While in Venezia, we have dedicated half a day to visiting two islands near the main island: Murano and Burano.
Murano is famous for its glass making industry. Basically the island is full of small workshops owned by different families specializing in artistic glass production. Getting to Murano is quite simple: ACTV, the local transportation agency, operates some ferry lines to the island (~10-15 minutes). We used number 12, which stops at the light-tower of Murano every 40 minutes. From there on one can follow the pathways among the channels, that split the island into smaller pieces (connected by bridges), where there is a line of shops with different glass-based decorative items. Some of them are funny, some of them just amazing and some about which I have no idea how on Earth they could make it.
There is also a glass-museum in Murano, which is part of Musei Civici Venezia group (MUVE), hence our Museum Pass was valid and we could enter. One thing to note about the museum: although in some places it says that it is closed on Wednesday, we have actually payed a visit on Wednesday. Also on the official site it says nothing about being closed on Wednesday.
Our route took from Murano to Burano, a smaller island to the north, about 20-25 minute boat ride from Murano (again, with route no. 12). Burano is an interesting place to visit due to its colorful houses and it’s lace production. As in Murano, here too, there are a lot of shops, but instead of glasses, people are selling lace.
The lace museum of Burano is also part of the MUVE group, so we have payed a visit. It is not a big museum, but it features a movie at the entrance which tells the story of lace production in Burano. Also on the second floor there was a group of women working with laces. I have no idea whether they were part of the “decorations” or just working there, but it was a good opportunity to have a look at how laces are made.
Originally we planned to eat lunch at one of the islands, however, I think we would have received the same food for a bit more money as in Venezia. For that reason we decided to head back to the main island and continue our tour there.
The islands conclude our two and a half day visit to Venezia, so my stories about the trip will end here. I think visiting Venezia is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so nobody should miss it out, if they have the chance to visit. Some pictures of the trip can be found here.
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