Venice, Murano and Burano

On the Gondola

Waiting for the Pope

As all the river traffic had been cleared, we saw these beautiful reflections on the Grand Canal

There he is!

Burano colour

The leaning bell tower of Burano

The colourful streets of Burano

Clare with her beloved - her beautiful leather jacket

The leaning bell tower of Burano - it rang while were were standing right there - note we were not standing under it!

Look at the shop we found!

Look who else we found! Looked for him at Lake Como - but he was in Venice all along

Our Hotel in Venice - Ca' Favretto

The Pope has decided to visit Venice today - must have heard we were here. His procession of boats motored straight past our hotel whilst we were having coffee on the balcony. What luck! He even waved to us! Unfortunately this meant that the main tourist places were closed and the whole length of the Grande Canal was shut down for about 2 hours to ferry and gondola traffic while the security and police patrolled up down, and a helicopter constantly buzzed overhead, in readiness for the Pope. People hung gold and white flags outside their windows to wave. They called out and clapped as he went by. We did too! And took lots of photos!!

Louise & Vanessa started the day with a Gondola ride through the narrow canals of Venice – how delightful it was too! Our Gondolier spoke English well and we were able to ask him a few questions about his wonderful city. Meanwhile Clare was trying to sort out an impending Air Traffic Controllers strike threatened for her flight within Greece. Let’s hope they change their minds as Clare has tried all day to make some sense of it.

Our afternoon was spent with a ferry trip across the water to Murano Island where they are famous for their glass making. There was shop after shop of glass everything – from beads and various jewellery items to the most elaborate chandeliers you could imagine. We found a workshop where we hoped we could see a demonstration of something being made but were told we could only see a demo if we bought something – humph! We left and went to another shop across the way and were talking to the salesperson there who had lived in Australia for a year and then in NZ. He told us a group was expected any moment and they would be going to see a demo there so we should tag along with them – which we did. The ‘master’ made a simple vase in less than 2 minutes, cut it off the pole and that was that! I’m fairly sure he threw it into the scrap pile after all the people left to be recycled at the next demo.

Enough of the glass – we took the ferry to Burano Island next and what a treat that was! Every house was a different colour – no matter where we went! So many homes had pots of flowers on their windowsills – geraniums, begonias, hibiscus, petunias and pansies. The colour combinations were spectacular! There was a leaning clock tower too! In one of the shops there was a lady sitting with her apron on making such beautiful lace by hand. There were garments, framed pieces, table clothes and runners, even bookmarks. Oh, and more scarves! There was even a shop called ‘Vanessa’ but Vanessa couldn’t find anything there to buy! Not even a scarf!

We dinner enjoyed a delicious meal of lasagne and gnocchi, mmmm sensational, on our way home and walked in the door about 8.30pm...what a day! The weather has been glorious, blue skies, sunny everyday about 23....but this evening the wind has sprung and it was a bit chilly walking home, wished we had our scarves! (and Clare wished for her leather jacket, of course!)