Today we headed off to Murano after we had our breakfast and a quick stop at the Vodafone store to get my internet stick fixed up. Murano is another of the small islands close to Venice. It is mostly known for it’s glass work and glass making.

Although not a pretty as Burano, Murano does have glass, lots and lots of glass. And if you like glass and are interested in glass stuff, then this is the place to be. From glass earrings to lights, trinkits, you name it if it can be made of glass it is here. Vance and I had a beer, watch the world go by and waited for Cathy and Vangie to finish looking at the glass. You might be able to tell, that Vance and I are not into glass.

Although Murano did not knock my socks off like Burano did, it is still worth the visit. Different than Venice or Burano, it seems to have it’s own pace and look. And the beer was good. We also had a light lunch here too. Then headed back to Venice for our tour which started at 4:00.

Our tour consisted of learning about Piazza San Marco, the Doge’s Palace (Italian: Palazzo Ducale di Venezia) and Basilica San Marco. Unfortunately the Basilica was closed today, so we only got the outside tour. We are planning on going back tomorrow and taking it in then.

The Doge’s palace was cool. Lots of art on the walls, ceilings, floors, everywhere. What I found weird is attached to the palace was the jail and torcher chamber. The jail itself was dank and dark, with 4 or 5 people per cell. Sometimes the cells on the lower levels, (which we did not go to) held 15 or so, and were flooded many times.

The area around the Palace and Piazza is beautiful. Looking at buildings that have been around for hundreds and hundreds of years is a reminder that what we have in Canada is all pretty new.

After the tour we headed back by boat to our hotel, via a restaurant right near by. Although the food was not as good as last nights, the scenery was fantastic. This place is located right on the Grand Canal, so we could watch the boats and gondolas drift on by.

The weather today was sunny and warm, not too hot, which was nice. We are hoping for more of the same as our trip goes on.