Today is our last day here in Italy, tomorrow we fly home early so that meant today was a rush to get in our last sight seeing and souvenir shopping. This morning we decided to take a water taxi over to the island of Murano and visit the some of the glass factories. Once again we had the chance to see a view of the city from the canals. I am really amazed by this city and how people live off of the canals. It makes for a very frustrating and busy area, but intriguing as well. The canals are set up just like highways with street lights and lane markers as we crossed over to the island of Murano.

The Murano Glass Factory was really impressive. We got to go back to the furnace and watch the artisans create  glass sculptures, bowls, vases and other pieces of art. They explained the whole process to us, which I found to be very interesting. I of course loved that they were creating pieces made out of blue glass. They would imbed 24 karat gold flake into the glass and as they formed their desired shape it would stretch out in the glass and make for a very interesting design. They also use numerous little pieces of decorative glass to add a special flair to their work. The furnace room was very hot, not a place where I could work for 8 hours a day.

After getting back to the hotel we had to take the mothers on their Gondola ride. After all, we couldn’t come to Venice and not take a ride on a Gondola. The Gondola picked us right up at the hotel. We took an hour long ride through the Grand Canal, under the Rialto Bridge and then through the back neighborhoods. It made for a very interesting ride. I was impressed at how well the Gondolier can maneuver the gondola through the tight bridges and around the blind corners all while dodging other gondolas filled with picture taking tourists. A few gondolas had accordion players and would sing as well. It made for a a great ride. I loved the buildings and took numerous pictures of interesting windows and doors.

After our Gondola ride we had a quick dinner. It was our last night in Italy and of course my mother was not done shopping. She had been keeping her eye out for the best deal on the souvenirs that she wanted to bring back. This meant that we hurriedly walked from one little trinket shop to another until she finally went back to one of the original shops and bought her last items on her list. My mother is never one to not get a bargain, even if it means driving around the city for 3 hours to save 20 cents on a can of green beans. As we strolled back to the hotel, we stopped in San Marcos square and I had one last serving of gelato and we listened to one of the jazz bands play a rendition of Etta Jame’s “At Last”. It was an incredible song and wonderful end to an incredible trip. It is off to sleep, we head to the airport at 5:00 in the morning.