German Adventures of David, Tammy, AJ and Michael: Murano and Burano

On Friday June 19th, we were going to head on a tour of two islands, Murano and Burano. Our tour didn't start until 2 pm and ended at 7 pm. Since we were going to be back so late I decided to take the boys to the beach to check it out.

Michael making footprints in the sand - or drag prints.

As you can see we basically had the beach to ourselves!!

Michael was the first one in the water and he said the water wasn't too bad.

AJ and Michael having a good time in the water!!

AJ finally getting in, he is a little slower than Michael, but still does.

AJ was out there and he freaked out and started running in to the beach. He said something moved under his foot and that was the end of the playing in the water.

AJ and myself, it was a little bright out there evening in the morning.

Michael found a little crab in the water and they were looking for it.

Michael and I on the beach!

Since the boys were done with the water we decided to check out the rocks. They are such handsome boys!!! After that we headed back to the pool and had some fun there for a little while. Then lunch before we headed back into Venice.

Back on the ferry again and the boys wanted to play war again. This time though I think Michael was winning before we arrived in Venice.

We were there a little early, so we decided to have some ice cream!!!

One nice thing about taking the tour is we were taken by water taxi which is much faster.

This is the San Clementa Island, it used to be an all female mental hospital. It was closed down in the 80's.

This is the male mental hospital island. It is now a nice new hotel for tourists.

This is our first look at the island of Murano. It is the only island with a lighthouse. Its second industry is glass, its first is tourism. Murano is actually composed of seven different islands.

Then we headed into a glass factory to see how it was done. The boys remembered seeing some of this in Poland. The sand is now mined for the glass. It used to be imported in from the Eastern side of Europe.

Here he is starting the process of making something. At this point we weren't sure what he was making. The glass is 1000 degrees Celsius when they are working with it, while the oven they heat it up the glass in is 2000 degrees.

Here they are putting the finishing touches on the project.

He made this pitcher in less than about ten minutes. It was amazing. He has been doing this work for forty years, one of the longest that has worked there. You have to apprentice for 15 years to do this work. After this they have to put it in an oven that is less than 1000 degrees Celsius. They have to cool it down slow or the glass will crack.

Here he is doing it a little different. He is taking some tongs and pulling the glass out.

You can see that it is taking shape and it is looking like an animal.

Here is the finished product, absolutely amazing what he could do in minutes!! Watching them work is amazing! We ended up getting one that has blue in it.

This is their glass flowers in their yard.

This is an island that is not inhabited and for sale. So if you want your own island in the Venetian Sea, there are a few options out there.

The next island we went to was Burano. Burano is known for its small, brightly painted houses, popular with artists. They have to paint them every year by law.

The city of Burano has their own leaning tower, though it is not widely known like the one in Pisa.

The main street, as you can see it was raining a bit. I am just glad it was raining here than in Venice. But you can also see the colorful houses here as well.