Venice's Burano Island, the original El Max of Alexandria

CAIRO – 6 February 2018: In a previous article, we talked about the Venetian Island of Murano, close to Venice in the Venetian Lagoon, famous worldwide of its unique Murano glass products. Now let’s continue our marine trip of Venetian Islands, before we return to Venice again.

The second boat stop was Burano Island, originally a fishermen’s island. Burano is an amazing colorful place, full of brightly colored houses, shops and cafes. It also has an inner water canal with fishing boats. As soon as you step foot on the island, you feel you have entered a cheerful painting!

Seafood lovers will find Burano especially amazing, as it has got a lot of restaurants that cook seafood the Italian way — the fish is caught fresh by the island’s fishermen. There are also some shops which sell Murano glass souvenirs, like rings and other accessories, but at low prices, unlike Murano Island! Burano is also famous for lace fabrics; if you are into lace products, get ready to find a wide variety on Burano Island. My advice: don’t miss that colorful experience of Burano at all costs! It really refreshes one’s soul to spend some time in such a cheerful place!


People in restaurants, cafes and shops of Burano Island May 5, 2016 – Flickr / Nicolas Vollmer

Back to our boat and the third stop was Torcello Island. This is a very serene place that also has a water canal with trees on either side and a wonderful old brick bridge crossing it, called the Devil’s Bridge or “Ponte Del Diavolo” in Italian. Photos from that bridge or “Ponte” are fantastic! I climbed it, sat on its flat middle part with legs hanging from the edge, to take a photo with my own reflection in the water below!


Torcello Island water canal with trees on its both sides, and the old Devil’s Bridge or “Ponte Del Diavolo” crossing the canal May 3, 2010 - Wikimedia Commons/Marie Gabriel

There are some elegant restaurants on Torcello Island with delightful gardens, but unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to try them as I was there on a pre-organized trip by a travel agency. That’s why I’d recommend this trip using the Vaporetto (public transportation water bus of Venice) and on your own, so you control your own time on each island.

Torcello also has a historical cathedral complex, consisting mainly of the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta and Santa Fosca Church. The latter is considered a symbol of simple beauty with its plain brick walls and simple metal stringed cross. At the other side of Torcello, there is a wide lake surrounded by trees, which completes the delicate, serene ambience of Torcello. Once you finish strolling in Torcello, just head back to your boat or Vaporetto to take you on a refreshing marine trip back to Venice.


Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta on the left and Santa Fosca Church on


Santa Fosca Church from inside, April, 2009 - Wikimedia Commons/Velvet

Back to Venice, it was time to buy some gifts and souvenirs. Venice is famous for masks. While strolling through Venice’s six neighborhoods, you’ll see the amazing masks being sold in almost all gift shops there. Some masks fully cover the face, while others just cover the eyes; some have feathers, and some represent famous characters, like Pinocchio. Those masks could be a unique souvenir from the unique city. They vary in price range. The ones I bought covered only the eyes, not the full face, and had no feathers. I got them from a souvenir shop at the entrance of San Marco Square from Cannaregio neighborhood; each mask cost me €5, and those were the cheapest masks I found. Some masks exceeded €50.


Traditional Venetian mask January 22, 2016 – Pixabay/annca

Venice or any other part of Italy, the pizza and pasta are the staple foods and not to be missed out on. A lot of carbs I know, but they are always pretty cheap. The good part is that Italians have a wide variety of pizzas and pastas, each with different flavors. In Venice, they usually serve thin pizza with the bottom of the dough slightly blackened. When I first ordered pizza in a restaurant and found burns on its bottom, I wanted to replace it with another one. The waiter told me there was no problem to get me another pizza, but it would also be slightly burned like the one I already had, as the ovens used in Venice usually make the pizza like that.


Traditional Venetian pizza June, 2015 – Mai Abdallah

After two complete days in this unique city, it was time to leave; however, there was still one more exotic experience to try: the water taxi. We learned from the beginning that crossing the numerous bridges or “pontes” of Venice with baggage is not the best option, so we called a water taxi.


Traditional Venetian water taxi July 12, 2010 – Flickr/Riva degli Schiavoni & Rio della Pieta
It was a small motor boat with leather-covered chairs in a closed cabin and a smaller open area. There are other water taxis there that don’t have that closed cabin, similar to the Nile Taxi we have in Cairo, slowing you to fully enjoy being surrounded by water! The taxi reached us through a small canal right in front of our B&B. We loaded our baggage and went on that exquisite last marine trip in Venice.

Part 1:

Enjoy Venice but check café prices, don't walk with baggage

Part 2:

How to enjoy Venice like an Egyptian

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