After our fascinating exploration of the ‘Treasures of Venice’, we had the most wonderful experience - a ride on a gondola, complete with a troubadour and piano accordionist,. And I was lucky enough to be on the gondola on which they rode. (Our group was spread over several gondolas.) There we were, gliding along several canals with a tenor singing many favourite Italian songs, not a care in the world . . . a magical experience! Needless to say, as we had a singer on board, people along the canals stopped to watch and wave to us.
All good things come to an end, as they say, and we sadly reached the end of our journey. After a light lunch along a nearby narrow little street, we caught a launch to the delightful island of Burano, a small fishing village in which, naturally, there are cafes featuring fish dishes. We went to one of these for an early dinner, and then browsed through several shops selling lovely tablecloths and serviettes, blouses and other handcrafts made by the women of the village. The village was very colourful, and the people very friendly, so it was very hard to tear ourselves away.
The next morning we reluctantly farewelled Venice but were very excited at the prospect of going to Assisi, made famous by the life of St Francis of Assisi.That will be my next post.
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| A wonderful basilica seen as we were boarding our gondolas. |
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| Our gondola ride started in the Grand Canal not far from St Mark's. The Grand Canal was quite rough at the time. |
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| Another of our group's gondolas. Six of us fitted into each gondola. You can see how rough it was. |
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| Our musicians in full flight. I was at the very back of the gondola. Luckily the water was calm along these small canals. |
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| Along the canal that runs through the island of Burano. |
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| Notice how colourful all the houses were. |
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| One of the little shops in Burano where lovely hand-embroidered tablecloths were sold. |
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