Venetian Lagoon Islands (Venice part 2)

As I mentioned in my post about our Venice trip, we spent our second day touring a few of the Venetian Lagoon islands: Murano, Burano, and Torcello. If you have a few days in Venice, I would recommend checking these out! We set out mid morning, spent a couple hours in each place, and were back to the mainland in time for dinner reservations. 

In order to get to the islands, we boarded the Vaporetto - the waterbus that serves as Venice's public transportation. It's very easy to use, that is unless you take it to the opposite end of the line and add almost an hour to your trip back to the city center... but who would do that? Yep, this girl. Oh well, the inevitable mishaps always make for better stories!

Leaving the center on the Vaporetto...

The first stop was Murano, which dates back to 1291 and is known for Murano glass. As you get off the boat, there's someone strategically planted there to usher you into the glassblowing factory where a presentation is done and you can browse the gift shop afterward. While it's quite touristy, the presentation is brief and very entertaining... and it produced the result they were looking for, as we were enticed into buying a beautiful little glass gondola as a souvenir (even though there are plenty of shops throughout Murano and Venice to purchase Murano glass as well!).

After the glassblowing factory, we walked around the island canals to explore the center, see the glass garden and sculptures, and grab a local beer before moving on to the next...

Yes, that is glass!

Stop #2, and my favorite, was Burano, known for its lace and brightly-colored buildings. Here we simply wandered through the streets and shops, and stopped to take in the scenery over some of the best pizza I've ever had at a spot next to Trattoria da Primo on Via Galuppi. Seriously, I'd go back just for that!

Stop #3 was Torcello, located near Burano. Unlike Murano and Burano, Torcello is relatively uninhabited and contains ancient archeological remains. A favorite of Hemingway's, this rustic island's beauty is best observed in the grass-covered Piazza Torcello, where we saw the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, the Church of Santa Fosca, and surrounding greenery. 

We didn't allot as much time here because we wanted to return for dinner (and we barely did after the afore mentioned waterbus detour!)... but I would definitely consider staying on one of these islands next time, in order to see what they look like after the masses depart on the last Vaporetto for the evening. In any case, I hope to return some day!