A lazy day at Murano

It was a beautiful but chilly day so we piled on the warm clothes and headed off to Murano. Sarah & Paul were sensible and sat inside on the vaporetto to Murano, Jules, Rob & I didn't and took a while to thaw out :) It wasn't as warm here as last year and we kept coats etc on.

We have always been lucky with the weather at Murano, it was a beautiful day and we strolled around checking out many glass shops finding many beautiful things to buy.  As usual the things that we liked best were thousands of euros and there is always the likelihood of stuff being broken in transit. After watching the DHL guys throwing packages on to their boat we were glad that none of them were ours :)

We had lunch at a favourite restaurant,
Ristorante ai Pianta Leoni - Murano, Rivalonga 25, telefono +39 041 736794.

There is something very relaxing about Murano,  it is a beautiful place and the pace is slower. Jules took some fantastic photos but you'll have to make do with mine until he downloads his.If you go to Venice make sure that you visit Murano - Burano is great as well.

This piece of public art always impresses and over the years we have taken many photos of it.  Such a shame that the fence is needed as it detracts from the beauty of the glass.

Lunch in a restaurant on the canal. We had a meal here last year and came back because it was so good -it didn't disappoint.

Tagliolini neri con gamberni e zafferino

Gnocchi di patate con prosciutto e montasio

Seafood antipasto

Spaghetti and mixed seafood

Grilled Branzino and white polenta

Fried mixed seafood

Tonno

Frutte di mare alla griglia

Paul, Jules and Rob enjoying the sunshine

We all want this boat :)

How cute!

Another beautiful piece of public art.

The colours and shapes are exquisite

There only needs to be a little bit of sunshine for the glass to glisten

Around the world there must be so many photographs of the main canals in Murano with almost everyone taking similar shots

Not too many tourists -which must be a worry for the local people

    

Autumn leaves

The strong winds and aqua alta has resulted in piles of colourful leaves in a few campos. I love autumn colours -sorry for those of you who find this post boring :)

The Venice Marathon

Rob finished the Venice Marathon!! A huge achievement given the horrible weather which turned out to be as bad as predicted - Il Meteo got it right again,unfortunately.

The amazing thing is that Rob ran it faster than last year (4hrs 30 corrected time) and said that he would have done it faster but for  around 60kmh winds on the Mestre Venice bridge. 
Sarah and Paul cheered Rob on at Zattere, it was a nice surprise for him, and Jules and I were at the end with warm clothes etc.

At our apartment at 5.30am -we had to catch the train to Mestre so that Rob could catch the bus to Stra

The bus was packed, standing room only

The woman on the right must be from Alaska -it was really cold and windy

I think that every bin in Venice was full of umbrellas -we saw so many like this

This runner was doing everything he could to keep the rain off and stay warm -including running with a plastic bag on his head :)

It was exciting to see Rob coming over the last bridge at the end of the race.

Rob ran over to us and high fived Jules. We were all really happy

Nearly there

I don't know how he does it but Rob still has heaps of energy after a race. We walked back to our apartment in San Barnaba,

I was trying to smile but was just frozen :)

After this photo Rob put on a few dry things and then back to San Barnaba for a much needed hot shower