I spent the day island-hopping, which makes me think of Hawaii. This morning I bought a transit pass permitting unlimited use of the bus and vaporettos (water taxis, a new transport mode for me). I easily caught a quick bus to Venice, and then a vaporetto to Murano. I’d heard about Murano from a friend of mine recently there for a glass-blowing festival. Gorgeous blown and sculpted glass things everywhere – I spent hours wandering the shops and watching people work glass. I love watching skilled craftsmen; these are some of the best in the world. I especially liked the life-sized bees and ants.
I next hopped another vaporetto to Mazzorbo, and walked from there (bridge) to Burano, an island famed for its lace and leaning tower (note almost every Italian city of note lays claim to its own leaning tower).
Another vaporetto brought me to Torcello, a mostly-abandoned island who claims fame from an old church.
From there a final vaporetto returned me to Venice. There I encountered the two Russian cyclists from a few days ago, struggling with their bicycles across a bridge. They asked where I stayed; they clearly had a hostel within Venice. I hope that worked out for them. Saying in Mestre worked out well; lower costs and more resources, and only a few minutes by train or bus to Venice.
From there back to the hostel. In Theory, the correctly-sized taxi will show up on time in the morning, it will whisk me to the airport, they’ll unquestioningly check the bicycle for free, and I’ll be on my way home with no issues with Customs. Wish this was Theory…
