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| Yes, places like this really exist! Visit beautiful Burano! |
A Colorful Surprise- Murano and Burano
After wandering
around Venice for a few days, we decided to take a day trip out to the adjacent islands of Murano and Burano.
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A canal in Murano
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Murano is known for it’s glass manufacturing and famous for its craftsmanship. It's everywhere on the island. It was even embedded into the toilet seat at our restaurant- ;-)
A few of the
factory galleries and some of the hotels have an arrangement which allows you to get free transportation out to the
island. The deal includes free
water-taxi ride and a short demonstration of some glass sculpting once you
arrive. The water taxi ride is nice and gives you cruising time in the smaller canals of Venice on the way out of the city. The only other way to see the smaller canals is to ride in a gondola.
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| Murano glass vase |
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| Murano has wide open canals which can help with photographs |
The price you pay for the free ride is the supervised tour of their showroom. It’s a little bit like the time-share luncheons in our area. You put up with a bit of hard sell, for the perk of a free ride. It’s kind of amusing really…they even corral you in the gallery with a velvet rope, so that you essentially have to ask to leave.
If you’re interested in browsing the gallery, the free ride out is not such a bad deal. The salesmen are very knowledgeable about the merchandise, but you can pretty much be assured that you will be paying top dollar if you decide to buy something.
If you’re interested in browsing the gallery, the free ride out is not such a bad deal. The salesmen are very knowledgeable about the merchandise, but you can pretty much be assured that you will be paying top dollar if you decide to buy something.
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| Murano |
Once you leave the glass showroom, wandering around Murano is actually easy and
charming. We had a very inexpensive
luncheon at a sandwich shop and took photos.
The island is quaint. The canals are wide and the buildings are not
too tall, so that makes it easier to photograph.
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| Don't you just love an old door? This beautifully decrepit door is in Murano. |
Burano was the island we were really excited to see. It was highly recommended by Lester Lefkowitz, another program leader with his own Il Chiostro program in Venice. He encouraged us not to miss the colors to be found on Burano. Getting there involved hopping on board another Vaporetto boat after our an initial stop in Murano.
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Burano is an explosion of technicolor!
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Finding our way to the correct Vaporetto stop sounded easy. It was not. There are very few signs to follow on Murano (as usual), which probably helps the merchants on the island keep you there and spending money a bit longer. Once you find the Vaporetto stop, the
diagrams at the stations are not easy to read. Discerning which line to follow is also maddeningly difficult. I was missing my GPS again, and found that almost every other tourist felt as confused as we did...even the ones using guide books. We got used to simply asking the ticket
officer at the Vaporetto station for directions. They were the only ones who seemed to know where
to go. We also learned to double check with the boat hands as we got onboard any vessel (just to be sure we were going where we thought we were going).
Despite our difficulties, we eventually boarded the correct boat for
Burano (it leaves about every ½ hr. from Murano). This little gem was definitely worth the effort! We heard that going early in
the day is best since there are fewer crowds. We didn't make it there early, and we did deal with lots of people. However, late in the day we were blessed with better lighting and everything came across in technicolor!
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| Reflections of Burano, Italy |
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| Love these complementary colors next to one another! |
Wow! It’s as if you hit the “Boost” button on your
photo-editing program and turned the color up to full volume!
These photos are edited, but the buildings are actually this bright. After our day trip there, I would definitely recommend taking the time to go for your own visit…but unless you want to make a day of it, you may want to study the route first.
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| surreal color is everywhere |
These photos are edited, but the buildings are actually this bright. After our day trip there, I would definitely recommend taking the time to go for your own visit…but unless you want to make a day of it, you may want to study the route first.
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| Burano is full of colorful canals like this one |
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| Really?! Did they just set this up for me? |
Whether journaling or doing more serious paintings, the artwork you can create is personal and forever records your connection to places and moments in your life. In future blogs I will share some of our more art related experiences on the trip.
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| Breakfast on the Terrace overlooking the lily pond at San Fedele |
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| Just another beautiful morning at Borgo San Fedele...sigh |
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| San Gimignano- one of my favorite places to visit in Tuscany |
Rebecca Zdybel
Artist, Instructor, Art-Travel Instructor
Art Lessons in all media
Myrtle Beach, SC
rebecca@artmyrtlebeach.com
Spread Light, Share Love, DO Art!
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Rebecca Zdybel is an artist and instructor in Myrtle Beach, SC. Follow her and see her work at http://www.artmyrtlebeach.com/
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Absolutely fabulous photos Rebecca - that little Canon is the best camera ever. Every time I pick up Tom's 5 pound wonder cam I am grateful for your advice to buy the Canon Powershot SX50.
ReplyDeleteI understand your Venice confusion - it seems that they must deliberately make it difficult to find your way around! No street names - no map with the street names that are there - if you are in a ticket line you can be sure it is the wrong line and if it seems that you should get on this ferry you can be sure it is going the wrong way... A good book for Venice prep "The Politics of Washing, Real Life in Venice" by Polly Coles. I had it on my kindle reader and it really helped me get a bit of perspective. It helps a lot to know you are not the only one wandering... BTW - I spent Sunday afternoon at the Googenheim the weekend you were there. Great experience putting the history of modern/contemporary together under one roof. Sorry about your phone - thanks for your honesty. We are all vulnerable.
Pat, Sometimes I wonder if I should be so transparent about the mistakes I make along the way, but I always hope that my foibles and experience can either make people laugh, or help them feel better about themselves and their own struggles while traveling. Travel overseas is NOT for sissies! lol Experience is a great teacher, but that education can be stressful at times. The secret for me has been to is to seek out those with experience, learn from them, and keep a sense of humor. I agree that the Canon SX50 has made my life easier when trying to get good photos. I lugged my huge camera with a great lens for years, and then decided enough was enough. I couldn't be happier with the SX50's ability to zoom when needed and capture what I'm interested in photographing. I also loved the Guggenheim Museum, and have another blog coming up which will mention it. Definitely a "must see" when in Venice. Thanks for your thoughtful comments! One of these days we need to travel together!
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