Day 5: The day I ran around Venice sicker than a dog!

Today we set out to see the sights of Venice! After breakfast in the hotel (which was a decent spread and included in the price) we set off. Now once I woke up this morning I knew it: I was sick. Aches, pains, sore throat and headache all started in sometime in the night. I was in trouble. But dammit I was going to push through it. We only had ONE day here! So I Advil’d up and off we went.

***Just as an FYI if you find yourself sick in Venice you need to have a couple of gay friends to take care of you. Seriously. They brought me hot tea, juice and a croissant for breakfast. They waited on me. They treated me wonderful! If you don’t have your own gay friends then please go find some. Trust me on this!

So we are off! Our first stop was to take the Vaparetto to the Island of Murano. Murano is known for their glass blowing factory with lovely showrooms where you can purchase stuff. The actual workshop that we visited was much smaller than what I expected but it was so cool. You sit on bleacher like benches and watch as they well, blow the glass. There is a nice dude who explains everything in either Italian or English and answers questions. The entire “show” is about 20 minutes long and then you can go into the showroom area to look at items for purchase.

And yes, I purchased. I had gone into this knowing that I would probably look at glass bowls to purchase. And I found a lovely one, green and blue and kind of curved edges. Now this particular shop is an “official Murano” glass shop. Apparently they have “fake ones” all over the place. So you get a certificate of authenticity with your purchase. And I was able to negotiate 10 Euro off the price (thanks to Gigi who suggested it)!

From there we took the boat to the island of Burano. Now while Murano is known for glass blowing, Burano is known for lace making. Apparently the wives of the fisherman who lived on this island needed to make some cash while their dudes were off fishing. So they started making lace and it became a “thing”. There is a lace museum but we didn’t visit that while we were here. We simply walked around and did a little looking and a little shopping.

Now Murano may be the more well known of the islands but I can say that for sheer beauty, I fell in love with Burano. We even talked about when we come back one day not staying in Venice proper and getting an AirBNB on Burano. The colors of the houses were so lovely and it had that kind of small town charm that I loved. I am sure that during the evening there are limited areas to eat and it’s probably really quiet once the tourists go but that sounds great to me!!

I think I want to live here!

Burano colorful houses!

After a quick gelato snack we headed back to the boats to get back to Venice proper. It took a little longer than we thought, as the boats didn’t come quiet as often as we expected. I think we all napped a bit on the boat back. We decided that a rest was in order (I was slowly getting sicker) and headed back to the hotel to drop off purchases and rest before dinner. I think that Chris and Gigi went back out again while I took a nap but I don’t judge. When you have my wonky back to deal with you rest when you can get it. Or you will not be able to walk at all!

Can you hear the people sing? Oh wait, wrong country....

Later on we found a fabulous place right on the water for dinner. It was a walk from our hotel and honestly I can’t remember which direction we went (I followed Gigi and his Italian-knowing directions!). This restaurant was near a bridge that was actually near another tourist/shopping area. I am sure that they get quite a few tourists but it was wonderful! Once we explained my death-like shrimp allergy to the waiter, we were good to go! I had wonderful ravioli and the boys had each some kind of pasta. And wine.  J

It was clear even after the hour plus long meal that I was fading fast. Walking along in the chilly night air wasn’t doing anything for my sickness. We headed back to the hotel as we had a few more things to accomplish before the train ride home! Gigi was wonderful enough to translate to a pharmacist (who actually spoke great English but you never know) to get me some Italian ibuprofen and cough drops. I had run out of Advil and needed something that would play nice with my blood pressure meds. So 15 Euro later I had my Italian drugs!

Bedtime!!!!

***Michelle’s tip:  Both the islands of Murano and Burano have limited bathroom facilities. Normally you need to purchase something at a restaurant/café to use the rest room. Plan accordingly. I didn’t and I was doing the pee dance as we got off the vaparetto.