The Charm of Murano and Burano

Day 4: Today we headed to Venice. Since we are short on days with a long list of places and things we would like do and see, we decided not to check out of our apartment. We left our things in the apartment and packed a backpack with only the things that we would need for an overnight in Venice.

Today was a day of buses, trains and boats to get us to our final destination. We took a city bus to the train station and the earliest train to Venice. We got in to Venice for our first vaporetti, Venice’s equivalent to a bus, but is actually a boat. The vaporetti took us on a trip through the Grand Canal.

We disembarked at St Mark’s Square and immediately joined our guide on a ferry boat that took us to the Island of Murano. We visited a glass blowing studio there. Glass blowing was perfected by the Venetians. The art was moved to the Island of Murano for two reasons: to keep the necessary fires away from Venice to keep the island from burning down and to keep the secret of glassblowing contained.

Our next stop was the Island of Burano. This island is known for the art of lace making using a series of knots. There are seven stitches taught on this island. Each woman perfects one stitch and performs it for her entire life. When the seven ladies come together with their stitches, the finished work is stunning.

This island is also known for its brightly colored houses. We learned that the houses were painted the same color as the fisherman’s boat so that he could spot his home as he returned from his day of fishing. The alternate reason was so he could find his home after a night of drinking.

We returned to Venice, checked into our hotel and ventured out for dinner.

We are on an adventure.