Venezia: Parte Tre

Murano

The canals of Murano

My final day in Venice I planned to visit the island of Murano and see what I could see there. I travelled from Mestre to Santa Lucia once again on the train before struggling to figure out which train would take me to Murano. I finally figured it out and made my way. After about thirty minutes, I arrived.

The great thing about going to these lesser known islands is that there are fewer tourists, and the ones who are there tend to be what I might call educated tourists, ones who are there to see the sights, but who can cultivate a real intellectual and emotional appreciation for them, rather than just gawking and loudly exclaiming at them. Murano as an island, likewise, is a slightly more open, and more accessible Venice. The waterways that intersect it are, for the most part, much broader, more like avenues than streets or alleyways. Further inland are homes, but lining the avenues almost exclusively are shops selling glassware, interspersed, of course, with restaurants.

Murano is famous for its glassworks. I didn’t go in or tour any of the shops because the shopkeepers are apparently pretty pushy about getting you to buy things and I was definitely not in the market. I also didn’t take too many photos of shops or wares because the keepers know that tourists will come and do just that and not actually put money down on the wares and are therefore loath to allow it. It was cool just to take photos of the town itself, though. I can say that this is the place to look for glass chandeliers, however.

These pots are ~2000 years old...

Also, I did have the opportunity to visit Murano’s glassworks museum. I wasn’t supposed to take photos in here, but I did manage to escape with a few. The treasures contained within were innumerable. For instance, the first exhibit and room was full of glassware dating back to the 1^st Century, A.D. It’s unimaginable to me that any glassware has survived from that period, much less the quantity in the room I visited (and whatever lies elsewhere, of course, as well). Above, I was able to see a variety of plates, vases, and other knickknacks wrought with unimaginable complexity and beauty. The glass, by the hands of the Muranese glassblowers, looked almost organic. Lastly, it was also neat to have just a little insight into the process of the process of constructing the various works exhibited in the museum. I did not go to a glassblowing demonstration as had been suggested to me, mainly because I have actually seen it done before, and because I didn’t readily know where to find such a demonstration in the short time I had.

Beads

How beads are made

I had lunch on Murano, also. This time I succumbed and had a seafood, Venetian dish. Knowing how much I like carpaccio I decided to give it a try with seafood. A huge plate of rucola, tuna, swordfish, and salmon was delivered to me, and it was incredibly delicious. I followed this up with pasta in a (gasp) red sauce made from tomatoes, onions, garlic, and bacon (the bacon was part of the sauce, there were no bits). It was an excellent meal.

A large sculpture beneath the central clock tower on Murano

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Burano

I had heard Burano was a fun island to visit, as well, but had resigned myself to having to visit at some future time. Struck with inspiration however, I decided to figure it out. I navigated to an alternate station on Murano and took the (rather long) water taxi ride to Burano. I didn’t have long, as the clock seemed to be ticking faster and faster on my time left in Venice. Luckily (though there is a lace museum), there isn’t nearly as much to do on tiny Burano. The main attraction is the vividly bright buildings, the lovely water avenues, and the oddly crooked (leaning, one might even say) church tower. I had time to see these before (missing my first) catching my second taxi ride out of Burano. It really was a quaint place, and I even kicked a soccer ball back to some little kids playing out in front of the cathedral.

As mentioned, time was speeding up, but I decided that I could go back and be very early, or I could risk it and go back to San Marco one last time. After getting back to Venice from Murano, I took another water taxi to San Marco (one will note I never took a gondola. In a way I regret this. That said, they are now not necessary and are therefore very expensive, and I didn’t know where I would go, since I just wanted the experience. Lastly, gondola rides are something you should do with (a special) someone, so I thought perhaps I will have the opportunity in the future). Time was running out, but I grabbed my favorite sandwich for the third day in a row and, pocketing it, I got the same trio of ice creams from the previous day, consuming the delicacy as I made my way back to the train station for a ride back to Mestre. After hoofing it to the hotel, back to Mestre, back across to Santa Lucia, and onto the train, I finally was able to sit down to an episode of Mad Men and have that final Venetian sandwich. This was not, however, before I listened to Fernando Lima’s countertenor spin the melody of Venezia, a song that I loved before I visited, and that I now appreciate all the more…. A tribute to the city of masques and secrets.

My trip ended nicely. The train journey was a bit better because I was able to lay down across three seats (a Monday night train from Venice to Vienna is not particularly popular. Still, I didn't get too much sleep. It was cool at one point to wake up and see some alpen town lit by the moon and surrounded by snowcapped mountains and pine trees clinging to hills and cliffs. Later, in the morning, I saw the farming hills outside of Vienna, which was also neat, if a bit earlier than I wanted to wake up. I will conclude this with a cheery picture of me in Burano!