Until I began researching our first trip to Venice, I didn't realize that in addition to the main island of Venice, there are over a hundred outlying islands in the Venetian Lagoon. There are many tools I use to plan a trip, but one of my constant companions is Rick Steves. Once I know a big trip is on our agenda, the first thing I do is get my hands on his guide for our destination. He had great advice for visiting Venice - because the main island of Venice gets super crowded in the middle part of the day, it's best to enjoy it early in the morning and later in the day, and take that middle part of the day to go to some of the other islands. That's exactly what we did when we were there with my sister and her family, and it was great to get away from the crowds.
We went first to the island of Murano, famous for their hand crafted Murano glass. They make and sell everything from jewelry to paperweights to glassware to chandeliers. As you wander around, you can even see some of the craftsmen blowing glass. The island itself is very nice and very quiet.
I didn't take any pictures of the various glass stores or merchandise (because I was too busy shopping), but this glass sculpture was pretty incredible.
After we'd had our fill of glass shopping, we headed over to the island of Burano, famous for its lace making and brightly colored houses. This island was so much fun to photograph! How much fun would it be to live in a bright red or purple house?
We spent a lot of time in the lace shops. A couple of the stores had their lace makers sitting out in the middle of the floor working on intricate lace pieces. My sister asked how long it would take for this lady to finish the piece she was working on, and the owner told us FIVE months!! Can you imagine?
The girls loved all of the lace and found lots of things they thought their Mammaw would have loved.
Lace shopping may not have been my brother-in-law's favorite part of the day, but he was incredibly patient with us four girls!
If you're ever in Venice, you'll definitely want to take the opportunity to explore some of the other islands. The shopping is great, and the lack of crowds is even better!
