This blog covers 2 days of sightseeing in Venice.

Our trip yesterday took us to Murano. It is a pretty straight forward trip, just take the water taxi to Lido, and then catch the next taxi to Murano.

We slept in till quite late, so we did not meet the taxi till 10.30. The trip to Lido then takes about another 30 minutes. The trip to Lido was good, as you get to see Venice from a different perspective. You also realise how many more islands there are off the Venice coast. It seems that many locals live in Lido and work in Venice, as the rents are much lower. Many units in Venice now remain empty for a long time of the year, as they have been bought by investors, particularly U.S ones.

The trip to Murano, again is also very interesting, you go past the various marina's that Venice has. We finally arrived in Murano about 30 minutes later.

As you would expect, it is wall to wall with glass shops. The girls were keen to have a look around, as they wanted to find some small gifts to take back home. Brian and I looked at the first 2 shops and thought this is enough, and found a place outside in the shade. As usual the girls checked every shop out in great detail. They took off down a back lane to some more shops, and we followed. They then disappeared. We assumed they went into this glass factory (which they did), but when Brian and I tried to enter, we got told off by a lady. It seems this place is by appointment only, so obviously it is VERY expensive. We waited till the lady left and made our move. Sure enough we found this showroom. I have never seen so much glass in my life, particularly with price tags of about 10-20 thousand euro. We looked at each other and said, lets find the girls and get out of here before we break something! I had to duck some of the chandeliers as it was, so I could just imagine the damage I would do if I hit one. Then we got lost finding the girls, this shop was like one huge rabbit warren full of the most expensive glass I have ever seen. After what seemed like an eternity we located them, and got out of the place. On the way out, a Chinese guy was buying some stuff, and they seem to convey their offers by using a calculator, and bargaining back and forth. Anyway, my credit card wouldn't even cover the tax payable.

After that, our nerves were shot, so we looked for place to have lunch and a couple of drinks. After lunch we decided we had had enough. The glass shops seem to look all the same after a while, and the girls had bought their gifts, so enough is enough. We took a different Taxi back so we could see more of the sites, and then finally got off at the San Marco stop. We know the area quite well now, so the trip back to the unit was quite straight forward, albeit the large tourist boats were in and Venice was full to the brim with tourists.

The next day was probably our best day. Dianne had booked a walking tour with one of the local guides. The tour started in front of the Museum of Arts. It was a quick trip from our Unit by taxi ferry to the Museo stop. At 8.30am Felicita our guide turned up. Our guide was a born and bred local, and knew everything you needed to know about Venice. She took us through all the back blocks to show how the venetian live today, and how Venice was in it's early days. It would have been better if we had done this at the start of our stay rather than at the end, as we would have had a much better appreciation of Venice. She also explained that many shops have been taken over by foreigners, and they seeming to be passing of glass as Murano Glass, and Lace as Burano lace, when in fact it is not. The locals are not happy, as it gives Venice a bad name. Our walk went for about 2 hours, and then finished off with a Gondola ride, which we all found to be a big disappointment. As we had plenty of time on our hands, we decided to go to Burano, which is famous for its lace.

We caught a taxi boat, but deliberately took the other route around to the other side of Venice up past the port. Then finally changed taxi's to make the trip to Burano. It was quite a long trip, about 45 minutes. On this trip you could clearly see the little mud islands that sit at see level, and I suspect these are the types of islands Venice was built on. Once you arrive at Burano, you walk into the markets and shops that are set up. The town is quaint, and unlike Murano, and Venice, the houses are painted all different colours. It was a nice change from the greys and oranges they use elsewhere. The girls took off, and again Brian and I thought this was too boring so we looked for the nearest pub. While we were there, we met some Americans who were on 2 weeks leave. They were nice people, so we had a great afternoon chatting. The girls finally found us, and after a drink of water and a chat with our American friends, we all decided to leave, and catch the ferry back.

The trip back was good, but we are starting to flagg a bit. It has been a very full on holiday. Once we got back to port, we decided to walk back to our unit, rather than catch another taxi. Eventually, after going through every back street in Venice, we made it, just in time for tea!

Tomorrow, we are leaving for Vienna, and our stay in Venice will be over. Venice is unique, and has a great history to it. Well worth seeing, but of course you really don't have time to see as much as you should.