Our last major city of the Globus tour was Venice. We arrived late afternoon but were promptly put on a boat for our optional lagoon tour and trip to the island town of Burano. Our slight frustration over not being able to immediately explore the intricate bridges and canals of Venice was forgotten once we saw the delightfully bright buildings of Burano. The inhabitants of this fishing village have no rules over the colors they paint their houses which are really more like townhomes, so each long building is striped vertically in vivid pink, yellow, green, red, orange, and blue with the color of choice representing something significant going on with the family that year. The town has many small canals and bridges of its own. The locals also specialize in hand-crafted lace and we could see some women working in their shops. Since it was Sunday, it was quiet and we were some of the only tourists around making it a nice change of pace. Our dinner was delicious and Dan claims to have had the best shrimp he has ever tasted. In the evening back in Venice, we walked some of the streets and bridges along the Grand Canal getting a sense of our surroundings and eager for the day ahead.

Our first morning in Venice, as with our other stops, began with a tour. However, we still were not quite yet given the opportunity to see Venice as we had another stop planned on the island of Murano. This island town is known for its production of beautiful hand-blown glass. We had a demonstration and were able to see one of the few masters remaining in the field dip a pole into extremely hot ovens, scoop out molten glass as if it were honey, and shape it into a curvy purple vase complete with details from the small, colored mosaic glass tiles he mixed in. This same master also created a horse figurine completing both pieces in about ten minutes. Of course, this stop had a shopping component as well and we had a demonstration of the durability and quality of the Murano glass. Some of the sculptures we saw were gorgeous and each piece is unique, but the thousands of Euros for the seven giant fish on a coral reef were a little too much for our budgets and our suitcases.

After Murano, our boat dropped us near the heart of Venice, the Piazza San Marco. This is the largest city square of all that we had seen in Italy. In Venice, the city of waterways and canals, the only swimming we did was through the dense sea of tourists flooding San Marco Square. Our tour guide took us first to the Basilica di San Marco, a handsome marble building with elaborate mosaics. Outside the building there are over five hundred columns of marble in green, coral, brown, and gray. Inside, the entire floor is one tremendous marble mosaic and the ceilings are wholly coated in mosaics primarily composed of twenty-four karat gold leaf tile. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside, but it would have been impossible to capture the detail and scope of what we saw.

Next we visited the Palazzo Ducale or “Doge’s Palace.” Even though it was beautiful, immense, and detailed, Dan and I were getting impatient and I was feeling overwhelmed by the heat. The highlights of this palace included the largest room in Europe unsupported by columns with one wall containing the largest canvas painting in the world depicting over five hundred people surrounding Jesus and Mary. We also walked through the “Bridge of Sighs” leading from the palace to the connected prison. The stuffiness and heat made it difficult to breathe and we could not imagine the conditions of being imprisoned there.

Following the palace tour we had some time on our own. Since we had bought a little something in Murano that was padded so thickly we had to carry another bag, we decided to go back to our hotel room before our scheduled gondola ride. Our hotel was on the Grand Canal, but about a forty-minute walk from the main square. Our tour director, Luca, had given us a map highlighting the primary route to our hotel, but we quickly found ourselves off track and headed through a maze of tiny streets, tall buildings, bridges, and canals. Fortunately, we knew to head toward the train station and there were several signs. Without looking at our map, we somehow made it back with a few minutes to drop things off and change before returning.

Rather than doing our own ride and having to negotiate with the gondoliers, we opted for the group excursion. Dan and I enjoyed a gondola with another couple and had the pleasure of sharing our ride with the accordion musician and vocalist that entertained the group. Rather than cruising the main canal, we wove through smaller waterways and our music drew the crowds with their cameras and even a few locals enjoying the sounds from their windows above. The experience was a necessary component of our Venice experience and a nice opportunity for a little extra romance.

The rest of the afternoon was allocated to our own amusement. Of course as soon as we saw the bell tower of Venice we asked if we could go up. We were both quite grateful to learn the only option was the elevator. Again a beautiful view, similar to the others, but now framed with water on all sides rather than the green hills. We managed to escape moments before the bells sounded loudly from the spot marking the new hour.
      
    

After some lunch we watched the crowds and the aggressively friendly pigeons entertaining the young children who let the birds climb their feet and flutter on their arms. The oppressive heat was quickly becoming unbearable and we both needed a break. After another hike back to the hotel while attempting to discover a few additional sights (not following the planned path, of course), showers and a nap served us well. We thought we had escaped the stairs by using the lift for the tower, but quickly we found that every bridge in Venice has steps to go up and steps to go down. We then went out for a nice dinner and a little more romance walking through the town in search of tasty gelato. We noticed some rain drops during our excursion and worried that we would be drenched before making it back to the hotel. No problems with the weather for us; we were so exhausted that we slept through the thunderstorm others told us about in the morning.

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