We had a leisurely get up on Sunday. It was a beautiful sunny morning even though there had been overnight rain.

We tried a restaurant nearby that did different breakfast options. The waiter got a bit grumpy with JC when he asked to change his coffee from a cappuccino to an americano as this wasn’t in his option.

Once we’d eaten, we went to San Zaccaria to do some island hopping. This meant that we had to catch the vaporetta to Murano, then carry on to Burano. This are places that we’d been before but still nice places to revisit. The trip took roughly 25 minutes from San Zaccaria to Murano. It was busy but we had good seats at the front of the boat so we had a good view.

After disembarking the boat at Murano Faro, we walked through some unfamiliar roads around the island. We started at a different place to what we’d done before; it looked like it was to do with improvements to the island’s infrastructure. Once we’d got our bearings we walked along the main canal and popped into various Murano glass galleries. Both JC and I are interested in some of the work produced here, but we didn’t enjoy being followed around everywhere by the shop owners. Instead, we went to an osteria where we had a few chichetti, birra and vino.

The next island visit was to Burano. We’d given ourselves plenty of time to get to the vaporetta stop, but there was a massive queue already. However, we managed to get onto the boat no problem for the journey to the island.

Burano was exactly as I remembered it. Lots of brightly painted houses, small shops and market stalls. Our mission was to revisit Riva Rosa, a lovely restaurant that we’d visited twice before. Just as we got there we realised that Acqua Alta was an hour away from its highest point. The paths at the edge of the canal had already been covered with water and it was still rising.

However, it didn’t stop us going to the restaurant and the waiter sat us at a table that was away from the canal. We had lovely food, wine and service whilst we were there. We observed a shop owner next door looking extremely concerned about the rising water.

https://www.rivarosa.it

People wading through the water made it worse for shop owners, as it disturbed the water and ended up in the entrances of their shops. I was annoyed that people were being so flippant and ignorant towards others.

On leaving, our waiter told us the best way to get back to the water boat without getting our feet wet. He said that this flooding shouldn’t happen in Summer, only in Spring or Winter. However, he said that the sirocco wind and the full moon had affected the tides in Burano. He was very concerned about it. It is all so worrying with rising sea levels generally, but Venice and its islands are massively affected due to the low lying areas.

So, before catching the vaporetta back to San Marco, we wandered some of the back streets that we didn’t know. This was an opportunity to take some photos.

One of the houses at Campo Pescheria (fish market) caught our eye as there was a sign outside of it. This was advertising Aperol spritz at €3 and wine at €2. We wanted to support the small business man so decided to go there. This was the smallest bar I’ve ever been to; it was literally 3m x 3m, if that. There was enough space to stand at the bar whilst being served, but then we had to sit outside. Drinks were served in plastic glasses but they were brilliant. Not bad when a round of drinks comes to €5 either!!

Once we’d taken enough pictures of the lovely coloured houses in the area, we made our way back to the water taxi stop. On the way, we saw San Martino bell tower, which looks as if it is leaning more than the last time we came. I did read that, because of land subsidence it is inclined by 1.83 metres in respect to its axis.

The waterboat stop was so busy with people, with no queuing system, so it was like a huge bottle neck at the entrance. Luckily we didn’t have to wait long to get on the vaporetta.

This journey back to San Marco San Zaccaria was quite a lengthy one at 1 hour and 9 minutes. It was good as there were only three stops before getting there, and a lot of people got off at Lido, one of the stops.

Back at the hotel we did some packing before going out. Instead of staying round San Marco, we headed to the Rialto Bridge area of Venice. It was bustling down the back streets to get there, and even busier when we arrived. Undeterred we found a reasonably priced pizzeria restaurant that gave views of the Bridge right next to us.

We kept hearing cheering and applause from the Bridge. It is a popular place for marriage proposals so could have been that.

https://www.rialtohotel.com/#/

Once we’d eaten, I took a few photos before going back to the hotel for some decent sleep. Back to the UK on Monday.