Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Islands of the Venetian Lagoon (Burano, Murano, & San Giorgio Maggiore)


Beautiful Burano.
We were fortunate enough to have four days to spend in Venice during our trip to Italy in September of 2011. I had heard numerous wonderful things about the surrounding islands of Venice, including Burano and Murano. Since we had so much extra time in the city, we chose to spend one of the days touring the islands. The best way to reach the islands is by vaporetto. Even if you are only in Venice for a few days, I would highly recommend purchasing a vaporetto pass versus using single tickets. It will save you a lot of money!

If you plan your day carefully using the vaporetto schedules, you can visit the islands of Cimitero, Murano, Burano, and Torcello. We had initially planned on visiting all four but on our way to Cimitero we realized that we had left our Museum Pass at the hotel. This pass enabled us to visit both Burano's Lace Museum and Murano's Glass Museum for free. We got off on a random island in the lagoon so that we could turn around and get back to Venice. Unfortunately, not fully understanding the vaporetto schedules we had no idea that the vaporetto we chose took us all the way around Venice, and we didn't reach St. Mark's Square for over an hour. Needless to say, in hindsight, that was a very stupid waste of our time as I would have much rather paid to visit the museums out of our pocket as we ended up having to cut Cimitero and Torcello out of our day. We were both surprised with the length of time it takes to go from island to island; they are not as close as you think they might be!

We also visited San Giorgio Maggiore on a separate day, as it is located directly across the lagoon from St. Mark's Square, via a quick five minute vaporetto ride.

Burano:
This incredibly beautiful island is famous for its production of lace and its picture perfect pastel buildings. Most of our visit happened to coincide with the golden hour (last hour of sunlight) so the buildings shined vibrantly in most of my photos. Burano is great place to stroll through and explore its many lace shops and quiet canals, but it does have one interesting sight: its Lace Museum, which is described further below.
Burano
Burano
Shyawn walking through Burano.
Burano
Burano
Lacework for sale in Burano.
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano is filled with so many vibrantly-painted buildings, like this one.
This was one of the restaurants where Anthony Bourdain ate the famous goh risotto on his Venice show. Unfortunately it was closed when we visited.
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano
We happened upon this bride and groom as we wandered through Burano.
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano
A friendly cat on Burano.
Burano
Burano
The bride and groom continuing their photo shoot on Burano.
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano
 My favorite place in Burano.
Our attempt at a self-portrait in Burano.
Cruising through Burano.
Burano
It's a cat's life in Burano.
Cat in Burano.
A cat relaxing on a boat in Burano.
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano
Lace for sale in Burano.
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano
Burano

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