Murano...

 The water bus ride out to Murano was a nice break for the kids.  It took about 15 minutes and it was quite a nice little boat ride.  Once we got to Murano it felt like a deserted Venice.  There was hardly anyone there, but it was so beautiful!  We walked down the 'sidewalks' and looked at the amazing glass things.  So many amazing creations all of glass.  We were lucky enough to see a glass master at work in one of the little shops.  He has been doing glass work for 22 years.  We watched him make a few blue butterflies and it was quite amazing.  The kids must have thought so too because they were quite enthralled with the whole thing too.  We walked a little further down and saw this amazing glass statue that was made by one of the true masters of Murano.  He gifted it to the city for Christmas.  It was so pretty!  After our brief visit we were back to St. Marks to pick out the souvenirs.  The kids wanted masks that are so famous in Venice to celebrate Carnivale (we celebrated in Naples).  Souvenir shopping is no easy task.  Once we got that all done, we hopped on the water bus to head back to our car.  But we decided to take a little bit of a side trip and ride a gondola.  These ones are gondola taxis and they take you across the grand canal at places that do not have bridges.  It was fun to be in a gondola though!  They are unique little boats that is for sure.  On our way out of Venice the sun set and it got dark, you can see why they say to visit Venice in the night time if you can too because it brings a whole new magical feel to the city.

All in all, a busy, yet beautiful day!