Trailblazers Too: Saturday, June 9, 2018 (Venice)

Our room in the Monastery

Our most spacious bathroom on the trip

We slept in a little this morning then got ready for the day. Unfortunately, breakfast was served from 8 to 10 and by the time we got ready, all the good pastries were already gone. We had a yogurt and grabbed a cool bottle of water. Per emails before our trip, we had set up an appointment with Roberto, a marionette maker and he was going to show us his laboratory and studio. There is a lot of exact measurement in designing and building the marionette – a fun way to tie in math skills. Tiffany was great with the GPS and turned out Roberto wasn’t that far from where we were staying. We got there early so we waited until 11 and then rang the doorbell. No answer. We tried again at 11:15, 11:30 (our meeting time) and again at 11:40. We wanted to get to San Marcos and see if we could book some other tours because they had all been full online. I sent Roberto an email explaining we had to leave but we were sorry we’d missed him.

Madonna dell'Orto Church

The Church connected to our Monastery

There are over 100 churches in Venice--we found out why later.

We walked through the winding streets and over bridges. We found Rialto Bridge, the biggest in Venice and stopped for some pictures and to see the canal in its’ glory. We continued on to San Marcos Square, browsing along the way. We decided we would take a boat to Murano, a nearby island. Tiffany loves glass blowing and this is the island famous for it. We grabbed a quick slice of pizza and sat on the steps looking out onto San Marcos Square.

Typical Venice canal

Johnnie

Tiffany

Rialto Bridge

Here is a "bus stop."

Many of the vaporettos (water bus) were this packed.

We arrived at Murano and it was very hot and humid. We wandered down a side alley and found ourselves in the shop of a glass blower. We were able to watch him blow a blue oval shaped object. Carefully he created an opening in the middle, making a beautiful glass. One of the workers came over to explain a little about the process and to explain that the glass would now have to be fired for several hours. Turns out this shop was actually a wholesale store for buyers but we were allowed to tour it. We saw amazing artistry and unbelievable chandeliers of all styles. I don’t know who this guy thought we were but by the end of our looking around, he was offering us a chandelier at 50% off. Sorry, too hard to pack and still too expensive

A couple's big day in Venice

Wedding Party

We went into several of the shops in Murano, first because we liked looking at their creations but also because they had AC. We stumbled into one shop and a lady was blowing glass through a small tube and pulling the glass out into little points. She was making a Christmas tree. Tiffany decided to buy an ornament from the artist since she had seen her do her craft. The artist was very friendly and appreciative of the sale. While at Murano, I received an email from the marionette maker. He’d had a family thing come up that morning and was very apologetic. He offered to see us later that afternoon but by that time we already had another tour scheduled.

On the way to Murano

Murano

Tiffany approaching Murano

Glassblowers at work

Tiffany loved buying an ornament from the artist she could watch at work.

We were tired and hot so we decided to take the vaporetto (boat bus) that would go the long way around the island back to St. Marcos square. This gave us some time to rest our feet and bodies. We arrived for our 6:30 boat tour and realized we only had one ticket. Tiffany had booked the tour earlier this morning but was rushing to do it on her phone and had only got one. I told her I would plead for an extra spot. The lady first told me no but then her manager heard me and asked if it was just for one. I said yes and pleaded a little more and she agreed to add one more. The ride was on a medium size boat with 9 on the tour, plus the tour guide and the driver. It was a nice ride, especially when we reached the Grand Canal and were all able to step out in the open area for pictures and to feel the cool breeze. After our ride, we walked to dinner and back to the room. We have two tours scheduled for tomorrow, one early so we cleaned up and went to bed.