Murano, Burano, and Torcello

Wednesday Continued:

After MacDo, we went in search of the vaporettos that would be taking us to Murano, Burano, and Torcello Thursday. Jay took many pictures while I meandered in and out of local shops in search of some local flavors to bring back home.

Jay headed back to the room while I went in search of local wines to accompany our dinner for the evening. I came up shorthanded and settled on 2 pints of beer when suddenly, on my way back to the apt, I saw a place offering the impossible: wines by the liter?! at less than 3 EUR? some less than two?

I walked inside and asked the adorable man to explain how this worked. Basically, he brews a large variety of local wines (he had at least 12 spouts). He sells his wine by the liter and even provides you with a plastic bottle should you not have your own. Since cork screws are not carry-on standard on the airplanes these days, we have been unable to taste local wines outside of the bars until now. I excitedly grabbed a liter of cab sav at 1,80 and told the man that we would likely be back.

I came back to the room, woke jay up, and the two of us went out for pizza at -- you guessed it -- arte della pizza. We just haven't found a single better or cheaper place on the island, and this one is walking distance from us. We went for an automno pizza this time, something that the chefs suggested to us which I can only imagine means "autumn." It was fantastic. Fresh veggies all over and drenched in mozzarella cheese, topped with spicy salame. We could barely finish the pizza but left the room happy and looking for excitement. We noted a karaoke bar earlier in the day, so we headed down.

After getting lost, getting found, and finding the place, we ended up as happy campers with a pair of 4 EUR mojitos -- made strong with tons of fresh mint thanks to the friendly bar tender. This area was really lively for venice -- a couple bars in the area were really cooking with locals. We tried another where we got a pair of 1/2 pints of the italian beer, Nastros, for 2,20.

On our way back, we almost got lost yet again, but we ran into another lost and english speaking couple, so together we ended up finding our route. We talked for a while and had a few laughs before heading back home.

Cheers to a great night!

Total Damages wednesday (post MacDo):
2 cans of beer, 1 liter of wine: 90 centimes + 1,80 centimes
2 scoops gelato: 1,70
1 box fettuccine: 1,05

Thursday: To the Islands!

VENICE ON A BUDGET TIP:
A one way boat trip to any of the other islands (Murano, Burano, Torcello), costs 6,50 per person. One way. This means a round trip to one single island will cost you about 13 EUR. This is ridiculous. However, if you shell out only 3 EUR more, you can obtain an unlimited 12 hour pass which lets you ride the waves between all three islands and venice as much as you want. Jay and I devoted 12 hours of our thursday to doing just this.

We got off at Murono first, knowing that the glass blowing demos start early and end at about noon. After we stepped off the boat, we were immediately greeted by glass blowers who ushered us into their studio for a demonstration. It cost us 2 EUR, but it was absolutely worth it.

We watched the master hands of a man who's been blowing glass at murono for 45 years now as he turned chuncks of molten yellow goo into beautiful vases and elegant horses in mere seconds. Literally, seconds. It was like magic.

We spent the rest of our time in Murono touring the glass shops where gorgeous glass chandeliers and goblets cast colored shadows on the ground.

We took off from Murono to Burono, a lesser known island a little bit further from Venice. To characterize Burono for you: Murono has glass, Burono has lace. Lace is EVERYWHERE in Burono, and where it isn't being sold, it's being made, or covering tables, windows, etc... We got to tour a shop where we got to see a woman making lace in the tradition of Burono women. It's actually the most complicated thing ever. It takes them like 2 months to make a napkin.

Basically, there are 7 stitches in traditional lace, and each Burono woman specializes in one stitch. After receiving a design, each woman will contribute her piece and the hand it over to the next woman.

Burono is actually my favorite of the islands. It was just so beautiful -- the houses were painted such vibrant colors and the waters were so beautiful.

I picked up a little lace-embroidered napkin filled with lavender from a family of burono lace makers for a special someone back home.

Next we went on to Torcetto, where there were much less people and the atmosphere was much more "old world". It was a nice place to mellow out, walk around, and relax. We took our time with the boat rides home, too, taking the long way home on an open-air boat that let us take in all the sights, sounds, and smells. We wanted the most out of our 16 EUR after all!

Now we're putting in a quicky at MacDo to tell you all we made it back alive. Tonight it's back in Venice for some great fun before our last day tomorrow! Ciao!

Total damages so far Thursday:
Vaporetto tickets: 16 EUR
Glass demo: 2 EUR
1 burger at MacDo: 1 EUR