Today was a little crazy, but turned out to be awesome.

I woke up and went to the Accademia vaparetto station, only to discover that the ACTV (the group that runs the public transit in Venice) was on a 24 hours strike. I asked the gentleman in the ticket booth if there was any other way to get to Burano and he said that I needed to go to the Fondamenta Nuove stop and ask from there. I was afraid that I would get there and the only option would be a private water taxi (which is very expensive)…

So, I walked from Accademia to F.te Nove (that is the transit abbreviation for this stop). There was an outrageous line at the ticket booth because this was the only operational public transit stop in the entire city.

 

I bought another Rolling Venezia pass because it was only 20 Euro for 72 hours versus 20 Euro for 24 hours with the regular ACTV pass.

Once I got my pass I took line 12 past Cimitario, Torcello, and Murano to Burano.

I bought a gelato and a water and then started walking around. I walked around the whole island and eventually wound up at the main piazza with a huge church and bell tower. The church was undergoing restoration, but I went inside and it was really peaceful. They had a monument on the outside with names of all the men from Burano that died in WWI, the “African War,” and WWII. Every city I’ve been too in Italy has numerous monuments to their war-dead. Almost every street corner and piazza has some sort of wreath or plaque in memory of a soldier or group of soldiers. I really like it. I think patriotism and nationalism is important for every country, so it’s nice to see that it still exists here in Italy.

Burano really is like a magazine. It’s just street after street of brightly colored buildings with shutters and curtains and lace shops everywhere. I didn’t see any old women making lace though. Most of the lace shops catered to tourists and I didn’t see any places that I would trust spending such a large amount of money. I got the impression from shows and books that it was much more quaint, but it was still GORGEOUS and if you are interested in photography it’s a MUST!

I suggest going there for a few hours just to walk around and take pictures. A very low cost day of beautiful flowers, colors, and atmosphere!

I went back to the boat dock around 6 to catch the 6:28 boat back to Venice, but I realized I had dropped my sweater somewhere on my walk to the dock. I went back and retraced my steps to the last place that I knew I had it, but I had no luck. I got a cappuccino so that I could use the restroom at the cafe by the dock and then headed back to Venice. I got on a vaporetto that took almost 1.5 hours to get to Venice. It went to Murano, Torcello, Treporti, Burano again, another stop and then on to Venice.

I got back to Venice and it was pouring rain so I rushed back toward my hotel. I have never been to the area of Fondamenta Nuove before so I had to use the map to get back to the Rialto area and then I found my way back from there on my own.

I stopped at the restaurant I went to last night and got more calamari, sardines, some rosemary potatoes, and a glass of wine. Last night he didn’t heat my food and got my order wrong and I didn’t get wine, yet it cost 12 Euros. Tonight, I got a hot meal and a glass of wine for 10 Euros!

Although it’s good to try different places, I do highly suggest finding one clean, reliable restaurant or cafe when you are in a city more than a day. I always have good luck when the staff recognizes me and I always feel like it’s less of a possibility that you will get bad food or get sick if you get to know the staff a little bit.

Although there were some setbacks today, like the strike and losing my sweater, it turned out to be great awesome! I got some of the best pictures I’ve ever taken and had a great dinner.

Tomorrow I am going to Vicenza to visit one of my friends. I made friends with a French exchange student last year at my old college and he is starting an internship in Italy this week, so I am meeting him to hangout!

It is storming like mad here so the internet is slow (at least I think that’s why), so I will add more of my pictures from Burano tomorrow!