Today’s plan was to head to Burano, which is one of the other islands that lie in the ‘Venetian Lagoon’. It’s claims to be the original location where lace was made and apparently Leonardo da Vinci took some lace which ended up as a cloth in the (recently visited) Duomo Cathedral in Milan. It is also famous for having brightly coloured homes.
The plan to get there was to be our first dalliance with the ‘Vaperetto’ … which is the ferry network in Venice. To get to the Burano ferry it would have been about a 40 minute walk from our apartment… but with the Vaperetto… we waited 30 minutes for the right one to arrive… packed in like sardines … standing room only for another 15 minutes. If you do the maths … yep .. would have been quicker to walk. The Burano ferry takes about 35 minutes and passes by the Cemetery Island … so it’s kind of interesting. Once on the island we wandered around looking at the houses and they do have a lace museum which is quite interesting in a historical way. We found a restaurant for lunch (Grilled fish and vegetables) before heading back to the ferry.
We had a ‘romantic’ Gondola ride booked for 4 O’clock… so had to come back to the apartment to pick up the voucher for that… so after a 40 minute walk from the ferry terminal back to the apartment we then realised we had to walk another 45 minutes or so to San Marco Square… in a different direction at least. Deb was a little concerned we wouldn’t make it on time so led the charge through the zombie crowds along the way … but particularly at the Rialto Bridge. So we made it on time … but not necessarily feeling as relaxed as one might prior a ‘romantic’ cruise.
It was quite nice going through the quieter canals, but intimate in Venice means sharing your Gondola with tow other couples. Luckily for us … there was an english couple … The male half discussed the finer points of where Aussie rugby is going wrong with me … while the female showed Deb the selfie she’d got with Emma Bunton … I have to say … It doesn’t get much more romantic than that!
We thought while we were in the area we should discover the waterfront from San Marco. We battled the crowd for a bit, but the further away you get the fewer people there are. This is past the peak season and is still crowded by my standards. I can only imagine how painful it is here in July!
There are some great views along the waterfront … and although the humidity was still high … there was hasn’t been any rain about.
As we walked along, suddenly a giant cruise ship appeared… and while I felt some relief that 3000 people had left the city, I couldn’t help but wonder how many of these are circling the Mediterranean … let alone the other oceans of the world! It was huge… you can count 8 levels of the good rooms (with balconies) … not counting the economy ones.
So after the walk to the end of the waterfront … it was time to trek back to the apartment. Again we battled the zombies all the way back … and after a few wrong turns got back to the apartment around 7. All-in-all… anther fun day… even when some plans didn’t quite come together…
Until tomorrow
Rob
Rob's "Beats Working" Blog 