10 September - Murano

We got up bright and early and went to the restaurant for breakfast. They didn't have much, so we settled for a croissant. Not bad as corissants go. We also found out the pool is only open from 10am-6pm and the shuttles come at 9, 10, and 11am in the morning and 8, 9, and 10pm at night, so unless we planned on staying at the hostel all day, we wouldn't be using the pool. So we showered up and caught the shuttle into Venice for the day.

We started walking with no particular destination in mind. We stopped at a street vendor and got some pastries for breakfast. When we got to San Marco, we decided to catch the water bus to Murano to see the glass. At the ticket counter, the man said we had to go back to the city center to get a student pass which was about half price. However, when we got there and waited in line for an hour, they told me I am too old for a student pass (14-29)! How dare they! And Skylar was too young! Gah! So we had to pay full price which was quite painful. We got the 3 day pass, so we'll use them quite a bit and get our money's worth, I hope.

Finally we boarded the boat and went to Murano. When we got off, we were directed to a glass blowing demonstration. It was pretty cool! The man giving the demonstration said that glass blowing is passed down from generation to generation. To be a master, you have to start very young and be an apprentice for 20-25 years. Seems kind of a strange dream to want to work over a hot flame making gaudy tourist crap all day for little money, but who am I to judge. Then we went into the shop there and this man kept following me around. Maybe he thought Skylar and I looked suspicious. Skylar had his eye on this little octopus and I told him we would look around some more before we bought anything. So the man just gave it to us. It's nothing fancy, but it was still nice of him. We thanked him and went off exploring.

We then continued on looking in every glass shop we passed by, which was every shop! I don't understand how they make money when they all sell the same thing. They claim to be individual glass blowing shops that make their own products, but how come none of them are different? They all sell the same chachka that looks exactly the same. It really was all very pretty though. I just wouldn't know what to do with it. I'm not one to collect stuff like that. Skylar loved it and wanted everything! He got a couple little necklaces and a family of octopi. He kept thanking me for taking him there and saying how much he liked it. Even said he wants to live in Venice and buy a speed boat. Sometimes I don't really get him or why he likes certain things, but I am just really glad he is enjoying himself.

After our feet were killing us and we bought enough junk for one day, we took the boat back to Venice to catch the shuttle. At the hotel we went back to the restaurant and got another french fries pizza. Then headed back to the room for bed.

More pictures can be seen at http://picasaweb.google.com/osani77/VeniceDay2