Venice, Italy

After spending an enjoyable day in Istanbul, we flew directly to Venice.  From the Venice airport we took a water bus to a stop near our hotel. The last time we were in Venice was nine years ago, when we went there on our honeymoon.  We have great memories from our first visit and so it was nice to see that Venice hasn't lost any of its charm.

Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and it consists of a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by bridges.  The whole city is listed as a World Heritage Site.  It is considered one of the most romantic cities in the world and this is true!

We spent two days in Venice; on the first day we walked around the city and visited a few of our favourite sites (we even managed to find the pizzeria that we ate at nine years ago and that serves the best pizza in Venice!) and then the next day we took a ferry to the islands of Murano and Burano.  We had an amazing time in Venice and are so grateful that we had the opportunity to go back.

Piazza San Marco and Basilica di San Marco

Piazza San Marco also known as St. Mark's Square, is the main public square in Venice and it is one of the world's most famous squares.  Basilica di San Marco or Saint Mark's Basilica and the San Marco Campanile (the bell tower of the Basilica) sit at the eastern end of the square and both are recognizable symbols of Venice.  Basilica di San Marco is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice and it is the most famous of the city's churches.  

Rialto Bridge and The Grand Canal
The Rialto Bridge is the most famous of all the bridges that cross the Grand Canal in Venice.  This stone arch bridge was constructed between 1588 and 1591, and it is one of Venice's most popular attractions.  

Murano Island and Burano Island in Venice, Italy

The first time we visited Venice we only visited the island of Murano.  This time we decided to go back to Murano and also visit the island of Burano.  We took a water ferry from Venice and spent the day visiting both islands.

Murano Island

Murano is about 1.5 km north of Venice and it is famous for its glass making.  Glass is still hand-blown here and many of the pieces produced are exquisite (unfortunately many of the shops and vendors prohibited photo- taking, so we don't have much to share).  We spent half the day walking around Murano, visiting the many glass shops and we also went to a glass making demonstration.  

Glass making demonstration
We got to watch one of the artisans at work and this guy was impressive.  In less than 20 minutes, he had hand-blown a vase and had also made a horse.    

Burano Island
This was our first visit to the island of Burano and it did not disappoint.  In fact Burano far exceeded our expectations and we were just so taken with the charm of this island.  What makes this island so special are the colourful homes that adorn the island......everything pops with colour!  Burano is also known for its lace and we saw some beautiful lace shops and lacework.