Glassy-eyed

Undaunted by the failure of our research efforts in Bassano Del Grappa, we researched extra extra hard for the next day's trip to Murano.  Murano is one of the islands near Venice and of all the possible places, that was where Mom really wanted to go.  I've been to Venice several times, but never to Murano, so I was looking forward to it also.  After studying guide books and the internet, we had restaurant recommendations, water taxi schedules, museum directions, and much more.  Since parking is always the most stressful thing, I knew exactly what parking garage we were going to and how to get there.

Well, sort of.  My friends' directions to the parking garage didn't jive with what the GPS was showing and I had to make a quick decision at 50 mph whether or not to take an exit.  I didn't take it and I should have and we added a good 20 minutes of driving through construction to get going in the right way again.  Crossing over the water to the edge of Venice, we saw the parking garage signs and everything was going quite well.

Until the cars just were not moving.  We were definitely in the right lane and we could see the entrance, but we couldn't get anywhere.  After about 10 minutes, Mom got out and walked up a bit to see what the deal was.  She came back and said, "You're not going to like this.  There's a big sign on the entrance that says 'Completo"."

Crap.  The parking garage was full.  The cars were lined up waiting for one car at a time to leave and make space.  I turned around and ended up driving 10 minutes back across the water before I could turn around again and try a different garage.  You miss a turn here and it's not like you can just turn around the next block.  You may end up driving a long, long way before you get a chance to correct your route.

We tried another garage and drove up, up, up and around, around, around a corkscrew entrance ramp that made us all dizzy to the 8th level where I was told to park.  Except where were the parking spaces?  That one?  You want me to fit my van THERE?

It took me quite a while, lots of back and forth and turning, and many muttered curses to squeeze the van into the narrow space.  Luckily, Mom and the kids had gotten out already because I could only get my door open about 2 inches.  I had to climb in the back seat and open the sliding door to get out.  It would have been worth taking a picture of had I not been about to have a stroke.  I was already totally frustrated and we hadn't even gotten out of the parking area yet.

We found the water taxi ticket booth just fine and bought day passes for the water taxis.  That's the only way to get to Murano.  We confidently headed for the taxi number that our research told us to take, only to be told just as confidently that that taxi did not go to Murano.  Fine, then.  We found the right taxi just a few minutes after it had pulled away.  Eventually we boarded the water taxi to Murano.

 
I do like Venice.  I know it's touristy and crazy and overpriced, but it really is a different kind of city and fun in it's own way.

It was another lovely day, sunny but not hot.  We stood on the steps of the water taxi to enjoy the breeze and the view and take photos.

The island of Murano is famous for glass.  You can buy glass in Venice, too and I have a treasured collection of glass fish that I bought when I was here the first time in the early 90s.  But Murano is all glass everywhere.  There are glass blowing demonstrations, although we managed to miss all the good ones.  There's a beautiful church there with a mosaic glass floor.  I don't have any photos of that because the signs requested no picture taking.  I know a lot of people sneak photos in places like that anyway, but I don't feel right about it.

This big pointy glass thing was very cool:

 

Murano was wonderful.  So much less crowded than Venice and easier to navigate, although a maze built by a blind person is easier to navigate than Venice, so that might not be saying much.  The glass was all so wonderful, from the tiniest beads to the huge chandeliers.  Need I mention that we never found the restaurants we'd researched?   
 
I bought several more glass animals for my collection.  I had enough fish, but I wanted to keep it sort of nautical, so I added a sea turtle,

an octopus,

and a pelican with his lunch already caught in his mouth.  Can you see his little red fish in there?

In the afternoon, we used our day tickets to take the water taxi to St. Mark's square, since I really think if you're anywhere near Venice, you should see St. Mark's.  Yes, it's jammed with tourists and there's annoying 4 story high advertisements hung from the buildings, but it's St. Mark's.  It's just cool and it's so....Venetian.

 
 
 

Comments

[knittergran]

Wow! Thanks for the tour!

[Melissa]

Ok...Murano is on my to-do list now and I LOVE that pelican. In fact, I might just have to buy one for myself. I love that octopus too! What a fun collection you have.

[Cheryl Possehl]

great post, but I thought you'd mention the problems getting OUT of the parking garage. You deserved a medal for that day!

[Suna]

The glass is so beautiful. I love that stuff, too, and will never get a chance to go there, so thanks for sharing what you saw!

[Chris]

We loved Murano and Burano, Venice, not so much. We did tour the Doge's Palace and loved it, but the city was just not my fav. Give me Rome any day! I have a paper weight from Murano, Mille Fiori, that I just love. Our glass blower was amazing. Ah, to be back in Italy again.