Twenty minutes from Venice by water taxi lies Murano Island and just a short ride from Murano is Burano. Murano is famous for it’s glass and Burano for lace making.
The trip did not disappoint. Through the channel by the “fish tail” side of Venice we bounced through the channel on a water taxi. Once there we were given a quick demonstration then we could explore the island. We weren’t supposed to take pictures -so here are some pictures. (I took these before they stopped us). The shop we weren’t allowed to take pictures of was three floors of the most beautiful glass I have ever seen.
There was one piece I fell in love with. It was 9,000 Euro so it is still on their shelf. It was made by a 45 year old Maestro who is a decedent of a glass family tradition dating back to the 1600’s. I would love to have shown you but NO Pictures. I will dream about it as I tried to memorize the color and how the light behaved through the glass. G of course was ready to move on so on we went.
Down the walkway there was an interesting tall brick tower, oh and this big blue glass thing…
I don’t like it but hey it’s big, blue and all blown so there’s that.
On to Burano. WOW what a place. It once was a thriving fishing village and while the women waited for their fishermen to return, they perfected a lace making technique. It was beautiful but sadly a dying art. The old woman giving the demonstration started making lace when she was 8 yrs. old. The items weren’t my taste but I can see the attraction. The real gem to me was the village itself:
The fishing and lacemaking industries are no longer so a lot of the village is up for sale. Here is a real fixer-upper:
Since fishing and lace making are both a dying profession, the islanders rely a lot on the tourists. However, we noticed that when the church bells rang at 6 pm EVERYBODY closes up shop as fast as they can. G bought a coffee at 6:05 which apparently was very inconvenient to the 3 generation “tourist bar”located in a small stand that was next to the boat. We thanked then heartily, well, then we saw it.
Yep, this is coffee served in what can only be described as a communion cup. (He hasn’t taken a sip yet)
OF COURSE they didn’t want to dirty up their machine for a teaspoon of coffee. Made perfect sense.
Burano is also famous for their leaning tower, Not the famous tower of Pisa. Nope, it’s the not so famous leaning tower of Burano. Since I forgot to take a picture of it, here are some pictures of their ambulance and police boats.
Back across the choppy seas to our Venice home. Both islands are worth the trip and have their own personalities. Well worth the visit.We used Viator to book.
shenaniganswithleannagainwebdotme 
Wow!! I just love all the vibrant colors! 😉
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