Venice, Italy: The Island of Burano

Actual date of this event: 22 March

**HUGE thanks to Amy at Via Fontalle. Last year, I read about Burano on her blog, and since then, I made the decision that whenever our trip to Venice came along so would a trip to Burano. It is an absolute must! I hope you will agree once you see these pictures :-) Thank you so much Amy for inspiring our visit to Burano!

Don't get Burano confused with Murano, which is the more popular island to visit by tourists. Murano is famous for blown glass and is about a 15 minutes boat ride away from Venice - sounds lovely, right? I am sure it is, but we chose to skip it, and head right on over to Burano.

Our trip to Burano was included in our vaporetto passes we purchased. The boat ride to Burano was about 40 minutes, with a stop at Murano along the way where the boat got very very crowded! It was really neat to see other small islands in the Venetian Lagoon with a few ruins along the way.

I had read online to get off the boat at the Mazzorbo stop rather than the Burano stop, and I am so glad we did! We were two of maybe eight other people who chose this route which meant we did not have to bear the massive crowd. We chose to take the long route (heading southwest) around Mazzorbo to make our way to Burano. It was so quiet, there was barely anyone else around, and it felt like a ghost town.

We eventually reached the bridge to Burano and crossed into a photographers heaven. Luke had absolutely no clue what the big deal with the island was and why I insisted the visit, but as soon as we turned a corner just 20 yards after stepping foot on Burano, he knew. But we had so much more to go!

We came up to the boat stop which leads right to the center of the island, but a boat load of people were heading in that direction, so we decided to take another route. Again, I am so glad we did that!

If you look at Burano on Google Maps, you will only seen two canals where one runs off the other. If you look in satellite view, there is another hidden canal. We walked over the main canal and headed toward the hidden canal where it was so peaceful and quiet. Such a change from the tourist heavy island of Venice.

As we walked around, we could hear the clanking of dishes as residents prepared for lunch. I so badly wanted to invite myself in to get a feel for living in one of these colorful little buildings.

I kept saying, "I like that color!" ... "Ooooooh, I like that color!!" ... "I'd want to live in that color house!" ... "Oh, no, I'd want that color!!!"

Luke and I just loved this next home. It was the only one we saw that had a balcony. I'll take that one, please!

We ate dinner at a place in Venice that night where there was a collage of Burano photos, and this next picture was displayed, neat to see someone else had a same vision in photographs. I'll take credit for this one, thankyouverymuch.

We walked along the hidden canal just in awe of how picturesque this little island was... and also astounded by this leaning tower that still chimed its bells!

We weaved our way into the center of the island which is where the crowd of people were. It was amazing how the vibe went from peaceful to lively!

We hadn't come across many places to eat yet, but we figured the main canal would be filled with plenty of options.

We plopped down at a table outside at a place that I don't remember the name, but I had some super yummy calamari! Burano is a fisherman's island, so I made the wise choice to eat fish. Meanwhile, Luke's decision of pizza wasn't the best choice.

Lucky for Luke that I am not such a fan of the tentacle pieces of calamari, so he got to eat those.

Burano is also known for their handmade lace. I don't buy things... ever... but I mentioned purchasing some lace for our future baby's baptism. Whenever that will be. But no purchase took place. Cuz we don't buy stuff. haha

The weather looked like it was turning, so we headed back to the dock to go to back to Venice. This time around, we were toward the back of the line getting on the boat, so we had to stand the whole 40 minute ride back. We had absolutely nothing to complain about though because Burano was really one of the coolest places we have visited! Luke's words, "This might be one of the coolest places we have been! Debbie, you did good." And that right there is why I read other people's blogs :-)

Other posts from Venice: San Giorgio Maggiore, General

RANDOM FACT:
The homes are colored in a specific pattern. To change the color of a home, the resident must get permission from the government.