Glass and Lace.

Saturday morning in Venice July 6th, cannot believe we have been gone an entire week! What a gorgeous blue sky greeted us.  We set off at about 10am and were off to St Mark's Square- we followed the masses over the Rialtto bridge and to the square.  We arrived at a very busy square- and headed straight for the line up to the church.  We only waited about 10 minutes and we were under the stunning gold dome! A climb up some very steep stairs had us under the gold dome and all it's majesty.  Heading out to the veranda we had a view of the square - the horses that we had heard about back at the the Arc de Triomph were before us and huge.  These horses were created hundreds of years ago and stolen from Constantinople by the Venetians, they were then stolen from Venice by Napoleon and put on top of the Arc de Triomph.  After Napoleon lost all power the Venetians wanted them back and here they are!

After a walk around the church we walked a few steps to the line up for the bell tower- this line up was a little longer and we had prepared to climb the stairs.  What a pleasant surprise to find there was an elevator to the top.  Frank and Delaney weren't in to it, so it was just me and Danica going up.  What a stunning view of this city from above- you can see why it is easy to get lost though- it is so small and maze like- incredible.

Lunch time and we were in search of something cheap- we found it in the form of ham/pepperoni and cheese buns toasted- they filled the gap.

We had an hour to kill before we were to meet up for our tour to the islands. We grabbed a few stairs in the shade and re hydrated.  It was so hot today and sticky- yuck!

At 2:15 we met our guide and found our boat.

What a beautiful boat and fine way to see Venice from the water.  The boat headed out to the water and we were on our way to Murano.  Our guide was incredible- she knew so much about this city and people.  Including the fact that Venice can flood up to 60 times per year and St. Mark's square was knee deep in water only 2 weeks ago!
Our first stop was 30 minutes out and the island on Murano.  We got to see a glass blower blowing a gorgeous vase and a unicorn.  Then we had a tour of the gallery and some glass work that has to be seen to be believed- we fell in love with a glass chandelier - but the E4150.00 was a little to rich for our blood.

this was not the one- but an example!

After a stroll along the water in Murano we were off again and this time headed to Burano. This island is famous for its lace making.  A lady was showed us how they do it- all by hand.  Each person has a stitch that they are good at- and it takes up to 10 people to make one piece- pretty impressive (and expensive). We then walked around Burano- a truly colourful place- all the houses are painted bright colours and they look amazing.  There are a number of reasons they say the houses are painted colours- the one explanation I liked is that this is a fishing village and when the men were out at sea fishing all day, they were also drinking - so the houses were painted bright colours so they would know which was their house when they returned back too drunk to know better.

After a gelato and amble on Burano it was a 45 min ride back to Venice.  We arrive just before 7 and we were hungry.  On the tour our guide had told us about a few great tradition Tratoria's in our hood and we were eager to try one.  The girls- not so much.  We bought them huge pieces of pizza from our local pizzeria and set them up back at the apartment and Frank and I headed out to try a local haunt for dinner.  We arrived just in time as it can get busy we heard.  A look at the menu and we had chosen a good wine and dinner. I had a seafood risotto that was delish- Frank had veal and a huge plate of veggies.  For dessert I had to have the tiramissu - it was to die for.

We headed home just as the line up was getting pretty long.  And here I sit exhausted and very full.  Another wonderful day in Venice.