Island Hopping

View of Venice from the vaporetto
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Woke up early, around 7, so that I could steal a shower before it grew a queue. If I hadn't already mentioned, there are only 2 showers for about 30 people, so you can imagine how crazy it gets in the morning. I had an apple and a meal bar for breakfast and hung around waiting for my 10:30 tour to start. While I was waiting I made plans to meet up with Lisa, Sasha and Fiona in front of the Campanile at noon. From there we would hop on the vaporetto and travel to the lagoon islands of Lido, Burano and Murano. Because there are no vehicles in the city, Venice relies completely on boats for transportation. The vaporetto are the boats that serve as Venice's public transport system that can take you all around the city, the surrounding lagoon and the mainland.

Lido Beach
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Around 10, I briskly walked to the Doge's Palace (again without a map!). I arrived in plenty of time and wandered around the courtyard for a bit. Eventually, the tour group began to form and the tour guide, Ilaria (Italian for "Hilary") came up and introduced herself. So that we could hear her better, we were given earpieces and a transmitter and then led into the Palace to start the tour. Our first stop was at the "Truth Mouth", an odd looking bronze plaque showing a creepy face with its mouth open. Hundreds of years ago, venetians, in order to deter crimes, were encouraged to write letters snitching on their fellow citizens. They would put these letters in the Truth Mouth where they would be read by three lawyers (if I remember correctly, these lawyers were elected by the public). These lawyers would decide if the letters were true and then act accordingly. An unsigned letter was unacknowledged, and a letter containing false accusations was punishable by death (the public hanging square was just outside the palace).

Lisa, Sasha, Me and Fiona
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Ilaria then led us through the golden staircase, named for its ceilings and walls accented in gold. When nobles visited the Palace, this was their entrance. It was quite a sight. The staircase opened up into a large foyer with high ceilings, tall windows and wooden paneled walls. Everything in it was grand and ornate. While she was talking, Ilaria walks up to the paneled wall, finds a little knob and opens it up! A secret door! Behind it is a dark narrow staircase of plain old wood, quite a contrast to where we were currently standing. This, Ilaria informed us, was the entrance to the office side of the palace. We walked up the staircase and through a few small rooms set up with simple desks and chairs, nothing too exciting. Finally the narrow hallway opens up to a two story room with a large rope in the center surround by a partially enclosed balcony. There was also a smallish skylight cut into the ceiling. Opposite the rope are three large plush chairs. In addition to the three lawyers who decided the validity of letters left in the truth mouth, the system had three "inquisitors" who chose and carried out punishments. Referred to by the public as "gentleman of the night" these three mystery men would sometimes bring suspected criminals into this room to torture a confession out of them. The inquisitors would only do this though when there was a full moon. When there was full moon, the light would shine directly through the skylight, perfectly illuminating only the rope and shrouding everything else in darkness. It was definitely a spooky image. The enclosures on the balcony were cells for other prisoners so that they would be able to hear the screams of the tortured. Also surrounding the rope were a few benches to accommodate a small audience. This is why I took this tour.

Houses on Burano
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Next we were told the story of Casanova. Born and raised in Venice, Casanova had the exact personality that his name has become associated with. He was suave, smart, handsome and likeable which made him quite popular with the ladies. When he was captured and brought to the Palace, he was told he was being punished for a collection of banned books found in his home. The sentence was a maximum of three months in jail. Six months later, Casanova questioned the guard, whom he had now befriended, about the reason for his imprisonment. The guard, Lorenzo, finally told him it was for having an affair with the fiancee of one of the three inquisitors. Casanova had finally messed with the wrong woman and the inquisitor intended to keep him locked up until after the wedding. Years later, Casanova escaped captivity through a hole carved in the ceiling of a cell. He climbed down the Palace from the rooftop and, after convincing a guard he was a lawyer working late, walked right out of the Palace gates. While imprisoned at the Palace, Casanova had two different cells. Both were about 100 square feet and had a ceiling height of less than Casanova's height of 6'5". We got to see go inside  one and peek into the other. They were very cell-like, dark and musty. It was hard to imagine having to spend years in either.

More houses on Burano
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After the tour, I met Lisa, Sasha and Fiona in front of the Campanile. I excitedly bought my vaporetto ticket. Why so excitedly you ask? Well, I bought it entirely in italian! Big step for me. The lady behind the glass responded with the price, and then a whole slew of incomprehensible instructions. Ha! I must have sounded fluent! Go me! I nodded, smiled with a "Grazi" and hoped what she had said wasn't too important. We hopped on the next boat and headed on to our first Island, Lido. I believe the only beach in Venice is on Lido. After docking, we walked down a street full of beachy shops, gelaterias and cars. It was weird seeing cars after coming from a place with barely so much as a bicycle. Lido didn't seem large, definitely much smaller than Venice, and I wondered why they had allowed vehicles here. Anyway, we found the beach. It had an amazing lookout where we hung out for awhile before walking the shore and dipping our feet in the Adriatic Sea. Fiona was the only one who had come prepared with her bathing suit, so we didn't stay too long. One the way back, we stopped for gelato. I had the oddest flavor I had come across so far: Orange Carrot Lemon. Believe it or not, It was delish (I think the carrot was there only in color). We arrived at the dock just in time for the next boat to Burano.

Even more houses on Burano (I promise this is the last one)
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Burano took about 40 minutes to get to. We had no idea it would take so long (on the map, its just a few inches from Lido). By this time we were all getting real sleepy and struggling to stay awake. As soon as Burano was in sight though our energy was quickly revived. Burano had once been a small fishing community. In an attempt to make the fisherman's houses more visible from the sea, they painted them all in different, vivid colors. Now Burano is known for these incredibly colorful homes. It is incredibly charming and picturesque. Since its also relatively unspoiled by tourism, I imagine Burano feels just like it did a hundred years ago. I was very glad we got to experience it. Next stop Murano!

Awesome glass sculpture on Murano
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Murano was a short boat ride from Burano and is famous for its vast amount of glass blowing furnaces (fornaces). Many years ago Venice moved all the furnaces to island to reduce the effects of any potential fires they may cause. With all the furnaces on this small island, should a fire break out it would just burn itself down instead of an entire city. We went to the island in hopes of seeing a glass blowing demonstration, but it was nearly 5 when we arrived so most of the shops were closed. Instead we wandered around for awhile discovering two amazing glass statues and lots of glass shops. We left for Venice about an hour later anxious to get home. The ride home was interesting. On the way through the lagoon we passed many tiny islands with ruins of what looked like homes on them. They didn't look too old, but they were definitely uninhabited. I wanted to jump in the sea and swim over to explore them, but I didn't. Maybe next time.

Us girls in front of another glass sculpture on Murano
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On the way home we stopped at Billa, a "supermercati" near the hostel, for fruit and wine. The wine here is about €1,50 a bottle! It costs more for a bottle of coke (€2)! Brilliant! I've also heard that if you bring an empty water bottle to a wine bar, they'll fill it up for €1! Sounds like a good deal, but I think I actually need mine for water (throughout the city there are spickets with constantly running potable water. It's usally pretty cool and tastes fine, so we've been filling up our bottles there) We made it back just in time for another delicious homecooked meal. When I complimented Mimo on it he responded with "I should be a parisian chef, ya?" Absolutely. We drank our wine a headed back to the vaporetto for a nighttime ride. After a disorienting but beautiful ride around the outside of Venice, we debarked at Piazza San Marco and wandered around the square which was somewhat lit up for nighttime. Again the dueling orchestras of the piazza's cafes made for the perfect musical backdrop. I wanted to get lots of night pics, here and on the walk home, so I assured the rest of the group that they should probably head home without me. I slowly made my way back to the hostel taking about a  billion pictures along the way. Naturally, they all came out wonderful (see for yourself).

The Bridge of Sighs at night
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I got back to the hostel around midnight and, due to last night's raid, it was much much quieter. I went to bed and soon fell asleep to the sound of the guitar being played by a guy in the campo outside my window. What a perfect ending to a fun day.

Tomorrow's my last day in Venice before heading to Rome! I think it might be time to head to the beach. Tell you all about soon!

Thanks for reading!

Miss you all,

St. Mark's Basilica
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Jess