and once we had all gathered there, jumped back on the boat and headed back to Lido island and the hotel. From all of the heat today, most of us were pretty beat! On top of that, it’s an early start tomorrow (6:30 AM breakfast) and the bus is going to have to leave even earlier than that to take a ferry over to the main land so we had to put our suitcases out in the hallway this evening, by 9:00 PM. That meant a little more organizing to make sure we had what we needed for the morning. So…shower tonight to cool off from the very wet heat of the day, and get the suitcases out the door, packed with the newly purchased items. Next, write the blog. After that – hit the hay so it’s actually possible to get out of bed on time tomorrow morning.
I have to admit – I really enjoyed today. I think I could spend a little more time in the Venice area – maybe on a few of the islands that are a little less crowded.
Curt & Laureen in Venice, Italy.
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