Day 2 in Venice - 20 September

We were up a little earlier this morning and it was good to see the Barrows at breakfast, albeit briefly as they rushed to catch a vaporetto.

We caught a vaporetto to Murano, hoping to get there before the crowds. It was probably a 50 minute ride because there were lots of stops along the way, and we stood all the way because the boat was very crowded. Nevertheless, it was an interesting journey, seeing Venice along a different route, starting out through the Canale Canaregio and going around the north side of Venice.

We pottered around in Murano for a couple of hours. It was very picturesque and not at all crowded. I bought some new earrings, and we had a good look in the Murano Glass Museum.

We left around 12:10 pm, deciding not to go to Burano as originally planned, and heading instead to the San Zaccaria stop east of Piazza San Marco. It was a lovely journey back across the lagoon, and we even got seats outside on the back of the boat. We immediately hopped on a number 2 vaporetto and headed across to the San Giorgio stop for a better view back over the city. We stayed on the boat as it went up the Canale della Giudecca (instead of the route we normally take up the Grand Canal), and got another different view of the city. This was a longer route, probably another 50 minutes, but very enjoyable.

We were interested to see all the cruise ships as we went past the port, counting eight (two of them were smaller ones, but the other six were big). And we were excited to see the Ruby Princess was one of them.

We carried on, all the way around to our stop, outside the railway station. By then it was about 2 pm so we hunted out somewhere nearby for lunch. We both ended up having pizza, seeing one place advertising gluten free bases. We got the typical Italian surly service (the same anywhere the service charge is automatic) but the food arrived quickly. Gosh, the GF pizzas are enormous, and really are enough to feed two people. So, I got the leftovers wrapped to take away.

We took a 45 minute break back at our hotel (nearby), and then headed out around 4 pm to find the Jewish Ghetto area and nearby museum. Alas, everything seemed to be closed for a Jewish Holiday. It was sad to think that the Jewish population of Venice had been confined to living crowded on this small island, that was also locked up at night and policed to check that they couldn't get out. And it was heartbreaking to realise that only eight former inhabitants made it back to the area after World War 2.

We got a bit disorientated as we returned from the Ghetto, and ended up walking in a big loop around. Never mind, it was a different area than we'd seen before.

After dark, we headed out again. The atmosphere in Venice is lovely on these mild evenings - everyone is out walking or dining. We thought we'd catch the vaporetto down the Grand Canal and back, and enjoy seeing everything lit up. Unfortunately, we got on one going up the canal the wrong way, but stuck with it, right around the cruise ships again (just four now, and all lit up), and down the canal we'd been on earlier. We were lucky to get seats in the bow for a good view. Once we got to St Mark's Square, we waited about 15 minutes for a boat going the correct way back up the canal, and were able to get seats in the bow of that too. The sights were great - many buildings (former palaces) were all lit up and you could see into some of the rooms. Some had huge chandeliers, or tapestries or paintings. We were glad we'd gone out again for the evening.