Day 1
From the day my husband booked our flight to Venice, I couldn't be more excited! A little bit of history of Venice....this golden floating city was built on 118 islands at the head of the Adriatic Sea in Northern Italy. The glamour of this city had a humble beginning, built by refugees when other nations were conquering Italy. On this piece of marsh land, the settlers piled wood into the mud closely together, after chopping off the top, they created a strong foundation. Surprisingly, when wood is emerged in water, it would not rot. Thousand year old buildings stand as testimony of that today.
Day 2
I would have to say that day 2 was the highlight of my trip. Visiting Murano and Burano was so relaxing and inspiring! Murano is famous for their long tradition of glass making art. I was especially mesmerized by the glass chandeliers.
Burano is like an eye candy with confectionary coloured houses along the canal. It served a practical function by helping the fishermen to return safely home in the midst of thick fog of the lagoon. The men on the island are fishermen. The women are lace artisans. There are a total of seven types of needle point for lace making, and each woman would specialize in only one needle point during her lifespan. Amazing! Groups of women must work together to complete the intricate lace projects. They would sit on wooden chairs, focused in their work at hand, in the peaceful quiet fisherman village. No wonder, they were able to live a long healthy life! It was said, a table cloth would take a team of women up to one year to complete.
Day 3
I ate the most expensive fruit tart in my life. In Venice, the only sitting areas are in the restaurants. Every time you sat down, you would need to pay a sitting fee. I was so exhausted that I was sitting on the ground, staff would not even permit that. We came across an antique restaurant in St. Mark Square with musicians playing in the front, and we decided to splurge on a very nice dessert. In my opinion, it was worth every penny!
Day 5
The girl missed the last boat. I spent five days trying to convince Anthony that the gondola ride is worth it and on the last day he finally agreed. Yet the gondola rowers were no where to be seen, it turned out they were on their lunch break. We then found a gondola but there were two smoking men who wanted to share it with us, and I readily refused. Finally it started pouring rain, and all the gondolas were soaking wet. In the end I accepted the circumstance and decided to come back again when I am 80 to fulfill the girl's dream .
