Day 24 Monday 8th July - Venice to Florence

Another magical day in Venice, in fact one of my favourite days. We started the morning with breakfast with a view to die for.  The hotel restaurant was in probably the best location in Venice. Overlooking the Grand canal and the main waterway. It was like a fairytale sitting there watching the days activities.

We then met our local guide who took us on a walking tour through the back streets (and waterways) of Venice.  It was so interesting, quiet and clean.  We went up and down so many bridges I couldn't count them – all good for the calorie intake.  We went past Marco Polo’s original warehouse/shop where he traded silk. Venice is just beautiful. I want to come back. For such an old city it is so clean – all the streets get cleaned at 6am every morning. The water is so blue and the activities on the water fascinating.  Instead of bus or train stops they have water taxi stops.

Straight after our walk we went on (another) private boat to a glass blowing demonstration on another island (not Murano as they have had too many fires there so the factory is elsewhere now) It was fascinating watching the glassblower make a beautiful horse right before our eyes.  Then of course the usual sell and yes , Loraine & I were suckers!!  We both had a little splurge.

From there we continued on to the most wonderful part of the day for me -the island of Burano.  What a history it has and so quaint and unique.

Our first vision of it were all the coloured houses.  It is a fishing village and the story goes that when the fishermen came home it was often dark and foggy and they went to the wrong houses??!! So the wives painted the houses in different colours so the men would not stray. The wives also had two dogs in their windows and they pointed them a certain way as a signal depending whether the husband was home of fishing!!!! (so the wives were just as bad it seems)

While the husbands fish the wives embroider and so everything sold on the island is made on the island – lace tablecloths and clothes, scarves, exquisite jewellery.

We had a beautiful 3 course lunch but in between courses I ducked out to the shops and purchased.  There was no time to waste.  It was lucky we were only on the island for 2 hours. I did a lot of damage in that time.

Back to Venice on our private boat, off to our very unromantic gondola ride and out to a celebration Dinner  and home to bed as I lay pinching myself that we’d had such a perfect day.

Summing up Venice.  We realised that we had visited it in the perfect way (17 in our group on an Insight Gold tour)  We watched the hoards of day trippers from the cruise ships and the lesser quality coach tours fight their way through the heat and crowds while we relaxed in style and comfort.  Thank you Insight!!

Our breakfast location - stunning

view from breakfast

and again

the hallway on our floor!!!

St Marco's duomo (cathedral)

gold laid mm by mm

The bridge of Sighs
Prisoners walked across here to their death!

the ambulance

wheeling supplies to a shop

a fascinating bookshop of very old books

the hospital

this statue is 600 years old and so incredibly detailed
you can see the horses veins!!

Marco Polo's first warehouse

on our private boat going to the islands

Murano island where a lot of the glass is make.  There have been several fires there

Burano island 

the coloured houses

a very crooked church on the island.  It has been like this since 1100
and hasn't collapsed

I was so busy shopping that i completely forgot to take photos of the beautiful shops!!!

going to our celebration dinner and before that our gondola ride. I am
wearing some of my purchases from Burano

the police boat

I don't think I have mentioned anywhere that there is very little air conditioning
in the houses in Europe.  The shutters keep out the heat and the flower boxes
(mainly geraniums keep away the insects)

trying to make the gondola romantic

Ditto !!!

this is supposed to be the first photo, not the last