Welp, I most definitely did not sleep well last night. I had thought I’d get up this morning around 7am to get in a 10k run so I’d get some extra points on my garmin. I was still wide awake well after 3:30am and said to hell with that when my alarm went off.
Mom and I got up and ready for breakfast by 9 am. Since it was included in our stay, we took full advantage of the unlimited coffee and juice. I also made an egg and cheese sandwich, not the best ever, but it served its purpose. I’m going to enjoy a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit when I get home, for sure!
We walked 8 minutes to the meeting point to find our guide. On the way, I kept a close look out for how I can do my run later. Apparently if I had just gone over one of the bridges I was close to last night I would have had a decent straight away! Dangit! Anyway, we were a little early so we took advantage of the bathrooms. When we came out, our personal guide was standing there waiting for us. Our guide (whose name I cannot remember and I feel awful about) looked adorable, in her white linen button up shirt tucked into her navy blue maxi skirt with a matching sun hat!
We followed her onto a water bus and listened to her share some Venetian history with us. The way they built this city is beyond belief, and all to get away from the mainland to stop attacks from neighbors trying to control the area. Pretty impressive and genius. The bridge to connect Venice to the mainland was only created for modern convenience, so way back when, they were secluded and kept safe.
The first island we went to was Murano. It’s known for its glassblowing factories. The story goes that when the people discovered heating the sand at a very high heat, it would turn into glass that they could manipulate into goods once it cooled properly. Because of the ovens eventually required to create the glass, the government moved the glassblowing artisans out to this island to keep the main city safe from fires, explosions, AND to keep their craft secrets inaccessible to just anyone walking through town.
These artisans used to be taught the trade only by family and starting very very young. We got to walk around the town and see the different shops filled with tons of unique glassware-some literally had plates and cups, other had jewelry, some had cute little figurines and Christmas ornaments. From there our guide took us to a factory to have a viewing of the glassblowing by a master glass artisan.
The first one we watched had a man create a vase that was so detailed and gorgeous! Then the owner took mom, our guide, and i into a private viewing where we watched a master artisan that had been doing this for 65 years! He created a vase as well and then a Ferrari horse! The horse had to be manipulated within 60 seconds of the first pinch made. Super impressive!
We walked around the town a little more and then took the water bus to Burano. This little island is famous for its lace and colorful fisherman houses. The history says that while the fisherman were gone all day, the women hand wove lace to occupy their time.. and eventually their talent became recognized and started to become an export for goods and services. The fisherman painted their houses different colors to be easier to spot their homes from the water when they were rowing home.
I loved the lace, but I really loved the houses! We sat and had lunch together, the three of us, at a cafe along one of the canals before our guide let me wander all about and take a picture of probably every single house on that island! Several of them are for sale too. I need to Google those prices, it’s GOT to be pricy! Lol
By this time in the day, close to 3pm, it was HOT. And when I say hot, I mean I was watching the sweat bead up and roll down my arms, I could feel it on my back, and mom looked like she was absolutely miserable. She promised she wasn’t though. We made points to get water and hydrate, but the crowds continued to grow as well, making it that much hotter.
We originally had one more stop on our itinerary, but with it being so very hot we decided to skip it. We would have gotten to visit the green island of Mazzorbo and walk around a family farm with a vineyard. But our guide told us they don’t do tastings on Sundays and there would be no shade anywhere, so we opted out. I think our guide was quite relieved too! She navigated us back to our water bus stop close to our hotel, full of information the entire way, and then we said our goodbyes. While we definitely could have done this trip without a guide and saved some money, it was so much better having her there and getting her input and wealth of knowledge, too.
We walked back to our hotel, changed clothes, and went swimming. There were more people at the pool today, so it didn’t feel as weird as yesterday did. Once we felt cool and revived from the heat of the day, we dried off and got ready for dinner. Dinner doesn’t start until 7pm at the earliest, so we were glad we took our time swimming before getting ready.
We walked around to look for a good restaurant to eat at. Being on the sea, there’s a ton of seafood, which mom won’t eat.. so 2 restaurants we passed were no good for her.. very few non seafood choices. We found a place that she liked, I got spaghetti carbonara, she got a calzone stuffed with all her favorite things! It was perfect 🙂 We ate and laughed and enjoyed our last dinner in Venice!
From there we walked and walked all around, to help me get a better plan for my run. It turned into an impromptu photo shoot because we had on our pretty dresses and the moon was lighting up the sky so beautifully. Mom refuses to let me post any of the pictures of her captured in the moonlight, just know that I have them and I love them, but if she posted pictures I didn’t like of myself I’d be upset, so I won’t do that to her (although I think she’s crazy because she looks wonderful in them. We’re all our own worst critic, for sure).
We got back to the room and I changed into my running clothes.. I was downstairs heading out the door around 10:30 and the concierge from the hotel looked at me sideways.. I laugh and say, “just going for a run, be back soon!” And he looks at his watch, noting the time and says, “ok, I stay right here for you.” And moved towards the hotel front doors. I’ve never felt unsafe, but it was comforting to know that someone else was looking out for me too. Mom had already taken a picture of me in my running clothes and noted the time, doesn’t hurt to be prepared.
My run was one of my favorite ones yet. I did 2 miles along the route we walked to get to the meeting spot for our tour this morning, then turned down the long seafront sidewalk. I came back and did some funky figure 8s around some houses and then made my way down some long stretches along the canals.. all which had several bridges. I walked up and over each bridge, which weren’t long by any means, but I was worried in my hast I’d roll an ankle on uneven stones.
I made it 2 miles and came back to the hotel. The concierge man was standing outside at the door, and I won’t say he was technically waiting for me, but he did come back inside after I did. I said goodnight to him and went to the room, to shower and hop in bed. Tomorrow we have some downtime until like 2pm when we need to get over to the cruise terminal. Google maps says it’s about 40 minutes away, so we’ll pack after breakfast, leave our luggage with the hotel, and either take the water bus to Lido to hang out at a beach or just see if we can hang out at this hotel pool, since it won’t matter what we’re wearing because we’ll surely head to the pool on the cruise ship once we’re all checked in. Wahooo! I’m so looking forward to the next 10 days!