Canal Grande

After a bit of a slow start we headed out to find breakfast… we wandered towards Fondamenta Nuove but found a great looking place called Farini somewhere near the Rialto Market where we could enjoy great coffee and sweet or savoury bread and pastries – we also chose a Marmalade Brioche to take away for lunch. Next stop was the Fondanenta Nuova which is the main ferry strop for the islands of the Lagoona. We purchased (and validated – one must validate before EVERY journey) a 24 hour ferry pass and then jumped about the 4.1 heading to Murano but got off only a few minutes later when we pulled up at St Michele the cemetery island. The island is attractively landscaped, with tall cypress trees and a 15th Century church with a cloister that leads to the cemetery proper. Most of the shallow graves that you see are occupied for just ten or twelve years; after that, the graves are excavated and the bones are transferred in boxes to mausoleum niches or dumped into a communal ossuary. We had a bit of a wander around the graves for about 45minutes or so then headed back to the ferry and caught the next 4.1 off to Murano.
We got off at the stop and walked along the water until reaching a "Fornace Glass" sign on a door below the Calle S. Cipriano street sign here we were able to view a free glassmaking demonstration. After that we wandered the island browsing in a few shops and galleries and making a couple of purchases. We ended up at the Faro ferry stop where we ducked into a café - Kirstin had a coffee and I enjoyed my firsts “spritz” which is very popular in Venice and consists of Soda water with Aperol, a wedge of orange and an olive – odd but it works!
Next stop was Burano via the number 12 Ferry The island of Burano lies in the northern part of the Venetian Lagoon It has a much different atmosphere from Murano or Venice's historic centre, thanks to the Buranese custom of painting houses in bright colours--a tradition that may have had its origins in the colour schemes of local fishing boats. Everywhere you look, you'll see houses clad in blue, green, pink, rose, lavender, purple, yellow, and other colours. Fishing is one traditional occupation of the Buranelli; the other is lacemaking. We sat in a park near the ferry stop and ate our fruit and Brioche before spending an hour or so wandering the island – it really is rather cute.
Back on the Number 12 again we headed out to Punta Sabioni where we changed for the number 14, this took us on to the Lido, the long but very narrow island that guards the mouth of the Lagoona and is currently the home of the Venice Film Festival (we kept our eyes open for George Cluney and Judy Dench but no luck. We walked about a km from the ferry stop to the other side of the Island and sat on the beach for a bit before dabbling our feet in the Adriatic (just to say we had) then we headed back to the ferry terminal via the gelati shop (mmm I had fig and walnut and Kirstin mixed berries).
We got onto a number 1 ferry which is a great way to see the city as it travels all the way up the grand canal to Piazalle Roma we passed St Marks Square, the Academia Bridge, the Rialto and so on – it was really great. After that we had a quick visit to the supermarket where Kirstin resisted the temptation to buy 5 litres of red wine for $5 (it is cheaper than water!) and headed for diner at the place across from the hotel. Tonight we had calamari and scampi with some grilled veggies plus some of he house wine (you order by the ¼, ½ or full litre). After tea we thought a walk was in order and managed to make our way to La Zucca which was finally open (they don’t answer the phone because they are very busy apparently. We made a booking for tomorrow night and then meandered about getting a tad lost (the map is pretty rubbishy really) and turning up at the Rialto Market ATV where we caught the number 1 ferry back home – another full day!Lue lisää