Discussion with Vanni over breakfast gave us the plan for the day.
We traveled by vaporetto to Murano one of the small islands that dot the Venetian lagoon and which is around 1.5km from Venice.
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| A vaporetto |
Murano is famous for its glass making and there are shop after shop after shop after.... selling glass products of every description.
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| Murano street |
For one who is not big on shopping I have to confess that some of the pieces are quite striking as are some of the prices.
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| Murano veggie shop... |
Sherry made a purchase in one of the shops being served by a male who spoke perfect english.
Having asked for a discount (as you do) and being told that the item was already priced at the best price we made our way to the area where payment is made.
As we got their the attendant asked where did we come from - New Zealand we said, whereabouts in NZ he asked, Auckland we replied - I have a good friend in Papakura he said and he advised us that he was coming down for the World Cup and he immediately discounted the purchase 12.5% - so much for best price.
He told us that he was friends with Liam Messam, that he had played for Italy B in rugby, that just yesterday he had purchased the new All Black jersey to add to his All Black jersey collection (he has 47 of them).
Now that is what you would consider a passionate AB supporter - we asked why he supported NZ rather than Italy - "the All Blacks are rugby!"
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| ..and taking the dog for a walk |
We then took another vaporetto to Burano another of the islands slightly further from Venice and which is a fisherman's village with brightly coloured houses and also known for its lace (Vanni says made in China!).
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| Burano - colourful houses |
A quickish walk around the main area and it was back onto another vaporetto for the trip back to Venice.
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| The leaning tower and we are not even in Pisa! |
We got off at Fondamento Nova which allowed us to walk through the Cannaregio area back to the Piazzale Roma where the buses station is for our trip home.
So after 7 hours in Venice we have not been to the touristy spots such as the Grand Canal, Ponti de Rialto or Piazza San Marco - they can wait until tomorrow
Venice can only be described as an extraordinary place - the water transport giving one an impression of serenity (and not a car in sight!)
Caio
