Murano, Torcelllo, Burano . . . that's a mouthful! There also the names of three gorgeous Venetian islands we visited today.
Good Morning Venice
We scarfed down a mediocre breakfast at our Hotel San Moise (exception: huge window overlooking the canals = amazing) and then headed out to start our day. First stop - Venice's iconic Piazza San Marco (aka St Mark's Square). Like all tourists, we snapped a few pics and tried to feed some pigeons. We also queued and took look inside the famous St Mark's Basilica. For some reason that's escaping me (in all likelihood lack of appropriate clothing), just me & Doug went into the church. The girls waited for us just outside the entrance. Sounds crazy in retrospect, but there was a valid reason at the time. As a result, Doug & I did the rounds inside the church in record time.
Explore by Boat
When in Venice, get out & explore by boat. Opted to venture out to see the trio of quintessential Venetian islands: Murano, Torcello and Burano. We were relatively tight on time but found last-minute a tour that would include brief stops at all three islands and had seats available. We booked it literally with minutes to spare!
Murano Glass Blowing
We cruised away from our central Venice on a glorious, picture perfect day. Bright blue skies, sun galore, comfortable breeze. The kind of day postcards are made of :)
Murano is a world-renowned center for glass making. Our tour included a brief demonstrating of glass blowing and visit to the accompanying shop. The delicate and pricey glass creations didn't jive with our carry-on-only approach to travel, so we passed on purchasing anything.
Be sure to check out Paige's blog post about the glass making!
We had a wee bit of time to walk around Murano & snap these beautiful pictures before our boat departed. We were on a tight schedule!
Torcello Fishing Island
Next up . . . Torcello, a fishing island with a mere 11 inhabitants. It was the complete opposite of Murano's hyper-tourist vibe; Torcello was understated, sparse and charming all the same.
Highlights included the 7th century Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta (which I visited on my own) and its impressive mosaics (no pictures allowed inside sadly). As well, the nearby cemetery with winding grape vines.
Oh, and the "playground" adjacent to the lone cafe was also a hit with the girls to get out their giddiness, while we enjoyed a rushed glass of house white wine :)
Burano Brilliant Colors
Our third and final island on the tour delivered in spades. Our favorite by far!
Burano is known for two things . . . it's lace-making craftsmanship and its gorgeously colorful houses. We glanced into a few store windows to admire the lace creations, but mostly spent our time admiring the bright, colorful homes. Ancient legend says that fisherman painted their houses distinct colors so they could recognize them at night/from far away.
We loved meandering the colorful streets. Typical Burano houses are square-shaped and divided into several floors. The ground level floor is where the kitchen, breakfast nook and toilet typical are, with bedrooms on higher levels. We peeked into open doorways (no door, just a sheer curtain to shield the sun & let in the cooling breezes) and caught glimpses of the home interiors. A few times we were even lucky to see an elderly Italian woman doing her thing :) We played a little game of "which colored house is your favorite?"; pics of each of our choices below.
Back to Venice
Enjoying the afternoon light on our way back into Venice.
After freshening up back at the hotel we ventured out into the Venice twilight, weaving our way through the canals and alleyways. We popped into a little spot I had read about somewhere or other and enjoyed a drink and tapas-like bites with locals. It was magical to walk the streets of Venice at night; so much more peaceful in the late afternoon/evening, when all the day crowds had cleared out. Excellent end to a memorable day!
Full disclosure: This post was written over one year after our visit to Venice! Better late than never :)
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