CHAPTER 6: Murano Burano e Torcello tour

The program for our second day in Venice was to explore the islands of the lagoon. By this trip to Venice I actually discovered that Venice is just the biggest of many islands, the city is actually composed by 118 small islands floating on the waters of the lagoon. Many of them have no inhabitants while others do have, the most famous ones are Torcello, Murano and Burano, the ones we’ve explored by our accessible full day boat trip organized by romeanditaly group, but there are actually many more which I think deserve a visit, together with other cities like Choggia which face the same lagoon as Venice.

After our rich Italian breakfast (as every day!) we met with Guido again (the same private guide as yesterday!) and departed for this new adventure. The full day accessible tour lasted 6 hours, and we had a private accessible boat at disposal, but I’ve learned that it’s possible to visit the islands also by vaporetto – the water bus that Venetians use as we use the metro – vaporetto is accessible to wheelchair as well. But being honest having an accessible boat was more comfortable and practical, furthermore I always prefer to have my own guide and not being part of group tours: you can interact more, make questions, and above all set the times as you prefer.

We started our journey from St. Mark’s area and move towards our first stop: Murano. One of the most famous Island due to the production of glass. We actually got the chance to visit here a glass factory and learn how glass masters create their masterpieces during a glass-bowing demonstration. My kids were fascinating and also had the chance to try to blow glass…even with not much success! The process is harder than what I thought!

We also had some time on the Island to stroll around guided by Guido and discover the massive Basilica of Santi Maria e Donato, one of the oldest Churches in the Venetian lagoon originally built in the 7th Century.

Our second stop was Burano Island – the Island I’ve enjoyed the most! Its colorful houses are incredibly fascinating! According to a local legend, Burano got its rainbow appearance thanks to the fishermen that lived there, who used to paint their houses in bright and light colors so that they could find their way home while coming back from sea. The island is also known internationally for its rare artisan lace – something that my wife Gina really loved! She bought a beautiful lace tablecloth for our summer house in Virginia.

Our last stop was Torcello, the Island that was the first settlement in the Venetian Lagoon, its history dates back to the year 452. We took a quick walk here to discover the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, founded in 639, and took a family picture with the Attila’s Throne on the background, an ancient stone chair where chief magistrates were inaugurated. Shelley and Mark also went up the Bell Tower to take pictures of the lagoon while I decided to have a cappuccino and relax enjoying the panorama from the ground.

We got back to Venice, and decided to go back to the same local market visited yesterday to buy some fresh fruits and something to drink.

When we got back to the hotel we were very tired of the long day, we packed (we are going to Florence Tomorrow) and decided to have dinner at our same hotel restaurant. We went for a quick walk outside after dinner, to enjoy Venice atmosphere at night as well, and take our last photos of the city.

(you can find our accessible full day tour to Venice’s islands Murano Burano Torcello here: https://www.romeanditaly.com/accessible/accessible-venice-islands/ )

Stay tuned with us, next Monday the next chapter of “The accessible trip to Italy of our Friend Bill” will be released

written by #Bill