Waking up really early because I booked the wrong train timing, we took the Roman metro from station Republica to station Termini where we took Trenitalia from Rome to Venice. Their tickets can be booked on their homepage for as low as 39 Euros if you book it early. As we managed to get a hotel on the island side of Venice, we were headed for S.Lucia station.
We had a bit of trouble locating hotel Abbazia as in was in a small alley that was immediately to the left of the Termini.
Lunch wasn't a problem as cafes with reasonable food are in the vicinity of the S.Lucia station, which is also within walking distance of our hotel Abbazia. The vaporetto stop 1 was the most common route that ran up and down the Grand Canal. In order to take this vaporetto for an unlimited amount of times, be sure to go to the train station at Santa Lucia, and look for a tourist booth at the right side. You can purchase a Rolling Venice card which entitles you to many perks as long as you are 14 - 29 years of age.
Our vaporetto (water bus) has arrived!
Spotted my dad's company's outlet! Such a small world haha
Gondolas waiting for their gondoliers and customers!
Breathtaking sunset view from Rialto Bridge and a gondola in the foreground
Before we returned to our hotel to conclude our day, we popped by the famous and beautiful St Mark's Square before heading to some random restaurant for our dinner. The prices are the highest around St Mark's, and if you are the kind to people watch it would be pretty worth it as you get to bask in the atmosphere while people watching.
A wonderful dinner with our favourite Moscato in a random restaurant once again. Just look at menus and feel free to pick and choose whatever suits you!
Secret Itineraries is a tour which brings you into the Doge Palace, sort of their center of administration and parliament in the old times. Try booking it in advance here. They have tours in English so no worries. If you are interested in history, this tour will amaze you. If not, well you could at least visit the cell of the famous Casanova.
After our tour, we vaporetto'ed around looking for lunch!
and we found it!
Gondola prices also rise as the sun sets so be sure to catch it early before the sky turns too dark! That concludes our second night in the lovely town in Venice with a gondola ride to wrap up the day!
Waking up early again to catch the limited daylight, we encounter a huge fog on our trip to Murano, the famed outlying island for glass blowing. We were worried about the ferry's handling but it seems the watermen know the waters really well.
Murano isn't much too look at nowadays, especially during non-peak seasons. Whilst some traditional glass blowers still operate in Murano, don't expect every store to be open. Perhaps if you are lucky you could catch the peak periods where there is more activity, but for us we just walked around and looked for some gifts for our parents.
A memorable lunch by the riverside as it was well into lunchtime. The ferry trip does take quite a while (30++ mins) so do plan your journey!
Our next stop was Burano, where the name might not ring a bell, but the famous multi-coloured facade of houses would definitely register something. Those that you see on Nippon paint ads in the past. It was a tad disappointing when we got there though. The time was well about 3 pm and the daylight wasn't lasting much longer, and those houses with their old paint don't look as striking as they do in pictures we see.
In conclusion, if you have time like us, there isn't any harm in popping down by Murano and Burano. But if you have only two days to spare, feel free to give this island hopping experience a miss.
Back on the main island of Venice we settled down for a nice dinner before popping by a drinks stall to grab a Moscato once again to enjoy back in the confines of our room.
Next up, we will be going to the banking capital - Zurich!
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