Day 3 Venice/Burano

 It’s not too often that I sleep for 13 hours in a row, but last night it happened. Well, not 13 perfect blissful hours, but pretty darn close. About 9am we made our way upstairs to the breakfast area and it was crowded. We were not the only ones who slept in! ;) It was a nice little spread with cheeses and meats, scrambled eggs (some yellow, some greenish), yogurts, cereal, breads, pastries. Coffee was made to order so I ordered an American coffee, but didn’t see any cream. It was pretty thick on it’s own and I’m sure if I had tastebuds this morning it would have been quite stout…the kind of coffee that my mom used to say “would put hair on your chest”. However, per usual, post-flying residual sinus affects kept me from tasting. Tomorrow I’ll go for the cappuccino to have a bit of milk in it. Everyone working the breakfast area was VERY nice and as soon as you sat down anything empty they snatched it away and asked if we needed anything else. I had the side of table with a view of the TV and was mesmerized with all things “Queen”. Hence my Wordle starting this morning with d-e-a-t-h then t-i-a-r-a, which got me off to a pretty good start. I remember getting up in the middle of the night to watch Diana’s funeral. This time not as heartbreaking, but I’m still enamored with the Royal Family. I was reading a quote from Prince William who was actually quoting his grannie who said “Grief was the price we pay for love”. Let that soak in for a moment. ❤️

 

After breakfast we headed out to find the location of where my class will be tomorrow. The crowds were not out yet so it was quite peaceful as we made our way around the block and down a long alley toward door number 1045 (Guy is GPSing the address). Once again we walk right by it, but turned around to see the locked door, but the sign was all handmade in little gold mosaic tiles. We have arrived. It’s not more than a 10 minute walk (if that) from the hotel, so once again Guy gets 5 stars with his travel agent talents. I maybe have a butterfly or two in my belly as I fear my hammer and hardie skills may not be good enough yet, but hopefully they’ll embrace beginners. I do find myself to be a fast learner, so I think all will be well. Valentina, my contact from Orsoni, told me to come prepared with a sketch of whatever I’d like to make. I ran a few ideas past my mosaic artist friend, Jennifer, and I think once I got past my delusions of grandeur, I found one I might be able to simplify and complete before I leave. It is a 5 day class, but I’ll only be attending 3 days…with the possibility of a half day on Thursday if needed. 

 

Once our scouting expedition was complete, we decided to hop a boat over to Burano. We were there in 2006 and it was such a beautiful place. A quaint little quiet town with brightly colored buildings dotting along the long stretches of canals. I wanted to find the same glass shop I bought a necklace from before. An older gentleman who had a small kiln behind him was selling simple designs of his handmade glass jewelry. It was black and white with a hole in the center on a long black cord. I lost that necklace on a trip years ago. It was my “go to” necklace for travel as it served as a worry stone, too, so I wanted to replace it. When we arrived at Burano it was mobbed with tourists. Wow, not sure how we lucked out the time before, but it was SO crowded today. My directions are absolutely terrible, but luckily Guy’s are great. He pointed to a shop that he thought might be it and when I went inside I do believe that was it! Behind the counter was a little kiln and a wall full of lamp working tools. This time it wasn’t an older gentleman, but instead a very handsome younger man with a beautiful smile and his mother. He was working on a piece at that moment, a topper for a wine bottle they were selling. She didn’t speak English, but he did fluently. I told him I thought I had been in this very store in 2006 and bought a piece from an older gentleman. He said that would have been his dad. Like father like son… very cool! So this time I purchased another necklace from the second generation which is just as beautiful. Let’s hope I can hang on to this one. 

 

Lunch was at a restaurant called Osteria Al Fureghin. It was just off the main area and had lovely little tables outside in the shade. It was quite hot in the sun, so we were relieved to find a cooler spot. Trip Advisor gave it good reviews and we were lucky enough to find an open table. This restaurant was mostly seafood, but I ordered grilled vegetables and gnocchi pomodoro (without the squid) and Guy had Cod Ravioli which where big and lovely with thinly slice zucchini on top. Mine was the winner in my opinion as the sauce on it was a sweet tomato sauce with a hint of onion (taste buds have returned!). REALLY yummy and we both said we’d order our dishes again. The service was great and we both gave the overall experience a thumbs up. 

 

One of the Venetian islands close by Burano is Lido, which was the home of the  79th Venice International film Festival that ended yesterday. I suppose that may explain some of the crowds and I did have a celebrity sighting today. Sitting outside the well-know restaurant, Trattoria al Gatto Nero, was Beau Bridges having lunch. It took me a second to come up with his name, so I googled him and he was indeed at the film festival. He had on a dark blue button up shirt with white palm trees all over it. He just looked like another old guy with bushy eyebrows having lunch on vacation. 🤣 He was seated in the thick of the foot traffic that had to walk right by his table, but no one was making a fuss, which was nice. 

 

We walked back to the station where we caught the boat back to Venice with 300 of our closest friends. 🙄 It was about a 40 minute boat ride with no place to sit down and everyone standing a bit too close for comfort, but everyone had masks on and we got back to Venice safely with a few new treasures and the desire to find our first gelato of the trip. We passed a few gelato shops along the way, but we had a 20 minute walk to the hotel and opted for one closer to home. Guy navigated us back and we found a gelato shop called Gelato Di Natura which had been there since 1982. It is a chain apparently, but it was quite delicious and was a perfect end to our day’s adventures. 

 

When we got back to the room I hopped in the shower and put my pjs on while Guy ran to the grocery store across the street to find us a few snacks to eat before bedtime. Olives, cheese, speck and Italian bread were in his bag of tricks when he returned and oh, wait! Nutella? How’d that get in there!? 🤣 Guess what’s for dessert. 

 

We are snuggled in for another early night to bed and I’ll be dreaming of mosaic masterpieces and we shall see if tomorrow my dreams come true. Lucky for me, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 

Good night again from Venice.