In the morning, we walked about 2 kilometers to MediaWorld (the Italian equivalent to Best Buy or Ultimate Electronics) and bought a replacement camera ( a newer model of the Fugi that camera that took a vacation detour a few days earlier). Then we hopped on the train for Venezia. Our first priority was to find a place to call home (besides it was raining so we didn't want to walk around getting our luggage wet). The Singapore lady (wish we would have gotten her name) warned against staying in Venice since it cost way too much, and suggested we go to Burano. A small island town just north of the city. So we hopped on a water-bus and headed out of town on the 40-minute ride to Burano.
Leaving Venecia on waterbus
She had a lot of great things to say about this little town and we quickly found that it was all true. The town is known for it's lace (more on that later) and even to a male mind the shops were interesting and the stitch work was amazing.
The train lady said to ask the shop keepers where we might find a "guest room", so we started asking around and were directed to a restaurant in the middle of town. When we found the restaurant, we were unsure about asking since there was no sign whatsoever that they had rooms. But we asked anyway and sure enough, they gave us a small but very nice room on the third floor. I don't think these rooms were really meant for the tourist off the street because if you didn't know they were here, there's not a single clue that you could pick one up.
We dropped off our stuff and began to explored the small island village. The shops here are all small and stuffed to the ceiling with artsy fartsy stuff. It's all pretty cool though. We asked about getting some masks shipped home, but it would be ~60 Euros which was more than the masks.
The first residents planted themselves here over a thousand years ago and fishermen and their families have lived here ever since (well, technically, I guess they were a series of fishermen and their families... so far we haven't seen anyone over two hundred years old). The lace tradition began when fishermen's wives took the art of net mending to a new level and started making decorative patterns. In the 16th century, the lace made here was the most sought-after in all Europe. It became known as Punto in aria ("points in the air") and the techniques are still practiced.
By the next morning at breakfast, we met another patron at the hotel named Dea. Dea is a student at the Venetian school of Art and and invited us on a tour at the shop she works at here in Burano.
She explained the seven stitches that are used in the lace and that traditionally, each lace maker specializes in just one of the seven stitches. She also said that the art is a dieing one. For hundreds of years the art was passed down from generation to generation but the new generation doesn't want anything to do with it. There are only a few older lace makers left and they will probably be the last.
She took us the the second and third floors, where most people don't get to go, to the "Elton John" room, named so because Elton, who has a house in Venice, comes there a couple of times a year and always visits the shop and rummages through the upstairs rooms (they display a blow up photo of Elton and the resident lace maker in the downstairs store. The lace in the EJ room is way out of most peoples budget. The article above is about three feet wide, 200 years old and caries a price tag of 22k Euros ($28k).
Some of the pieces were small but depending on their age were still quite spendy.
Today was our day to explore Venezia and we were glad it wasn't raining. Still, Burano seemed even more picturesque in the good light of a sunny day.
The leaning clock tower makes the island easy to distinguish from other islands on the boat ride north.
This was our home for three days.
Venezia
A thirty minute boat ride puts you right back into the hustle and bustle of a real tourist town. Entering the Grand Canal of Venezia, the first thing that catches your eye is the Basilica de San Marco. We spent several hours here walking through the Palazzo Ducale (palace of the Doges' (ancient Venetian presidents)) including the huge rooms where the Great Council carried out the daily job of running one of the richest republics in the world.
One of the newest displays in the armory.
Learning all about the Council of Ten and how the judicial system worked and toured the prison and armory was also very interesting and made the day go very fast. Every room was filled with a spectacular display of frescos in every size from murals 100 feet long to small rectangular paintings filling every corner of the most remote ceilings.
The view from the upper windows showed the contrast between Venezia and our little corner of the world in Burano.
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The pigeons in the plaza were just as entertaining as the historical sites.
The next thing you notice is Santa Maria della Salute. This church was built in thanksgiving for the city's deliverance from the plague of 1630.
We went into this church too but didn't stay as long. We were getting tired of walking so we hopped back on a water bus and took a tour of the Grand Canal.
