Islands of the Lagoon - Murano and Burano

Wednesday’s plan was to meet again at the train station to catch the 11:02 train to Venice, but this time the girls got up a few minutes earlier to join me on the morning outing to the fruit market, where I have definitely made some friends...if you can call people friends when you don't even know their names and haven't really said anything more significant to them than "due bananas per favore".  I am sure they have no idea why I keep showing up with different Americans.  How many kids could I have??  I think I may have explained it well enough and they were certainly happy enough to pose for pictures with the girls.  

Wednesday's time in Venice was spent on the outer islands.  We took the more direct vaporatto from the train station to the glass making island of Murano, and retraced our steps from a few weeks ago.  This time the master glass blower made a colorful vase while we watched, but we now knew that less expensive glass could be found just outside the showroom.  We poked in the stores along the main drag and saw some beautiful things I would love to bring home, but didn't buy anything as what I really would like cost 750 euro.  I keep thinking I will be able to buy it "next time" but our time is rapidly coming to an end and another trip to the islands is unlikely.  In the interest of time, we grabbed some sandwiches from a bar and ate in a courtyard where there were many pigeons to feed, making Cora very happy.  

We island hopped from Murano to the neighboring but farther out island of Burano, the Lace Island, where none of us had ever been before.  The whole island can be covered in a five minute stroll.  I don't consider myself a lace fan, but may have changed my mind after seeing some of what they had to offer.  We all liked it more than we anticipated, particularly the clothes (that aren't actually made on Burano, but are made in Venice by hand).

In addition to the lace, the island is known for its colorful painted homes, each adjoining home painted a different vivid color.  Together they look perfect and exactly as they should be, but in any other location each would be an eyesore.  We saw a lace demonstration, a museum of old lace pieces (works of art), beautiful gowns of lace, and a Burano glass demonstration (not to be confused with Murano).  We then walked to the far tip of the little island where stands the leaning bell tower, which actually leans at the same angle as the tower in Pisa (but thankfully was not nearly as crowded).

On a day like this, transportation takes up a lot of time.  Jeff, Michelle, and Gretchen were hoping to get to Doge's Palace but given the timing and the boat schedule wouldn't be able to make it before closing time.  The upside is that we all got to get on a 6:15 train heading back to Treviso together, which got us back with about 30 minutes of shopping time before the stores closed for the night.  We retraced our steps from the night before, and Gretchen and Annie were both able to get things that they had seen in the windows.  Unfortunately, the store with Cora's wishes was closed by the time we got there.  


We decided to go to our very low key local pizza place for dinner but when we got there the cousins (minus Gretchen) decided it would be more fun to take the pizza to go and have some cousin time alone in the apartment.   At which point I decided that Jeff, Michelle, and Gretchen needed to experience some of Treviso's finer fish cuisine instead of more local pizza.  We went back to one our favorites overlooking the fish market island - and enjoyed a relaxing and delicious meal.  The Prices wanted to repeat the frozen crepes from the night before so we walked home the long way by the crepe store for us and invited the cousins downstairs for some regular gelato when we got home.  


I gave Jeff and Michelle my phone to find their way back to their hotel with gps and left them at the parking lot at the train station and drove off.   My phone immediately died and they were left to fend for themselves in this very tricky land of one-way winding streets.  With nothing but a good old fashioned map they were able to find their hotel, and were luckily able to charge the phone over night and find their back to us this morning with Gabriella's help.  

As Jeff and Michelle still hadn't tried our very own gelato shop in our building, they were willing to give it a shot this morning on their way out of town.  They left for two days in Florence followed by two days in Rome before heading back to the States.  It was wonderful to see them and so nice that they were able to join us for a brief visit in Italy!!  I am sure that the cousins will never forget this special visit - especially now that it all blogged!