Venice Friday 28 May

Friday morning and the sun comes up early (4:30) over here in Venice. I was up showered and out the door before Judi got out of bed. She thought I was nuts, and she is probably correct, but that is just the old farm boy in me. I headed for St. Marks square, wanting to take some pictures. I was rewarded for my effort. There were just 4 of us in the square. It was quiet, no pushing or rushing to get the best view or camera angle. While I was there more people began to arrive and I took picture of them in front this statue or view of the basilica, so they would have a memory to take back with them. I continued on to the Grand Canal and got some nice pictures there. It was about time for breakfast so I headed back to the hotel.



Breakfast was all you could want it to be. Fruit, juice, sweet rolls, hard rolls, cereal, wonderful omelet, much more and of course that great European coffee. Judi and I both had veggie omelets, but I had cheese with mine.


Judi and I walked up to the Rialto Bridge after breakfast. It is a beautiful bridge and has been standing longer than the one in Minneapolis. We worked our way through the various streets (i.e. alleys), doing some window shopping. We went to a bank to exchange some money. Not as expensive as the money changers on the square. We then headed for San Marcos square to meet friends that we had made on the cruise. We told them we would meet them in the middle of the square. We were slightly late as the bank took longer than we had thought. I told them that we had trouble finding them, because they were not exactly in the middle. They are fun couple and we have reached the point that we kid each other about most anything.


And now the adventure begins. We went over to the canal and headed for the ferry to Burano. More on this island later. There was a “timeshare salesman” on the docks offering free water taxi to the island of Murano to see the Murano glass. We accepted his kind offer. So boarding the water taxi we bounced across the bay to Murano. Getting off the free ride, we were met by our guide who assured us we would not have to purchase any glass. We were then led into the area where an artist showed us how the beautiful glass is created. The show was quite fascinating, but with the furnaces it was very warm in there. The gentleman was quite good. However, after the demonstration, we were led through room after room of glass. Judi, found a piece that she liked, the only problem was it cost more than my first house. She did not buy it, even though they offered to ship it.


We left there and tried to figure out how to get to the island of Burano. We asked people where to get a ticket, most said on the boat. Were to we catch the boat; over there, where ever that was. We finally found were we were supposed to be and boarded the boat and rode two stops and got off. Here we boarded another boat to the island of Burano. The island is famous for its lace. One shop had ninety year old women sitting in a chair, with her feet on a stool, making lace. The work there is beautiful. The village we were in is also a fishing village. Actually the island is the village. The houses were all painted different colors by the fisherman, so that they could identify their home while approaching the island. We were all hungry by this time, so we found a little outdoor café and had lunch. After lunch we strolled around the village doing some window shopping. I am sorry, I was window shopping, the ladies were doing inside shopping. Our friend purchased a very nice table cloth and Judi purchased some Murano glass.


After about an hour we were getting tired and so headed back to the dock to pick up our boat. We timed it just right, as it was just loading when we arrived. Full to brim, we had to stand for the first part of the trip. At the first stop we were able to find seats, which was good as the trip takes an hour. Arriving at our home dock, we said good bye to our friends and headed back to the hotel. Now it was time to stretch out on the bed and rest. Around 7:00PM we decided to go back out and grab something at a fast food place, not sit down. Judi got a piece of pizza and I had a gelato. While we were standing at the gelato place, in a small alley by the hotel, our friends walked up. We all ended up with gelatos and walked back to the square and set on the steps and listened to the music different restaurants provide. We said our final goodbyes and headed back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep. That did not happen right away. The gondola came by under our windows and there was singing and accordion music playing for some time. Finally it was time for sleep.

The pictures I was going to add are not available at this time.  I will add to the next blog.


Tomorrow is a slow day for us, I hope. We have seen most of what we want and plan to just stroll around and maybe shop.