During our time in Venice, the opportunity to visit Murano was presented through our hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Rialto in Venice, who has a partnership with a glass factory on the near-by island of Murano. We took advantage of the complimentary water taxi transportation to Murano to tour a glass factory. A trip that ended up being surprisingly interesting! It was fascinating to watch the masters at work. While the style of these Murano glass sculptures is not my cup of tea, it is amazing to see the amount of work that goes into creating one piece.

The tour was a little over an hour, finishing in the private shop with persuasive sales people hovering. We politely walked around admiring the chandeliers and glasswear with the hefty price tags, before bowing out quietly. Once we were outside of the factory we set off to explore Murano. I had no idea what to expect from this little island and was pleasantly surprised.

Murano is known for its glass factories. It feels more industrial than Venice, mostly because the Venetians had moved the master glass blowers to Murano to live in 1291. The splendor of the Venetian architecture is lost here, but I found the island quite charming.

After seeing a little of Murano we hopped on the water bus to Burano. I knew before our trip that I wanted to make a stop at the colorful island of Burano. We ended up getting off of the water bus one stop too early which resulted in the best discovery! A little back story… on our first night in Venice we overheard a lady asking our waiter about a particular wine that can only be found in Venice. She didn’t know the name, only that it is made from a very rare grape and a limited number of bottles are made every year. As we were getting off of the water bus we realized we had exited too early, but found ourselves at the entrance to a vineyard. It didn’t take long for us to realize we had stumbled upon the very same vineyard that lady had come to Venice to find!

Venissa is a vineyard, winery, resort and restaurant. We decided to take the opportunity to have lunch and enjoy a little tasting of this very rare wine. The whole experience was amazing and truly one of my favorite days of the trip! It was such a happy coincidence to find this beautiful spot and enjoy something so rare. The wine is golden and has a salty, dry taste – it is very good!

After spending a good portion of the afternoon at the vineyard, we walked the bridge connecting this island to Burano. Burano is even better than Instagram portrays it! The vibrant colors of each of the houses is energizing. Most people associate Burano as a fishing island, but it is also well known for its beautiful lace. We ducked into several shops that are lined with all different styles of lace table cloths, curtains and shawls.

As you can imagine, my favorite thing to do was grab a couple of scoops of gelato and roam around the streets. There were so many fun color combinations to see on all of the houses. Each house complete with lace curtains on all of the windows. It is a special island, and well worth a visit if you are in the area. Though, to save yourself the hour long water bus ride back to Venice, I might suggest a water taxi… James Bond style! xo Bryn