Day 36

Saturday September 1

7:00am - woke up :( but stayed in bed and watched tv for an hour before taking a shower and going to breakfast, etc. I could see out the window that it was clear and beautiful out

9:10am - went to breakfast. While I was there, the girl working the front desk in the mornings asked me if I was all set for my departure tomorrow. I said yes my train leaves just before 11am blahblah and then I mention it leaves from Mestre (the train station 10 min by train away from Venice itself, on the mainland). She tells me something to the effect of "omg that's awful Mestre is a pain to get to but one leaves from the Venice station at 11:23!" Ok I KNOW before I booked my ticket a couple months ago that I checked all the trains and there was definitely NOT one leaving from the Venice station. Anyway she pretty much demands that I log in to my email from the front desk so she can get my codes and try to change my reservation for me LOL. She tried, but it said no space. No problem, I will just leave here extra early and figure it out. But it was awfully sweet of her to try, then she printed out my train information and also the times of the trains connecting the Venice station to the mestre station. What kindness and service! :)

Anyhoo, 9:45am - went to the vaporetto stop to get the boat to the glassmaking island Murano. One was leaving at 10:01 but another direct boat was leaving at 10:15. The first one was so full so a lot of us just waited. It was hard because the waiting thingy is on the water and it was all rocking back and forth today like crazy. Really thought I was gonna be sick and was really glad I didn't have all that much for breakfast lol.

10:15 - get on the boat, line 5 (which I had not seen in any of my materials anyway), gets to Murano in like a half hour. It was a very rocky ride, argggggh. I got off at the third stop on Murano (called Colonna) because it looked like it was a better one on my map. A lot of people got off at the first one and I think probably by mistake because it looked farther from the main drag. Anyway.

You get off and are immediately bombarded by glass shops. My goal was to buy a little something to take back that wasn't so terribly fragile I mean all the stuff is gorgeous but #1: you don't know what's real and what's Chinese, #2 a lot of it is quite expensive and #3 it's fragile and I really just don't need it. Problem is that 95% of the stuff in the shops is all the same. Reminded me of Arizona and the Native American jewelry/pottery stuff. It's literally a whole canal lined up on BOTH sides with shop after shop after shop. So I just wandered up one side, crossed, and wandered the other side going into any shop with a more interesting display window. Most of the jewelry (earrings specifically, which is what I was mostly looking for) was not on real metal - I could tell because they were anywhere between 3 and 10 or so euros. Plus I would think if something was on real silver, it would say. Once in a while it did, but not often. Finally I found a shop that had a few little pairs of simple little dangly glass beads and the thing said it was silver .925. They were only 16 euros too. So if I couldn't find anything I liked better I would go back and confirm they were made on murano.

1:00pmish - Kept wandering. Feet killing. Getting really hungry. Kept walking trying to find a place to eat. Didn't want anything too huge but needed something. Finally all the way up at the northern part of the island I found a little Osteria (Osteria del Duomo or something, which is funny since it wasn't by a church lol) that had cheap pastas and whatnot. Had spaghetti and a side order of nice big green olives and some water. Total was 12 euros including a little tip, just left it on the table and went.

2:00pmish - wandered into more shops. Found some pretty things but nothing that really blew me away so on my way to the Faro vaporetto stop I went back to that other place and the purple (oh, did I mention they were purple? Or did I even have to? ;)) earrings were still there. I asked the girl if they were made in Murano and she said yes everything in the shop was guaranteed and she did say they're made out of silver although I am still a bit suspicious because of the price. Anyway, bought them and she put a little sticker that said "certificate of authenticity" or something similar, so at least they are cute and should be real handmade little glass beads. Just a little something :)

2:30pmish - got on the LN vaporetto to go to Burano from the Faro stop. This boat was a lot bigger and thus a lot more stable. It took oh, about a half hour or so to get to Burano. Lots of people on the boat but it was big enough to be able to sit down thankfully.

3:15pmish - Burano is very cute. Lots of brightly-colored houses along the main drag that are kept in really good condition. I must admit, I didn't really get off the touristy streets, but I still found it relatively quaint and charming. Burano is famous for lace and since I don't particularly like lace I didn't even look in those shops but it was odd that so many shops were also selling Murano glass, just like in Venice itself. There was actually one shop that was selling really pretty Murano jewelry and there were a couple of nice pairs of silver earrings, but I didn't really need another and I'll be buying gold stuff in Florence anyway, so no need ;) Kept wandering a little, went up to the other end of the main street and walked back. Got a lemon granita which was not nearly as good as the one yesterday (didn't taste as much like real fruit), and

4:15pm - made it back to the vaporetto stop. I was going to go to the third of the islands, Torcello, but it was already after 4pm and I was tired and knew I had to pack later, so I just found the one to get back to Piazza San Marco, which was easy because that's where the crowd was lol. The LN line again but towards San Marco. Tons of people, I was like oh crap what if I miss the boat it only leaves every half hour or hour or something. Anyway a HUGE boat pulled up around 4:25 and emptied out. So it was a triple decker type boat so no problem getting a seat etc.

At the first stop, which was a half hour from Burano but still a ways away from San Marco, this Italian family (parents and an adult son) sat near me. OMG you hear about the Italian guys who never leave home but I had never actually experienced one, in italy. But OMG LMAO!! The guy had this book (and I mean a thick magazine type thing) full of watches and he kept showing them to his mom and she kept saying "Belissimo!" or something. OMG It was so hilarious and the dad only got any attention when he sneezed. It's hard to explain but it was so funny. AT one point I swear, the son leaned across the aisle and kissed his mom on the cheek. LOL and I think in between observing this cultural quirk, I dozed on and off LOL.

5:45pm - I didn't realize it was going to take over an hour to get back! Well it did lol. Got off and found a couple more shops around the area near my hotel, it was all pretty much the same as what I'd seen on Murano itself. Borrrrrriiinggggg.

6:10pm - back to the hotel for a little while. Started packing to make it easier on myself later.

7:00pm - went out in search for dinner. Looked at a couple of menus for 2 places right off the Rialto bridge area that were highly recommended. They both looked good but nothing that really jumped out at me for the price (a bit more expensive considering the location). So I went back to that pizza place I had tried to go to on my first night here that never opened.

7:20pm - It was opened and busy and I got a table in their lovely little courtyard. Had a margherita pizza and a coke, total was just over 11 euros, pizza was quite good, yummy charred crust. By the time I left (just before 8) people without reservations were waiting. And there were a lot of locals there (including a big party for… a birthday maybe?), so I think it was a good choice. No english menu, which was kind of nice. What I didn't understand was that they had an inside with several tables but none were being used. I mean yes it was a gorgeous night but hey give people the option of sitting inside if they don't want to wait. Anyway.

8:10pm - found my favorite gelato place on the way back and got a cup of chocolate. Wandered back and took one last look through Piazza San Marco.

8:30pmish - back at the hotel, will just chill, finish packing, and watch some tennis and will have an early night to bed because I'm tired and I will need my energy for Florence, which I'm sure will be hotter. And hopefully I will have internet there (hotel's supposed to have free wireless) so that I can update all this good stuff and keep in touch.