Venezia (Venice) - Visit to Murano Island

The day before our arrival in Venice we received a special invitation from Royal Caribbean International to participate in an excursion to Murano. The excursion was complimentary and for a small group of 10 VIPs.

Whilst we were astonished we were VIPs, we called the Excursion manager and confirmed our places!!

We arrived in Venice at around 2.30pm so we met the excursion manager at 3.00 pm for our departure on a private motor boat to Murano.

Here is a photo of Michael and myself on the boat.

I was concerned about going on the boat  due to motion sickness but given this was an opportunity not to miss, I took my tablets and hoped for the best!

The ride to Murano took around 25 minutes and the boat was fast and not for the faint hearted!!

We arrived in Murano to be greeted by the director of a glass making factory and showroom. 

We had a private demonstration of glass making by the Master of the factory. It was very interesting to hear about how they make their beautiful pieces which are known all over the world. 

We were then given a private tour of their showroom where they hold their very expensive pieces. I wish I could show you some photos of these but they were not allowed. Intricate chandeliers and other huge pieces that were unbelievable. 

Whilst I am sure the purpose of this tour was to sell us some of these, it was well worth the visit.

We bought an item to have as a family heirloom and they are shipping it home for us. It was expensive but will be a nice addition to our home. Given that we had bought it, we were allowed to photograph it, here it is....it's an aquarium. It is all made of glass including each fish inside! It's amazing to see in different light, the photo doesn't do it justice:

Then we went to their retail store and bought a few more gifts and souvenirs. 

After this we were met again by our boat driver Fabio who then dropped us off at Piazza San Marco where we wandered around and took some photos. 

The bridge of sighs

Afterwards we wandered around to find somewhere to have dinner, we found a place along the grand canal not far from the square, probably expensive given its location but hey....we are in Venice and when do we get the chance to have dinner along the grand canal??

Michael had calamari fritti and we both had pizza. €74 ....most expensive we have had yet....

After a bit of souvenir shopping we caught the ship organised shuttle boat back to the ship. 

Another big afternoon and a good exercise day, 12.6km walked!!