Birthday In Burano

Well today was my big birthday, I am now an official senior citizen!

We decided to take the lagoon islands tour of Murano, Burano and Torcello. A bit whistle-stop but enough time to see the sights. Good decision as it was noticeably warmer today and there seemed to be loads more people about in the main city, but it was not so busy on the islands.

Burano is amazingly colourful (main blip). We were told that if the houses are repainted it is illegal to change the colour. The first extra shows one of the locals I think, definitely not a tourist!

We had a demonstration of glass blowing on Murano (second extra). The last island, Torcello, once had a population of 20,000, but all that remains now is the church and cathedral (last extra). Our guidebook says the current population is 60, but I'm sure our guide said it was only 14 now.

The water bus to the islands was much larger than the small one which brought us from the airport, making the crossings much more enjoyable and picturesque. I began to pick up a bit of Italian/English too - 'the water isa nota deepa enougha ....'

Back-blipped on 4 Mar