A day on Murano

We arrived in Venice by train yesterday afternoon, walked to our accommodation, then took a vaporetto to St. Mark's Square, just in time to see it in the golden, late afternoon sun.

We stepped out of the train station and got our first look at the Grand Canal 

The four horses on the front of St. Mark's Basilica - these are replicas - we hope to see the copper ones inside tomorrow

Today was the last day of Venice Glass Week, so we took a vaporetto over to the island of Murano, where all the glass factories are located.

We found the street art exhibit, which was amazing: glass + street art takes it to a whole other level... the sign said "8 street artists, 14 glass artisans reinterpret the magic of colour."

Girl with a pearl, no, wait -- GLASS earring

This mural (above) on the wall was incredible - the glass earring was about 3" x 2" and attached...

Mural on the wall; glass on the ground, including glass "balloons"

Then it was on to the Murano Glass Museum; organized chronologically, telling the history of glass.  It was fascinating, and we were quite captivated with the delicate pieces, as well as the modern ones.

A horse's head, but if you look closely, you'll see a small horse as well

This popular fellow is on postcards in the museum gift shop

A large glass squid hangs over the staircase

A great day!  We're thankful for the sunny weather and our vaporetto pass - like a transit pass at home - you tap to get on.  It's like a bus system but using boats, and we're using the app called Chebateo? to find out which line to get on and when the next vaporetto will arrive - they usually go every 10 minutes.  We have a stop right outside our B&B which is very convenient.

A vaporetto coming to a stop right outside our door this morning