Venice Day 2 (Mom Blogs On)

Our excursion today included a tour on the famous island of Murano and a glass factory there, a visit to San Giorgio Church, and a gondola ride.
We started at the Murano glass factory where we watched a maestro make a flower vase. We then visited the very large showroom with an opportunity to purchase a piece or two. I am not sure if Darian has mentioned it or not, but there is a “Hot Glass Show” on board our ship! This is very cool, or hot, or…you know what I mean!
We go to practically every show and watch for at least a piece or two. These guys are very talented and excellent in explaining the process. So, in Murano, everything we saw, we really had already experienced on the boat with the Hot Glass Show. The only real difference was the Murano maestro worked alone, while the guys on board work kinda as a team. I had been looking forward to this excursion, and definitely enjoyed our time there.
Next we went by water taxi to visit the church. We were told the previous day that Venice has over 100 churches! They’re not even in the Bible belt!
They had sort of an art exhibit going on there called the Ascension. It involved smoke being manipulated by several fans to create a vortex that swirled upward, toward the top of the church. Very nice!
Our last stop was a gondola ride. I had been looking forward to this part, as it seems like an essential part of a visit to Venice. Well, let me tell you, it was not exactly what I bargained for! The dock where we boarded the gondola was what I would call the ocean side. Yes, waves just like the ocean! This is due to the very large amount of boat traffic – big water taxis, small personal boats, tug boats, even the cruise ships come in not too far out from here. Have you ever seen a gondola? It is quite long and narrow, and flat! To make matters worse, they pack in 6 people where only 2 were probably intended! I got the lucky seat right in the middle, facing the side, and sitting up higher than the very low sides of the gondola. I felt as though I might tip right over and out any minute! Well the ride got more stable, and thus more enjoyable as we entered the canals. We all relaxed and settled in to enjoy the ride. Everyone from our tour was on a gondola, so the line of gondolas was long, really just one long boat after another. You know how the gondola ride always looks romantic and peaceful on television? Not so! They lie! The water was jammed with gondola after gondola, after gondola. All of the gondoliers were shouting out to each other, not in an angry way, just regular conversation like “ Hey, did you catch that game last night?” And “how’s the wife and kids?” (at least this is what I imagined it to be since they were speaking Italian!) There was also quite an ugly stench from time to time! I don’t care to think about from whence it came!
I will say that I was impressed with the talent of the gondolier in navigating such unfriendly waters. We were told that not too many men (I think only men are gondoliers) are able to pass the test. It looks like it takes skill, patience, muscle, and of course a good sense of direction, as the canals are as crazy and confusing as the streets! Another little tidbit – only tourists travel by gondola, except for maybe a bride on her wedding day! I wonder if my sweet friend T.H. would enjoy a gondola ride on her big day?