G is still determined to find a faster way to get to Piazzale Roma, the transportation hub, and we did manage to find another cut through that shaved a couple of minutes off the walk but, really, most of the time is spent just walking through the Port of Venice. It is fairly convoluted; I can't imagine what it's like with more than two small ships in port. Today we saved another couple of minutes by catching a vaporetto on the side of Piazzale Roma closest to the footbridge from the ship. We took this just one stop to the Santa Lucia train station (Ferrovia stop) where we were going to catch a vaporetto to the island of Murano, north of Venice, that is known for its production of hand blown and hand shaped glass. But before we could board a second vaporetto, we were approached by someone who offered us a free 15-minute water taxi ride to a glass blowing factory with no obligation to buy anything. A water taxi? Free? 15 minutes? Sold!
We boarded the water taxi right there at Ferrovia, the only two people on it and it left immediately. We stooped over to walk through the tiny cabin and stood in the open area just behind it. The ride itself was quite exciting. Water taxis are very expensive- not as expensive as gondolas but way more pricey that the vaporettos we'd been riding. And while vaporettos are ugly work horses, water taxis are gorgeous, long and sleek and made of shiny wood.
Traveling in style
This was too exciting to sit inside for very long.
Soon we were standing behind the taxi's main cabin
Navigating through the narrow canals for the first time
Duck!
Glass furnaces in Murano. We toured the one in the right.
Too soon we arrived at the glass factory and had a personalized demonstration of glass blowing and glass shaping. I've actually seen this sort of thing several times in the past, most recently with Mom at the Toledo Art Museum Glass Pavilion in May, but I never tire of it. I definitely inherited my love of all things glass from my mom. The glass worker first blew out a wavy edged vase and for his second piece he shaped a beautiful glass horse that stood on its back legs, perfectly balanced.
Shaping the glass
Adding some more glass at the end of the tube
Blowing the glass through the tube
Beginning to shape a vase
Back to the furnace to heat it again
Pulling out and fluting the top edge
Finished product
Demonstrating a different technique with a 'closed' glass horse
The finished product, simply pulled and crimped into shape
Then, naturally, we were walked through five galleries of gorgeous, gorgeous glass pieces for sale. All of the items reminded me strongly of Mom's stuffed curio cabinet. I carefully packed up each piece of glass when she moved, and unpacked them and placed them in the cabinet when I visited in May. If I hadn't seen for myself that not one more thing could be squeezed into that cabinet, it would have been a good opportunity to add to her collection...if it wasn't for the very high prices. My favorite pieces were the ones depicting underwater sea life (what a surprise!) and the cheapest of these was 600€. I loved it, just not that much. I did buy some millefiori jewelry pieces for me and for gifts, but they were definitely on the cheap end of items this firm featured.
I loved this! A no maintenance aquarium
Afterward we walked around Murano for an hour or so, which we shouldn't have done because we got pinched for time at our next stop. We took a vaporetto from one Murano stop to another (there are four stops on Murano) and then caught a vaporetto to the island of Burano. If Murano is known for its glass, Burano is famous for its lace. However, Burano was much further than I'd imagined, and once we arrived we only had time to walk around for a few minutes before we needed to take a vaporetto back to Murano. We could have easily spent the entire day on either island.
A few pictures about riding the vaporettos...
After validating their ticket, passengers wait on these sheltered batges for the arrival of the vaporetto
Signage on the barges indicate the route, direction (berybimportwnt) and stops
The leaning tower of...Burano?
Yep, they have one, too, at the Church of San Martino Vescovo
The remains of a monastery on the island of Madonna del Monte between Murano and Burano
We rode back to Murano and then caught the first vaporetto that came by. It happened to go to the San Zaccaria stop at San Marco (St. Mark's Square)...the slow way. We circled around the southeastern edge of Venice and entered the Grand Canal from the south. I was getting just a tad nervous; we know the Venice skyline and I was not seeing all the bell towers that are apparent in central Venice. Finally, things started looked familiar.
Back in Murano, more glass furnaces
Murano
The Church of San Michele in Isola on the island of Cimitero di San Michele...
The island has been a cemetery since 1807. Igor Stravinsky is buried here.
Cimitero di San Michele
Everything is a boat here!
Circling around Venice from the southeast
Back in familiar territory, near the San Zaccaria vaporetto stop at St. Mark's Square
We disembarked at San Zaccaria and asked at the ticket booth for the fastest vaporetto to Piazzale Roma (5.2 line). At 2:50pm we were sailing up a canal a stone's throw from the Pacific Princess...but we still had to stay on until Piazzale Roma to enter the port through the security area. No worries; we reboarded the ship at 3:20pm (all on board time was 3:30pm). Seldom early, never late!
Sailaway was supposed to be at 4pm but the Pacific Princess had to wait for the mandatory tug, and it was late showing up. I was up on Deck 10 waiting for the Pacific Princess to push away from the pier when Captain Dominico Lubrano announced what was causing the delay. At 4:30pm I decided that, by the time we sailed, we would have missed the opportunity for really good photos so I returned to the cabin and quickly showered and met G in the PES Lounge just as the ship was sailing through the Grand Canal. Sure enough, it was nearly dark, but it was pretty to see the streetlights coming on.
Dinner was quick (just a garden salad and pasta with chicken for me...then half a piece of flourless chocolate cake for dessert), and I returned to the cabin to crash. G is still out, watching the Welcome Aboard show, but we've already seen two this season and that is enough for me, especially after two long days in Venice. We arrive in Split, Croatia at 7am tomorrow morning, day 8 of our 9 port days in a row. I may sleep until noon on our sea day in two days!