These are two areas near Venice, which if anyone does any pre-planning, usually includes a visit to both.  Let’s start with Murano.  Be prepared for a few bits of history interspersed amongst the photos.  🙂

 

• Composed of 7 islands linked by bridges in the Venetian Lagoon.
• Initially settled by the Romans.
• At first prospered as a fishing port and for its production of salt.

We wanted to get away from most of the ‘tourist’ areas and kept walking away from the water taxi drop-off.

We found this fabulous blue statue.

 

• In 1291 all glass makers in Venice were forced to move to Murano due to the risk of fire.
• During the 1300s exports began and the island became famous, initially for glass beads and mirrors.
• Eventually became known for their chandeliers.

I would absolutely love to have a chandelier from Murano, but even though it could be shipped home, they are still pricey.  These are two I found that struck my fancy.

While we have enjoyed all of our meals thus far, our selection for lunch could definitely fall into one of our all-time favorites for this trip.

We were one of the first to arrive and actually were told we could sit in the garden, because the restaurant didn’t open for 15 more minutes. We started with wine and water before ordering two antipasta platters.

The seafood platter looked really cool, but wasn’t a lot that I would eat.  The other  platter (meat) – I loved!  In fact, it was to be my meal, along with some fried mozzarella balls.

Did I say I really, really, really enjoyed my meat platter?  I shared after tasting all of them and finding my favorites.  Starting in the upper left corner:  mordello, pancetta, salami, pepperoni, bacon and prosciutto.  The mozzarella balls were good, but after my meat platter……………….

A seafood soup was Eric’s meal and Karen ordered lasagna – which was fantastic.

 

We had to finish the meal with desserts.  There was cherry ice cream, chocolate cake and strawberry Torte.   We debated for days which dessert ‘won’.

 

We crossed the bridge in front of the restaurant and wandered inside this church.

The church is one of the oldest in the Venetian lagoon.  It was originally built in the 7th century and rebuilt in the 9th century.  It is known for its 12th century Byzantine mosaic pavement and said to contain the relics of Saint Donato, as well as large bones of a dragon slain by the saint.

While Karen and I were looking possibly for glass beads for the jewelry we make, we had minimal purchases.  😦    On to Burano!

Getting there involved jumping on the water-taxi and waiting for 3 stops until we arrived.

• The island was probably settled by the Romans.
• It rose in importance in the 16th century when women on the island began making lace with needles.
• Leonardi da Vinci visited in 1481, purchased a cloth for an alter and soon lace was exported across Europe.

More recently, they are known for its small, brightly painted houses.

Legend says that the island’s fisherman were the first to paint their houses in bright colors so they could see them while they were out fishing.

So let me admit, this island kind of felt like a big tourist hot-spot.  There were little shops everywhere selling all kind of tochtskes.  While the photos look pretty, I had to do a lot of cropping to get all of the people out of them.  Now, on the other hand, Karen and I both purchased some scarves (made in Italy) to bring home with us.

Wednesday is our day-long tour of the Italian Alps and Dolomite Mountains.  While it will probably a somewhat long drive, it gets us out of Venice for a day.

Ciao!

 

Ginny