Italian Adventures: A Weekend in Venice

After eating breakfast in the morning, we checked out of our room and boarded the bus. We headed out to the docks and boarded a boat to the islands. A guide told us all about Venice and the islands as we traveled. Elton John has a house in Venice that she pointed out to us – I took a picture later in the day!

Elton John's House is the yellow one in the center

We went to Murano first which is known for glass making. We watched a glass blowing demonstration, the man making a cat out of glass, it was really cool! Then we had time to look around the shop of the glass factory.

Glass Factory on Murano

Glass Blowing Demonstration

Next we headed to Burano which is known for lace making. All the houses are painted different bright colors because the men of the town would go out to fish and then come back and go home to other women, so their wives painted the houses bright colors and made each different so they wouldn’t make the mistake again. It’s a gorgeous island, the houses are so pretty. We got to see a woman making lace by hand and browse a shop with handmade lace products. We also tried cookies from a shop that is apparently famous for them and rightly so, the cookies were delicious!

Houses on Burano

Lace Making Demonstration

Street on Burano

After that we headed back to the boat and went back to Venice for the afternoon. We headed straight to the gondolas, which took a little while because of all the crowds. We managed to get onto one pretty quick once we got to the little pier, which was more like steps down into the water. Our gondolier was named David and he was really nice. We went through a few smaller canals and then out into the Grand Canal very briefly and then back again into a smaller one. We had a wonderful time, it was totally worth it and I’m so glad we went!

On the Gondola Ride

Venice is beautiful!

View down the Grand Canal and our Gondolier

After the gondola ride, we got some lunch and then headed back to San Marco square to look at all the people in costumes and masks. We also tried to head into some back streets but didn’t have much luck. We stopped at a café to buy something and then use the bathroom. I got a yummy pastry. Unfortunately instead of 10 minutes to use the bathroom, it took us 20 because the line was so long, so we had to rush quickly back to the ferry.

Carnivale Costumes

View down a Canal

We headed away from Venice and back to the ferry dock and our bus. The sunset as we were heading back, which was lovely! We took lots of pictures. After the ferry docked, we headed back to the bus and then set off on the road to Florence. The drive home was dark, so there wasn’t much to see. I tried to sleep some, but wasn’t too successful. We got back to Florence around 9:30 and then headed back to the apartment to unpack, eat and get ready for Monday.