Day 5 - San Michele, Murano, Burano & boarding the Ruby

Our last full day in Venice today and, while we've completely loved Venice, we're ready to move on to a new city. We were awake about 7 am, and packed up our things. How is it possible that our clothes multiplied by 3 in just 5 short days? Had our last breakfast with Lorenzo - I will truly miss those lovely preserve-filled croissant and that strong Venetian coffee! After breakfast, we dragged our suitcases to the vaporetto stop (good thing it was only a 5 minute walk and only one bridge to cross) and rode to the train station area. Located next to the "people mover" (as I said previously, this is like a monorail that shuttles passengers from the train & bus stations to the cruise port and the ferry crossing to the mainland) is a luggage storage facility where you can pay to "check" your bags for the day. Free of our luggage we jumped back on the vaporetto to spend our last day exploring the surrounding islands of Venice.

On the way back to the vaporetto stop, we swung by the church and the hospital that we saw on our walking tour last evening. The church (brick building) was constructed in 1333, and the hospital (white building) was built in the mid-1400's. Twenty five of Venice's doges are buried in the church, and the hospital is still the main one used in Venice today.

I just noticed Andrew in the lower right corner in this photo.

Next, on to San Michele, or Cemetery Island. Where all locals have been buried since a decree by Napoleon in 1797. It is very large there and the burials range from that early date in late 1700, to now. In fact, there was a funeral going on there as we wandered. You were not supposed to take any photos, but I am not always one to follow the rules...

After our little tour of the cemetery, we jumped back on the vaporetto to the island of Murano - famous for blown glass production. We did pick up a few souvenirs however, after days of cured meat sandwiches and pizza, Andrew was thrilled to find a cheeseburger!

Also in Murano, we saw some glass art. This round bale made of glass shards made me smile!


From Murano, it was on to Burano - famous for lace making. We didn't buy any lace here but I have to say that Burano may be about the cutest darn city in the world. Brightly colored houses line the canals creating a fairytale-like atmosphere as you wander the streets.


For those of your concerned, I am happy to report that we also solved the case of the missing Venetian cats. They have relocated to Burano! Possibly on the vaporetto or a private water taxi. They were every where you looked. Here's one little guy having a public bath...


After Burano it was time to, once again, board the vaporetto for our ride back to the cruise terminal. Even though you can see every island from where you are, the vaporettos are slow, make frequent stops, and require several transfers to reach your destination. The ride from Burano back to Venice took us over 2 hours! Exhausted, we picked up our luggage, rode the people mover, and were on the Ruby Princess in just a few short minutes. We have an extended balcony cabin, which is lovely. One of my favorite parts of getting on the cruise ship is unpacking! They have little cubbies, drawers, and hangers for everything!

Before...

After! Quite honestly, this is one of the highlights of my trip. It's a sickness, I'm sure.

Main area of the cabin.

Balcony (with Andrew on it).

Tomorrow the ship sets sail at 1 pm, leaving us with the morning free. Having spent 5 days in Venice, we are thinking that we are going to stay on the ship and hit the gym while everyone is on shore! Friday it's a sea day, then Saturday we are in Naples.