Leaving our marina and heading into Venice Lagoon, we took it as great sign that we encountered a sailing regatta. Not sure if it was the language barrier or the fact that we didn't have any sails but they never invited us to join them.
So, we continued on. The boat rental company provided charts with listings of possible routes and good options for places to dock the boat. The first thing we all wanted to do was catch a glimpse of Venice. We were told that we couldn't go into the Grand Canal but we were able to get a good view of Piazza San Marco as we traversed the waterway just outside the city. It was so beautiful but we still needed to find a place to spend the night. Consulting our charts, we found a great canal that had private docks for our use. It was great to be so secluded yet just outside of the city. Pedro and Dan got to work on setting up the new grill for dinner while the girls were busy down below.
Our next stop was Sant Erasmo - the charts referred to it as grocery island. It was a great spot to dock and a moderately short walk into the quaint village where there was indeed a grocery store. Despite the fact that we'd provisioned heavily, we laughed at ourselves as we still had to go in and get a few things! A funny story, so Cathy went looking for a bathroom. There was public one that had a coin slot to deposit your Euro. It didn't appear to be operational. So, Cathy proceeds to enter and at the same time a young teenager rides up on his bike, holds out his hand and demands "un euro." Not sure what to do, she gives him the Euro and he rides away. Bottom line, she got to use the bathroom, the boy scammed her out of a Euro and we all got a really big laugh!!!!
Next, we headed over to Burano, my favorite stop of the trip! This colorful villages was simply adorable. From the colorful houses to the quaint shops to the bridges over canals. Coming in on our boat and walking around as the city was coming to life, felt like being a local. We even found someone's collection of the 7 dwarves. At first, we couldn't find grumpy so we had Alison fill in. Then we found him around the corner so I got to play Snow White (hey, I don't make up the rules) which really did make Alison grumpy. Anyway, we loved Burano so much that we spent several days there. I really cannot say enough about this town. If you go to Venice, you must go to Burano.
Next, we headed over the island of Murano where we were able to rent a slip in a marina for a couple of days. This beautiful island has long been famous for it's amazing glass blowing factories which date back to the 8th century and by the 1200's were producing the city's major industry. The factories were moved from Venice to Murano to help ensure that Venice itself wouldn't burn (again) in the event of an accident. Today, the glass making is still generationally passed on within families where it takes 15-25 years to become a master glass blower. Most of the factories offer tours and the various shops sell everything from small trinkets to huge works of art. The Church of Santa Maria and San Donato was the only church (to Pedro's delight) that we also visited. This church is famous - understandably so - for it's mosaic floors which were installed when the church was rebuilt between 1125 and 1140. While difficult to photograph, the church was gorgeous.
Well, our amazing weather window unfortunately closed as the wind picked up tremendously and the temperatures dropped considerably. We motored a little around the lagoon but finally decided to just head back to Chioggia with the boat a day early. Cathy, Pedro and I went back to Venice where we were able to check back into our AirBnb a day early so we could have a couple of days to explore. Dan and Alison joined us the next day so they could have a day to explore too.
Our next stop was Sant Erasmo - the charts referred to it as grocery island. It was a great spot to dock and a moderately short walk into the quaint village where there was indeed a grocery store. Despite the fact that we'd provisioned heavily, we laughed at ourselves as we still had to go in and get a few things! A funny story, so Cathy went looking for a bathroom. There was public one that had a coin slot to deposit your Euro. It didn't appear to be operational. So, Cathy proceeds to enter and at the same time a young teenager rides up on his bike, holds out his hand and demands "un euro." Not sure what to do, she gives him the Euro and he rides away. Bottom line, she got to use the bathroom, the boy scammed her out of a Euro and we all got a really big laugh!!!!
Next, we headed over to Burano, my favorite stop of the trip! This colorful villages was simply adorable. From the colorful houses to the quaint shops to the bridges over canals. Coming in on our boat and walking around as the city was coming to life, felt like being a local. We even found someone's collection of the 7 dwarves. At first, we couldn't find grumpy so we had Alison fill in. Then we found him around the corner so I got to play Snow White (hey, I don't make up the rules) which really did make Alison grumpy. Anyway, we loved Burano so much that we spent several days there. I really cannot say enough about this town. If you go to Venice, you must go to Burano.
From Burano, we found our way over to the Monastery San Francesco del Deserto (Saint Francis of Assisi of the Desert). This monastery, said to date back to 1220 was a privately owned island when it was visited by the patron saint of Italy. It got it's name from the condition in which the Monastery was left when the Franciscan Monks had to abandon the island in the 1400's due to the conditions of the lagoon. In 1858, the island was once again repopulated and the current monastery was erected. After docking our boat (and me losing my phone in the water during the process), we were greeted by the very young looking monk who thankfully spoke perfect English. He welcomed us inside and gave us a wonderful and extensive tour along with the history of the monastery and allowed us to tour at will the gardens. The monastery which can now be rented out for retreats, historically had somewhere between 50-100 monks living inside, now has only about 5.
Well, our amazing weather window unfortunately closed as the wind picked up tremendously and the temperatures dropped considerably. We motored a little around the lagoon but finally decided to just head back to Chioggia with the boat a day early. Cathy, Pedro and I went back to Venice where we were able to check back into our AirBnb a day early so we could have a couple of days to explore. Dan and Alison joined us the next day so they could have a day to explore too.
Our time in Italy had come to an end. We bid arrivederci (hopefully only for a few more months) to our amazing boating buddies and hopped on a plane back to the US so we could get caught up with work and visit family over the holidays - plus winter in the northern Med did not sound like my idea of fun. We're loving being back with everyone and I'll fill you in on that next time.
Here's a link to all of the pictures we took in Italy. As you can imagine, it's a lot!
Until next post!
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