Cruising The Islands

It's Thursday, May 5.  Cinco de Mayo.  Can you believe they don't celebrate it here?  🙂

Today is our last full day in Venice.  We took the vaparetto first to Burano.  The houses are all painted bright colors and it is very charming.  Besides the colorful houses, Burano is known for their lace.  Of course there were plenty of shops selling things, including lace and Murano glass.  We slowed down by one store to look at a scarf and the guy working there dashed out to show us his wares.  We were trying to be polite and we let him talk us into seeing something in the store.  He showed us everything.  Everything!  And of course he would sell each item for less than the posted price.  He said it was much less than we would pay on Murano.  Marie slipped outside.  Gee thanks for having my back Marie!!  The man told me about a woman who had come in his shop yesterday and found the very same necklace she had purchased in Murano, but she had paid much more.  She cried.  Finally some other people came into the shop and he began talking to him.  I used the distraction to make my escape.  We walked away from the shop and just when I thought I was safe he came running after me.  Yes, running.  I thought maybe he believed I had stolen something.  No, he just wanted to tell me that I would not find prices as good as his in Murano.  He warned me that I would cry when I realized how much I would have to pay.  He actually started rubbing his fist at his eye in a dramatic crying motion.  It was so funny!  For the rest of this trip (possibly longer) the joke is going to be "It will make you cry!"

We went to Murano and I was hoping to see some glass blowing.  I have been fascinated by that since I was a child.  Unfortunately we were not able to locate a place that allowed observe them doing that.  We looked at some beautiful glass things, but resisted the temptation to buy anything.  We had gelato for lunch.  Again.  This might be an every other day occurrence.

This is a large glass sculpture.

When we returned to Venice we went by the train station to buy tickets for our train to Verona. We leave tomorrow at 5:50 p.m.  We will still have much of the day in Venice while we wait for Darcy to arrive.

We had reservations for dinner tonight.  Thanks to David we were going to have a really special meal in a wonderful setting.  The restaurant wasn't too far from St. Marks Square.  We arrived at the square early and were browsing the stuff people sell.  We ended up buying hats to keep the sun off our faces.  The added benefit is that if it is pulled down just a little you can avoid vendors trying to sell you their junk.  No, I don't want to buy a purse!  No, I don't want to eat at your restaurant!  We went back to the hotel that Darcy is staying in to make sure we knew the way.  It's a bit confusing and we didn't want to get lost with our luggage.  Speaking of which, I'm a little concerned about going to that area with our luggage tomorrow.  The vaparetto was so packed we were wondering what the maximum occupancy was.  I'm considering that it might be easier to walk there, then take the fast vaparetto to the train station.  Or maybe take our luggage to the train station early and get it when we are ready to leave.  We will have to figure something out.

Dinner at Ristorante da Raffaele was wonderful.  Such a great way to say goodbye to such a unique city.  The setting was lovely and the food was delicious.  I had sea bass and potatoes and Marie had tortellini with ham and peas.  Then she and I shared a Venetian specialty for dessert, Bicchierino "Avola".  It is a mousse of mascarpone with chocolate and amaretto.  Fantastico!!!

After dinner we returned to the hotel.  Evening is such a great time to be on the canal.  I will miss that.  We got our things together to make leaving tomorrow easier.  Parting is such sweet sorrow, but fair Verona awaits.