6/21 - Venice Day 3

Today is my last day in Venice as tomorrow morning, we will be on a train to Florence. The three short days I've spent here have been incredible. I viewed Venice from the top of a bell tower, strolled through beautiful old alleyways full of history, met incredibly friendly Venetians who confirmed just how short Sylvester Stallone was, tasted the most amazing cuisines and saw art that I'd only read about in my art history classes. It's difficult to express the depth of impression this beautiful city has left on me.

Adventures in Murano

Today was island hopping day.   After reading through the descriptions for the immediate islands around Venice, we decided on Murano which is known for it's beautiful glass and glass blowing artisans.  The other options were Burano, known for it's lace or Cemeterio the cemetery island both of which we decided to pass on.  Sorry Michele, no catacombs this trip.

After breakfast, we went to reserve our train tickets from Venice to Florence then purchased water taxi tickets for Murano.  The 40 minute boat ride was perfect.  The sun sparkled on the water and the breeze kept the heat from becoming too unbearable.  We passed Cemeterio on the way.  Ewww dead people.

The first thing I did when we touched land was to look for band aids.  All the walking has done a number on my feet and it's been a experiment to try and find the right band aids.  I hit the Pharmacia and get a few more boxes.

Our stomachs were protesting as it got close to 11:30 so we stopped at the Ai Pianta Loeoni restaurant for lunch.  I ordered the parma ham with melon and a caprese salad.

Let me just say that I have definitely developed a fondness for my little porcine friends.  Oh...my...god.  The ham was perfectly salted and the flavors of the melons burst in my mouth.  The sweetness set off the salted ham just so.  Oops, I just drooled a little on my keyboard.

After lunch we went hunting for a glass blowing show.  A few alley turns later we saw a sign for "Fornace".

The glass blowers were behind the shop waiting for the next group of tourists before making anything.  I managed to sweet talk them into blowing a little vase.  As more tourists came in, they went into serious action and made some glass horses and gondolas.

I browse through the shops and find some unique pieces of glass creations for friends and family.  There were so many beautiful things it was tough to decide which ones to take home.  They even created a bowl of glass cherries, yummy.

We strolled around Murano until close to 3pm, exploring the entire bottom section of the island.  I stood topside for most of the boat ride back, soaking up the sun.  The sun felt different here, not as burning hot as the U.S.  I'd been sporting tank tops the entire three days and have a nice even brown tan, no burn.  I spent the last 15-20 minutes chilling on one of the seats inside while a cool breeze lulled me to sleep.  I woke up just as we came up to our stop San Zaccaria.

It was now close to 4pm and most of the tourist activity had died down so this was the perfect time to swing by St. Mark's Basilica and the Dali museum.  I had forgotten you could not have bare shoulders to enter the church.  Luckily, the enterprising Venetians were selling red paper "shawls" for 1 Euro so I tied one around my shoulders.  There were signs saying "no photography" but literally 90% of the people were either video taping or taking photos so I decided to join the crowd.

We then headed to the Dali exhibit at Museo Apollonia.  I am HUGE Dali fan and had been looking forward to this for days!  We find the museum tucked away in a little alley very close to the hotel right behind St. Mark's Basilica.  The exhibit wasn't very large but the artwork was breathtaking.  There were sculptures with the melting clock and various other themes.  My favorite was a set of etchings Dali created based on etchings by Goya which were also exhibited.  Dali had taken Goya's etchings and recreated them adding his own images like a donkey or the melting clock.  It was amazing!

When I was viewing some of the more disturbing sketches, I started saying "Dali is one sick..." as I turned around, thinking Girard was right next to me.  The words caught in my throat as a lady stared back at me and finished "...one sick man?  But I just looove him don't you?"  We both laughed.

It was getting close to 5pm and I was hungry.  Since we were planning on dinner around 6:30/7pm, I decided to stop for a quick snack that turned into a piece of cheesecake and ricotta pastry chased down by a cafe latte.

I had loved the restaurant we went to the night before, Trattoria Antica Sacrestia, so wanted it to be where I had my last dinner in Venice.  We went back to the hotel to relax and met up around 6:45 for the short walk to what has become my favorite restaurant in Venice.  I ordered a pepperoni, ham and mushroom pizza sans pomodoro.  Wow...just wow.  I ate the entire pizza, oh yes I did.

On the walk back, I passed a HUGE lobster so made Girard stand by it while I took the pic so that I had a comparison.

The sun was just starting to set, making the Salute Church glow in the background.  The air was balmy and the last of the tourists were making their way back to their cruise ships.  I stood there grinning like a goof, I could do nothing else.  At that very moment, there was nothing else for me but the happiness and joy of being exactly where I was.

Arrivederci Venice, until we meet again...