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Published: June 27th 2012
Thursday 21 Jun, 2012
On tour in Venice
Today I’m feeling much better and I’m off on another tour… as I have a bit of catching up to do. I’ll be fine so long I be careful not to overdo it. Agh, this getting old stuff is for the birds!
The tour:
I used the same tour guide as yesterday. He’s a private guide named Alessandro, recommended by Rick Steves and he organises his tours around whatever you want to do. He even does a bar tour – what we would commonly call a pub crawl I guess. I was actually booked in for one, but had to pull out due to not feeling up to it.
Anyway, today I went a little further afield to Burano, an island, famous for lace making. Its situated in the Venetian Lagoon and like Venice, would probably be more correctly called an archipelago of four islands linked by bridges. The trip from Venice proper took around 35 minutes by Vaporetti (small ferry) to travel the 7 kilometers, as it stops off at each island for passengers. According to Alessandro,
Burano coming into view
Check the lean on the bell tower.at 10 o’clock in the morning the passengers are mainly local people travelling to work, either to work in retail stores or café’s. Tourism also figures prominently for the islands.
This pretty little island is also known for its brightly coloured homes. Check out some of the photos. I thought this island quite villagey and super quaint and the hand-made lace is exquisite.
From Burano it was a short vaporetti trip to the island of Murano, famous for its glassmaking. Because of the risk of fires in the city of Venice, in 1291 all the glassmakers were moved to Murano. In the years that followed the island became famous for its glass beads and mirrors. She shops here are a delight, especially the ones displaying the magnificent array of chandeliers. Aventurine glass (translucent quartz spangled with bits of mica or other minerals), was invented here and at one point, Murano was the main producer and exporter of glass in Europe. Over 700 years later, there are still many designers and manufacturers on the island and after watching a display of an artisan making some pieces in front of us today; I could see why
this industry is still thriving.
I’ve kept tomorrow free for a quieter day so I can rest up again before the big trip on Saturday from Venice to Milan and then on Sunday from Milan to Hobart. It seems to be the travel days that tire me out the most. I guess because there are deadlines and schedules to keep and you just have to keep moving. This travelling business can be quite stressful and tiring. Then again I’m figuring that because I’m nearing the end of my trip, I’m just wanting to get home now to some normalcy, my family, my little dog and my own bed J But what an adventure and wonderful opportunity I’ve had. I’m very thankful every day for my blessed life.
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