The craftsmanship of Murano and Burano

Upon request, the hotel staff organizes a short excursion to Murano, which is famous all over the world the world for its glasswork. They offer transportation and they accompany you to the glass factory where a man welcomes visitors to explain how to blow glass and how to become a glass master. Of course, when the presentation is over, you have to go to his immense glass store with its sky-high prices. I suggest buying elsewhere: the prices drop by half. Anyway, the visit is very interesting. Afterwards, we walk through Murano; it’s a beautiful day today and we are able to enjoy the island in all its splendor. We buy jewels and Murano glass souvenirs. After a couple of hours we reach the lighthouse to take the ferry, (again 6.50 euro) which leads us to Burano.

Murano. 2012 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

Murano glass processing. 2012 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

Murano. 2012 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

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Burano, with its multi-colored houses, its canals and its laces hanging everywhere, turns out to be nice and cozy. Burano is really charming, especially at this time, when there are very few tourists. The colors of the houses really brighten up the landscape, which is already lofty on its own. It almost looks like we are in a fairy tale. In fact, as soon as you land there, you have the impression that you’ve just ended up in the Smurfs’ village or in Alice’s wonderland. Every house looks like a canvas. We must note that the City Hall forbids owners to change the color of their houses’ walls, because the island's economy relies heavily on tourism.
It starts to get late and we take yet another ferry, which takes us back to the island of Venice. The boat leaves us at New Foundation and from there we explore another very nice area of the city, full of shops and channels. On our path, we meet several small motor boats, with parents taking their children home from school; something very different from what we're used to! We stop at the supermarket to buy some groceries: tonight we will have dinner at home because we don’t really feel like going out!
 

Burano, canals and colorful houses. 2012 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

Burano, canals and colorful houses. 2012 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

Burano, canals and colorful houses. 2012 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

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Venice, the jewel of Italy

It is amazing how, in Venice, everything, absolutely everything, takes place on the sea. Ambulances with sirens blaring run along the Grand Canal, as well as the police and the fire fighters. The vendors sell their wares, often fruit and vegetables, in boats, taking the advantage of being able to cover more areas of the city during the day. Entrepreneurs do their business using boats as means of transport: I had never seen a move taking place on the sea. Everything is very strange for people like me, who aren’t used to the total lack of cars and motorbikes. Even bicycles are absent in Venice.

 2012 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. A stretch of the Grand Canal

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THE JOURNEY (stories and tips)
We are not even 3 hours away from Venice, where we arrive in the early afternoon. I booked the cheaper parking in the area (garage Europe - 50 euros for 4 days) in Mestre, because  the municipal car parking in Piazzale Roma in Venice (last stop possible) is very expensive. With the bus line 4L (but even 4 is fine) we arrive at Piazzale Roma, where we take a boat to San Marco. The tobacco shop where we can buy the tickets is closed, so we just ask the driver about the ticket and he says: “If you want, you can get it when you get out”. If you want!!? Ok, when I arrive I ask him about the price of the ticket and he says: “Goodbye lady, I wish you a good day”. Well, certainly I don’t insist ...
Water taxis are the typical means of urban transport in Venice, used by almost everyone. For the residents, the cost is negligible, but for all the others it’s quite expensive: 6.50 euros each way. But there’s the Tourist Ferry that allows you to cross the Grand Canal with just 2 euros. Since our hotel stands half way between Rialto and San Marco, it is serviced by both (Rialto stop and San Marco stop) but for your convenience, I suggest you get off at the first stop, as there’re less bridges to cross. With the bags it’s a little uncomfortable. We obviously go down to San Marco (Vallaresso)!
At a first glance it's a mess; all these narrow and dark streets are confusing, and you can’t even ask for information because everything is a “turn right, turn left, cross the bridge”… and you forget immediately what they have told you. Anyway, we easily reach the Hotel San Luca, where I booked a cottage for 4 days for a total cost of 200 euros. I get things straight: it was a super deal, a 75% discount on the full price because of the low season. Upon our arrival, we have a surprise: the annex is nothing more than a nice apartment detached from the hotel, with 2 large double bedrooms, a bathroom, a lounge and a kitchen. Great! The thought of not having to sleep with my mother and having to deal with her snoring fills me with joy!
We stop only for the necessary time to fix our suitcases, and we’re already at the Rialto Bridge, the oldest, and certainly the most famous, of the four bridges of Venice. Given the close association with the local market nearby, the bridge, once called the Bridge of coins, changed its name and became the Rialto Bridge. Initially built with wood, it was destroyed and collapsed several times over the centuries, until it was rebuilt and made with stone. Today, there are souvenir shops on both of its sides.
We follow the advice of the hotelier and go to one of those restaurants he recommended (actually, I think they must get a percentage on the customers they send there). The Da Gioia restaurant  isn’t so bad though, and the price is reasonable: we spend 45 euros as a total for the two of us.
We go for a short walk to digest, to visit the Rialto Bridge in the evening and to take some pictures, and then we go back home because it has gotten really cold. I fall asleep in my bed all alone.

2012 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. My first gondolas.

2012 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. Rialto bridge by night.

2012 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. Typical channel of Venice.

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Venice is beautiful but ..... I would never live there. Yes, it may sound like the usual hearsay, but it’s the simple truth: Venice is beautiful but I would never live there, if anything, for that damned moisture that penetrates you and stick to your bones non-stop. And if like me, you already have some pains, it’s the end cause it’s a constant torture. Everything else is a delight.

We start our day where we had left it the night before: Rialto. Beyond the bridge, you can find the commercial area of ​​Venice, with its daily market of fruits, vegetables and fish. The area is full of shops and souvenir stalls, where, if you look carefully, you can also find some pieces of original Murano glass. We visit all the area coming up to the S. Polo sestriere (that’s how they call neighborhoods here). Here we find stalls selling pork sandwiches, cheeses, hams etc. ... so we decide to stop for lunch and eat on the benches, also because of the beautiful sunny day. Each sandwich costing 5 euros, we take two of them with pork and grilled vegetables, and they are delicious. When we are done with our lunch, we move towards what will be our final destination: the Peggy Guggenheim, the Museum of Contemporary Art, second only to the Guggenheim in New York. But first we cross the Dorsoduro district with all its fields (squares) and its many churches.
When we arrive at the Peggy, we discover that its closing day is Tuesday…what a bitter surprise! I decide that I will not get back here, if it wasn’t for what I see through the shop window: the scratch map travel! That’s a map of the world covered with a gold film that you can scratch away depending on the countries or areas that are visited in the world (like a scratch and win ticket). I have been looking for it for a long time and I can’t miss this opportunity!
Since the museum is closed, we decide to go to the tip of the island, passing through the Salute Church and arriving up at the customs. From here you can enjoy a wide view of the entire basin of San Marco, and you can see the islands of San Giorgio and Giudecca nearby. By now, the sun is going down and we enjoy this sunset with a nice walk through the rafts, the road that runs along the south side of the island. Here there’s the University of Fine Arts of Venice, the rowing club and again many churches.
Now it's time for dinner. Tonight we want to choose the restaurant without any interference and then wander through the streets of San Marco, peering menus (and prices) exposed on the outside. We find cheap and attractive ones but in the end my mother is terribly attracted to Peppino’s restaurant, just behind San Marco. I try to convince her that that’s a restaurant for tourists and that probably the menu that starts from € 12.90, including two dishes plus coffee is a rip off, meaning that you eat like crap. I’ve never been so wrong. I order the spaghetti with squid ink and mixed fried fish. Everything is delicious.
After a short ride in San Marco just to take some pictures, we go home immediately because it’s freezing.

2012 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. Rialto Brigde.

2012 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved.

2012 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. St. Mark's Basin.

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Keep reading... Keep reading.... My travel story continues in the next post!