Venice - the impossible city, made possible 

You have to wonder - just what those original occupants of the marshy Venetian lagoon were thinking?

Sure, these Roman refugees had been pushed, many centuries ago, to the furthest boundary of their mainland - but couldn't they do better than such a far-flung watery exile??

No doubt many wished that they had chosen to head inland and upwards to the mountains.

Seemingly at their wit's end with fear and hunger and few alternatives, they were forced to slosh around those 118 smelly, mosquito-burdened mudflats. Was that a well-planned decision?

Probably NO.

But when pushed to the limits, humans have to take the next best option, and it seems that in those early centuries, this was all they had. At least there was seafood in abundance.

Fast forward almost a millennium, to 1800AD and Napoleon Bonaparte conquers just months before the area becomes part of Austria.

Fast forward another couple of centuries and here we are, like all the other tourist newbies, trying to remember where to go next, and already gawping at this impossible place.

Venice is pure culture-shock. No roads, only footpaths, and an estimated 400 bridges that cross 150-plus canals, with the repeated advice from locals: 'just wander and get lost'. They say it in the best way, meaning 'relax, you will untangle this puzzle of lanes and steps. Just enjoy it'.

Our own arrival is via a sleek train from Milano, travelling at a smooth yet blurry 247kph. Bang on time, after 2.5 hours, we follow the baggage-carrying crowd - our tribe - onto the footpath, leaving behind dry land and vehicles. 

From here on all our transport will be water-based.

Finding our way to the vaporetto (aka ‘fast boat’) to our B&B, where we will be staying for several days, is also easier than we thought: turn left, follow the crowds, down a short ramp to Vaporetto Line 3 (the most affordable water-bus), 20 minutes threading through canals, then on to open water and our destination - the island of Murano.

After only a few minutes in Venice, already we are assimilating to see waterways as 'roads' and 'highways', depending on breadth and busyness. Gondolas and bigger craft, we classify as 'vehicles'.

Our Venetian adventure has begun.

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Murano turns out to be our surprise packet

Before arrival, all we really knew about this island was its history of glass-blowing. 

Our decision to stay on here, was almost forced on us as, by the time we came to book accommodation, most of the affordable places on Venice itself had been snapped up.

My best travel friend, booking.com, led us to this one - and the price was right.

Twenty minutes later, our water-bus arrives at the wharf, Murano Venier, and two hundred metres along the waterfront, we discover our home for the next few days. As we couldn't pinpoint it on our maps beforehand, we'd been a little concerned, but the location had seemed ideal, so we crossed fingers and risked it.

Good decision...it turns out to be a great way to begin our love affair with Murano!

Better still, we have the whole ground floor apartment to ourselves - bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, lounge - so we can relax and enjoy water views from every window.

Next door is the Church of St Mary and the Angels originally opened in the twelfth century, and rebuilt in 1529AD.

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Watch this...

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Discovering Murano

Although we are excited, with an entire new island to explore, it has been a long and busy day - and we are hungry. Time for dinner.

Except where is it?

This turns out to be our first surprise of how a tourist island works. In fact we begin to feel anxious as dusk falls and we walk on and on. Cafe after cafe appears closed - at 6pm!

Finally, a friendly local points towards an open door at the end of a nearby narrow laneway. Finally, food!! At a simple eatery where the food is hearty and generous, we sit in a corner, watching the local working men talking and laughing, as they eat and drink and relax.

We are told that Sotto Vento is an osteria, a tavern described as serca e sorsa (look and sip). Its name translates as 'downwind', a good maritime name. It's one of those menu-less places where local specialties are served on a wooden board or taglieri, topped with a generous mound of thin slices of silky cured ham, accompanied by cheese, salami and crusty bread. 

Perfetto! Already we're feeling the pulse of Murano.

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Next morning, as we breakfast seated outside on the footpath of a local cafe, the evening lack of people makes more sense. Murano, we realise, is mainly crowded by tourists from Venice during the day. They tend to disappear back to the BIG city as soon as the sun dips. 

In our few days there we grow to cherish these quieter late afternoons and evenings.

'Parking' of boats is at a premium along Murano's canals. Some are private craft, but others will quickly offer a trip to Venice or another island - for a price - which is often negotiable, of course.

Exploring the island, we discover the odd quiet spot - as does this waterbird interested only in his catch.

We have come in late October, another plus, as the hustling high-summer crowds are long gone. However the weather stays overcast during much of our time, but that only seems to underline the charm of this ancient area. 

Many of the boats that are used for transporting tourists in the high season, are now resting or being repaired and readied for the coming year. 

Ignoring the weather, we seek out the colours of Murano - and discover plenty of them.

Who cares if the sky is grey when flame-coloured ochre walls and deep green canals are on offer?

Interestingly, Murano is actually a collection of seven islands, bunched together on the lagoon, across from Venice itself. 'Our island' is San Donato. The several narrow waterways that separate these islands are regarded as channels (canale) and it doesn't take much imagination to see how you could easily become lost here.

Think of living in a jigsaw!

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The city of glass

Delicate and fragile, Murano's glass seems almost too exquisite to be true.

Like this elegant and delicate chandelier that we discovered in a quiet canal-side church. 

In fact, glassworks define this island. Over the past seven centuries, it has become the go-to place for the best fine glass objects and the opportunity to see them being created.

You don't have to walk far without seeing shopfronts displaying extremely creative and fine glassware, some of it with deservedly hefty price-tags

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Glassware varies between innovative works of creative art (above)...

...and fun items or little pieces that make wonderful gifts to bring back home.

The rainbow of intricate and fragile work is quite dazzling.

This is the most extreme glassware we encounter, canal-side at the Hyatt Centric hotel.

The ancient art of glassblowing began on the island of Venice, but local administrators were fearful that the fiery furnaces, needed to create glassware, could cause fires that would destroy the island's timber buildings, and also result in much loss of life. 

In 1291 it was decided to transfer all the glassblowers, along with their furnaces, to the less crowded island of Murano. It was here that the glassworks industry began anew. 

In several places on Murano, visitors can join classes or watch demonstrations of glassmaking, coming away in awe of the workmanship and skill of those who create such fragile and beautiful objects.

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Eating on Murano

It is easy to feel that Venice and its islands are a world apart from the rest of Italy. Yet there are many similarities when it comes to food. 

Italians love fresh produce and, one morning, we discover this waterside delivery service.

Of course in such a 'watery' place, seafood is extremely popular. This waterside spot, Antica Trattoria Muranese, served up the best calamari of our entire trip.

And, as we often do when travelling, we choose our 'favourite' breakfast spot and stick with it every morning. This was at Bar Gelateria al Ponte at the base of the Ponte Longo bridge. Great views of passers-by and tasty fresh pastries.

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Murano is all about the water

There's our heron again. It seems to have made this place home.

Bigger boats also ply these canals. Murano has eight canals, so access to transport is reasonably easy wherever you go.

Murano's architecture is reflected in the waters of the many canals...

...and the sunny colours brighten even the greyest days.

One day we walk across the Ponte S. Chiara bridge and along the Rio dei Vetrai (river of the glassmakers) canal, see elements of another style.

By visiting just out-of-season, the area was quieter, providing the ideal place to dream and imagine what stories these ancient walls and bridges could share.

The canals are literally the 'streets' of this island, with boats parked outside a residence just like a car would be in the city.

And, of course, there is always a cafe or a bar nearby. The island, after all, is still a tourist magnet.

While some of the older buildings may be a little faded, with paint flaking off, in many ways they seem more solid than some buildings in Venice. And don't be surprised if the owner of one of those boats offers to take you on a guided tour of the canals - for a price, of course!

It is late October, when we visit, yet still warm enough to dine outside.

Nearby a tall building shares the beauty of ancient mosaics.

Who knows how old they are.

Then, at the far end of the canal, we reach the open lagoon and we wish we had planned a meal here at Ristorante La Fornace.

Maybe next time....

However, we do find the ideal place for water-bus watching and wonder what tales this place could tell.

After lingering for a while in the late afternoon, as the sun is setting, we reluctantly turn away...

...crossing back, over Canale degli Angeli (canal of the angels) on the high arched bridge - the Ponte Longo - to 'our side' of the island...

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...and down the steps towards 'our' breakfast cafe which, in the late afternoon, has transformed into a bar.

Of course!

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A day trip to Venice

Of course no one should overlook visiting the city of Venice itself, and we have dedicated our final day to this 'pearl of the lagoon'. 

As we cross the lagoon to Venice, there are several stops .

The imposing walled Cimitero (Cemetary) island of San Michele was built in the early 1800s. Tombs include those of Ezra Pound and Igor Stravinsky.

While much of what we have seen in the past days has been very old, these white 'hands' have been recently installed (in 2019) Created by Lorenzo Quinn, the six 15-metre-high pairs of hands form an arched bridge over the basin of the Arsenale. The hands embody the universal values of wisdom, hope, help, faith, friendship and love, and in their union stand for the human ability to overcome barriers and to act together.

After the quiet of Murano, Venice is always busy with events - even more so on this day, we discover.

The waters surrounding the city are always busy with watercraft...

... and of course there are the signature gondolas, that have plied these waters for over a thousand years.

Some hotels, like the sumptuous Danieli, have their own gondalas, at the ready to service the needs of their guests.

Gondolas are sleek and beautiful, and these gondoliers are also brightly clad - but the job is tiring!

Transport fit for a king is available.

Magnificent carvings are commonplace - yet each comes with its own history.

The day we visit Venice, we discover that a marathon has been planned. Pathways are diverted, and bridges are crowded...

...as is the square (the Piazzetta) outside the 15th- to 16th-century Doges Palace. 

While this corner of the facade looks quiet enough, at ground level, the place is super-busy.

Here the Campanile (bell-tower of St Mark's Basilica) has centre stage.

To the right (above) is the facade of the Doges Palace, and to the left the breathtakingly beautiful basilica.

Take note of the intricate embellishment of the Basilica, evolving over the centuries.

Saint Mark's Basilica was consecrated in 1094AD, but it is believed to have begun in the early ninth century.

Turn a corner, and time melts away, yet again. This panorama takes in the huge space and its architecture of the Piazza di San Marco.

Back in the current age, the buzz of the square returns...

...and the Marathon continues.

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Getting lost in Venice...

Following the advice of many friends (and locals!) we set off, beyond the noise and crowd of the main square, to see what the rest of Venice is up to. We have no map and only a hazy idea of reaching the Grand Canal and its beautiful Rialto Bridge.

Immediately, we are impressed by the high standard of the shops along the arcades and laneways. All the major fashion names are here, and we mix with an upmarket crowd of well-heeled shoppers - as well as tourists like us.

Venetians are very conscious of art and fashion, and visitors often come here simply to purchase the best (and often the most expensive) items to take home. Many are elegant and colourful, and...

...some others are, er, simply 'interesting'.

For some time, we turn left, then right, then switch back again, trying to get our bearings.

OK, we are lost - already!

We find this, the Pizzocchere. In the 16th century, women of different origins (widows, fallen noblewomen, former prostitutes) devoted their time to help the poor, or cleaning the churches, organising funerals. Usually Christians, they were hosted in this area of Venice.

While Venice's tall and jostling buildings may steal some of the daylight, these narrow canals pay back, by reflecting the sky, giving a feeling of space and beauty.

Eventually, when we have completely lost our sense of direction, we accost some passing students who finally point us towards the Grand Canal.

Turns out it is the complete opposite direction to the way we were going! Ahh, that's Venice!!

The Grand Canal is large enough to manage the traffic of all sorts of boats. Of course the gondalas are top priority for many visitors.

Of the four bridges that span the Grand Canal, the Rialto Bridge is the oldest, built in the early 17th century.

Finally, returning to the water-bus, we travel 'home' to Murano.

The sun is setting and our short yet sublime time in this part of the world is nearly over. Tomorrow we catch a flight home to Australia, our minds full of the richness of these magical experiences.

But what everlasting and wonderful memories those will be...

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Video: ©Gordon Hammond

Words and photos: © Sally Hammond

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This trip was not subsidised and  this website is not-for-profit.