VENICE 2017: The Mazzorbo and Burano Islands

After lunch in Torcello (last post), the farthest-out island in the Venetian lagoon, we hopped on the vaporetto to the nearby islands of Mazzorbo and Burano on our way back to Venice.

You can see how close the 3 islands are:  Torcello, Mazzorbo and Burano.

It so happens that the lesser-known Mazzorbo is linked to Burano by a footbridge.  And since it was right at the valporetto stop, we decided to visit it first.

It's tell-tale landmark is the bell tower of the Church of St. Michael Archangel from the 11th cent.

The tower is smack-dab in the vineyard of the Venissa Estate. 

The bottom-right image is looking back from Burano later, so nearby.

It's a walled vineyard of 5 acres, whose Medieval walls were restored in 1727 (top row).

From outside the wall we looked back to the church in Torcello from that morning (center row)

...and then to Burano back across the wooden footbridge (bottom row).

There was more to see in Mazzorbo but it was enough to say we did it.

It was Burano we had stopped to see.

Remember how we had seen it from the bell tower in Torcello that morning?

These islands are like sisters, holding hands...so close to each other.

As you probably know, Burano is most known for it's small, brightly-painted houses.

The colours of the houses follow a specific system originating from the golden age of its development; if someone wishes to paint their home, one must send a request to the government, who will respond by making notice of the certain colours permitted for that lot.  --Wiki

Can you imagine living there?  I hope you're not color-blind!

Who knew you could do so much with color.

Impressions.  Always impressions.

And lots of lace!  Burano is also known for its lace...like Murano is known for it's glass.

Lace-making revived in 1872 when a lace-making school was opened.

But few have continued the time-consuming and expensive tradition, though much lace is still sold.

Of course, the tilting church tower of the 16th cent. Church of San Martino beckoned.

The 53-meter tower was built in the 17th century.  It was hard to miss!  

Lucky for us, the church was open.

We were especially glad to see Mother Teresa (top-right).

What is it about living near the water like this.  

It grows on you, as we can attest from where we live here in the Netherlands.

But nowhere will you probably ever see such concentrated color, not even in the Netherlands!

Bruges, Belgium: 2014 Christmas Market

Moving right along...and finally getting to the day for which we actually drove to Belgium, that last weekend of November!

I'm totally going backwards from when this all happened.  I started with Veere, NL, which we stopped to see as we drove home.  Then I showed you what happened on the day of our coastal tram ride.

Today is when we took the train to Bruges from our hotel in Ostend, a 15-minute no-brainer, no-hassle ride to the outskirts of city center.  And we weren't the only ones visiting Bruges that first weekend of their Christmas market, Saturday, November 29.  (We first stopped at the ice festival outside the train station, but that's another post, coming up.)

Immediately, walking into city center, we noticed how autumny it still was on a gorgeous day.

And of course, I started snapping away at all the architecture that still enthralls me.

That meant also noticing all the niches everywhere.

Remember that Belgium is Roman Catholic (while Holland is mostly Protestant).

 Speaking of Roman Catholic, here's Bruges' city church, St. Salvator's Cathedral.
In the 10th century it began as a parish church, becoming a cathedral in the 19th century.
It wasn't open as we entered city center...but it was as we left (see end of post).

The gable stones even in Belgium never disappoint.

As I mentioned on FaceBook, the bottom-right one is a typical "gaper head" (literally:  yawner) 

depicting the place as a pharmacy (see the pill?). They always make me laugh.

 Don't forget the weathervanes and manhole covers....

 ...and the roof toppers/ornamentals, very special to Bruges, and surely meaning something.

 When we see the organ grinders, we always want to take pictures,

so we toss in some coins and snap away.

Sometimes I even remember to take a video.  Short but sweet.
(You can even see the perforated scroll like for player pianos, which I always loved.)

 Once at the market square, we took our bearings...to remember what we both had seen previously,
even if separately, in our past lives.  Yes, this is Bruges.

But first, we took a side street to find this café for lunch:  Beethoven.
What a quaint little place, serving French cuisine for up to 20 patrons.  Delightful.

Every time we go to Belgium, Astrid tries to get mussels...and these were the BEST, she said.
Since I'm not a mussels nut, I chose something I rarely have these days:  beef stew.
(Notice that my "stew" wasn't stewed with veggies but it still melted in my mouth.)

After lunch, we were on a mission!
We walked on the outskirts of the Christmas market in the square, to save it for late afternoon.
This Provincial Court building from 1294, on the square, is a masterpiece.

We wanted to get to the canal for a boat ride before it was too late.
But see that long line (top right)?

We decided to just hoof it around (on foot, that is) and get the main points,
always with the 12th century Belfry tower from the square looming overhead/behind.

When we wound our way back to the Christmas market, we window-shopped along the way.
Surely you know Belgium is known for its lace....

 ...and did someone say BELGIUM CHOCOLATE???
(just like the Dutch, the Belgiums can take a joke!)

By now, late afternoon, it was time to pay attention to the Christmas market.

After all, this is what we had come for.

HO-HO-HO

Fun, irreverent, Christmassy Belgium.  How can you resist it!
Half a moon (as we left) was better than no moon at all.

And as we walked back to the train station, St. Salvator's Cathedral was open for Vespers.
Half a peek was better than no peek at all.

As we neared the train station, the morning's ferris wheel was all lit up.
It seemed an appropriate Good-Bye for what had been a delightful, sunshiny day.

Conversation Peace

I guess you had to be there! But this series of photos is one of my happiest memories of our cruise.

We had just arrived in Venice shortly after lunch and, by mid-afternoon, had a boat excursion that took us to the nearby islands of Murano (glass) and Burano (lace). As we entered Burano close to sundown, this couple caught my eye (I showed you one of the pics in my last post, so maybe you'll recognize them).

Did you catch that? Talk about body language. The hands. Don't you wonder what they were talking about?!