A Week in Italy: Day 2

Sadly day two was our only full day in Venice, but boy was it an eventful one. After an 8 o’clock breakfast filled with wet eggs, fruit salad, and a plethora of carbs, we left our hotel and walked to the Northside of San Marco to catch the hourly ferry for Murano. Venice remains rather empty and quiet until about 10 AM so we had no trouble boarding the boat and making the short trip over to Murano – the glassmaking island.

Murano is a series of islands north of Venice that are known for their history of glassmaking. Our main objective was to visit the Museum of Glass, but we’d arrived an hour before the museum even opened so we explored the nearby shops – shockingly they all sell glass. Due to Venice’s tourism and capitalist mindset, shops must go through a verification process to be able to earn the title of “Real Murano Glass.” Venice is like the Las Vegas of Italy - there are sketchy street vendors, counterfeit merchandise, and evident self-marketing everywhere you go. It’s very clear the city survives solely due to tourism. It's sad but also how else would Venice make money in the modern world if it weren't for over-tourism.

Due to the abundance of glass, I was rather indecisive about what souvenir I wanted. Every storefront sold the same products and the prices were a little too cheap. For myself, I've stuck to buying postcards, pins, and occasionally jewelry for souvenirs. Also, I prefer delicate, dainty jewels as opposed to large, chunky jewelry that glass is usually used for. I definitely did some Christmas shopping though so I came away feeling successful.

We returned to the Museum of Glass when it opened at 11. After standing in a short line, flashing our vaccination cards, and purchasing a student ticket we entered. I’ve visited more museums in the past month than I have my entire life – and I’d consider myself a prolific museum-goer. In the past month, I’ve learned how to pace myself especially when I’m visiting more than one museum in a day. I try not to read everything or stare at the same piece for five minutes - it really tests your endurance. Murano’s history of glass is so rich and abundant that nothing I could say would do it justice. It’s a beautiful art form that I wish was more widespread - especially minuscule mosaics.

Venice Glass Museum

Afterward, we resumed scouring the local shops. We tried to remain conscious of our time but when every shop is practically the same it’s hard to locate the good spots especially if you’re trying to be picky. In the end, I got a minuscule mosaic ring – the shop owner makes everything from scratch in her shop and sells internationally (GIVE LINK TO WEBSITE). Next door I found a simple bracelet with a singular glass bead – I’m obsessed and honestly wish I got more.

On our way off the island, we wanted to grab a bite to eat since we had somewhere to be for class once back on San Marco. Turns out tourist season kind of never ends in Venice - at least that's what I gathered. If October is the shoulder/off-season then I don’t ever want to return to Venice during peak season. Restaurants near the ferry were packed. We found a small grab-and-go café that sold paninis, so we got in line.

Now I’d like to preface this story by saying that during this trip I had yet to feel genuinely frustrated with the language barrier. So we're standing in line eyeing the paninis in the display case that we want. There aren’t many left. The lady in front of us orders a few and we see our options begin to dwindle. The woman behind us is talking to the barista/bartender person in Italian. We thought that she told him that we were in front of her in line – could easily have misunderstood her since we don’t speak Italian obviously. After a brief second the barista/bartender resumed the conversation with her and took her order – she ordered the rest of the paninis on display. It was infuriating. How do you stand up for yourself in another country on a remote island that has a lower percentage of bilingual civilians, and you additionally don’t speak a lick of the local language? It’s frustrating, to say the least. We were running low on time at this point, so we decided to step down from this battle and resolved to try and find food once back on the main island.

Walking to the ferry we then noticed a LONG line had formed. It was so long one of us went to verify the origin of the line while the rest of us reserved a spot in said line. We missed our intended ferry – didn’t even come close to boarding. We then proceeded to stay in line for 30 minutes until we were able to board a ferry – the man cut off the line right after us and said, San Marco. I was honestly so relieved just to make it on a boat and out of the line that I didn’t initially question whether we got on the right boat. As the boat began to move, I looked over my shoulder at the skyline of San Marco and realized that it was getting smaller. We were going in the opposite direction. We got on the wrong boat, but how do you know which boat to get on when there is only one line?

Our boat didn’t stop for roughly 40 minutes, taking us further north in the Venetian Lagoon to the island of Burano – lacemaking island. We got off the boat and asked the captain for directions. He told us to get on ferry 14 at 2:30 – we were supposed to meet up with our professors in front of Doges Palace at 2:45 so no matter what we were going to be late. After checking Google maps we verified that our options were:

1. Take ferry 12 (45 mins) back to the north side of the island and run a mile across San

Marco.

Or

2. Take ferry 14 (60 mins) – as the ferry driver recommended – and walk 5 minutes to

our meet-up spot.

I voted for option 2 because that’s what the ferry driver recommended. Either option made us late so I'd rather be dropped off closer to our destination. Option 2 also didn’t force us to run across San Marco – maps can’t even keep up with walking so I don’t want to see what it does while running. Also, the alleys and streets are so packed that running isn’t even an option unless you want to cause a scene.

Ultimately we chose ferry 14. While waiting for the ferry to arrive I found a small scarf shop near the ferry. I ran in and bought a simple cream-colored pashmina. I needed a scarf to wrap around my waist like a sarong or wrap over my shoulders whenever entering a church - I'd learned from my previous mistakes from the day prior. It's good quality and a decent price but the merchant didn’t speak a lick of English so it took a while to figure out how much it cost. I felt extremely guilty that I didn't even know how to count in Italian.

Once situated on the right ferry, we were able to relax but also the ferry was a little over an hour-long so I got stir crazy – hangry and tired. I’m a big boat lover but this ferry ride really had me questioning my love for boats. I really underestimated how big the lagoon is, but I can now say that I’ve seen most if not all of the Venetian Lagoon. It’s gorgeous and I definitely got envious of people who had their own boats – public transport in Venice is not easy if you’re not well acquainted with it. I actually got lost for once, isn't that a fun change for once.

Once docked near Doge’s Palace we located our professor. We were supposed to have entered the museum during a certain period of time – 3:00-3:30 – with a tour guide. It was past 4 at this point so we took our tickets to see if they would still work or if we could switch the entrance time in the ticket office. They checked our vaccination cards, took our temperatures, went through security, and reached the ticket check. The tickets were deemed invalid so we went to the ticket office. We then tried to explain the situation to a lady in the ticket office but she got rather upset and yelled at us.

We went back outside to ask our professor for advice – which ended up being counterproductive. For museums, concerts, and monuments we can be refunded by the school if we provide a copy of our ticket and receipt. To get new tickets we went through the whole process of entry again: vaccination card, temperature check, security, and then purchased new tickets – we were even given a free ticket for another museum for the following day just for being students. We had a little over an hour to explore the palace before it closed.

Doges Palace is a Venetian Gothic palace built-in 1340 to house the Doge of Venice – the chief magistrate and leader of the Republic of Venice. Originally built and used as a square-shaped fortress, Doges Palace was constantly extending up until the fall of the Venetian Republic. Today the building is known for showcasing Gothic architecture and key Byzantine-Venetian architecture characteristic features. In 1996, it was added to the Civic Museums in Venice network and is now open for visitation during a scheduled entrance time.

Palazzo Ducale | Doge's Palace | Venice

After returning to the hotel for a brief interlude of relaxation, we set off for a late-night dinner. We ended up at Pizzeria Trattoria Lanternine, a cozy restaurant tucked in between buildings next to a canal – technically everything is next to a canal, I guess. I sipped on a Bellini and nibbled on a spectacular Diavolo pizza. Nightime in Italy is officially one of my favorite atmospheres. It's so soothing, the night sky feels like a blanket on a cold winter's night. Anyway, the night ended without dessert – a rarity in Italy.

Pizzeria trattoria Alle Lanternine Venezia

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