Gondolas and paint box bright Burano

When ever you think of Venice there is always one thing that is bound to be mentioned - Gondolas, those romantic, sterotypical visions of Venice that ply their trade on the canals.

The gondola is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian Lagoon. For centuries gondolas were the chief means of transportation and the most common watercraft within Venice

Of course, as they cost astromomical amounts of money, we didn't go on one. . . .  so here's some photos instead, as near as I got to one! He's got his stripy top on. but where is his little hat and cornetto??

He is looking quite relaxed but that's because just out of shot the entire canal is gridlocked and he is at the back of the traffic jam!

As well as gondolas, Venice is also famous for its incredible masks, and every other shop has window displays full of incredible flights of fancy in every shape and colour conceivable.

From the sinister to the silly, the fanciful to the freaky, there's bound to be a mask that appeals to everyone. I took home a couple of the plain, unpainted versions with eerie long noses, similar to those worn by the plague doctors during the Black Death.

Here's just a couple of pictures of masks.

After taking part in some retail therapy we hopped on a vaperetto and cruised off to a couple of the smaller islands alongside Venice, first up Murano, the island famed for its glass production.

Murano is a series of islands linked by bridges in the Venetian Lagoon.

In 1291, all the glassmakers  in Venice were forced to move to Murano due to the risk of fires. In the following century, exports began, and the island became famous, initially for glass beads and mirrors.

For a while Murano was the main producer of glass in Europe.

After a potter around the island we moved onto Burano, a colouful little island where one of the main industrys was lace making but the island is most famous for its vivid houses that are painted every colour of the rainbow.

The colours of the houses follow a specific system originating from the golden age of its development; if someone wants to paint their house the home owners must send a request to the government, who will respond by letting them know which certain colours are permitted for that lot.

Here's a couple of bikes I spotted leaning up against houses, I love the weird wheel on one of the bikes - no doubt Neil would love to have a go on it, any sort of wheeled transportation and he is all over it.

Here we are indulging in one of our favourite Italian past times - pizza pizza pizza!!