Venice Bookshops

Today I took my visiting sister to Venice. I’m not sure how many times I have visited there now, but each time is a new experience as different guests have desires to see different aspects of Venice and Venetian culture.

            This excursion may have been one of the more pleasant visits I have experienced, simply for the fact that my neighbor watched my LO all day and I got to experience Venice child free. I sat on the train and took care of business instead of chasing my toddler up and down the aisles. I didn’t have to wear a large sweaty backpack to carry him, or a stroller (which we tried last time, and with all of the bridges in Venice, that was a miserable experience. Venice is NOT handicap or stroller friendly…) And when lunch time rolled around and the family next to us had a child melting down and screaming, I got to happily munch my Panini and be thankful to be child free. I don't think I'll be returning with children to Venice any time soon... 

            My sister is not one for historic buildings or touring museums, which is a nice change for me because I’ve certainly done those a few times. Instead, she wanted to visit the bookstores of Venice. This was a unique experience all it’s own, as the pictures show below. We stopped at several bookshops, which have been around for many years and held very old books, but our favorite was the Acqua Alta Bookshop.

This bookstore can be found at: and is open from 9:00 am - 8:00 pm daily.

              The Bookshop’s interior had several narrow adjoining rooms, overflowing with books. What made this shop stand out was not it’s assortment of both new and old books, nor the amount or genre range they spanned, but how they were stored.  All of the books were piled into boats, barrels, and even tubs! Some smaller wooden boats were turned side ways and mounted onto the walls, an interesting twist on book shelving!

 

 

What bookstore would be complete without the bookstore cat?

 

 

 The bookshop had an opening right onto the water (as seen in the picture left), and I am unsure whether or not the books are all stored this way to protect them in case of flood (which is frequent in the Venice rainy season, and the water level in July was already RIGHT at the bookstore's edge!), or if it’s solely to attract visitors and make this quirky bookstore stand out amongst the rest. Regardless of the reason, it was certainly fun to explore. 

             The open air nook for reading right on the water was a peaceful and enjoyable way to pass the time. We also got to wave at the curious tourists taking gondola rides as they passed by the opening.

          Through one of the bookshop's exits is a courtyard, and in this courtyard the bookshop has piled, strung, and glued together numerous books to make a large, colorful, book wall (The Great Book Wall of Venice? ha!) And one can reach the top of the book wall by a book stair case on either side. Atop the weathered book staircase, you can walk along the book wall and overlook one of the Venice canals. 

 

Here my sister lounges atop the large book staircase, browsing through the Italian version of Harry Potter. She ended up purchasing the unique book as a souvenir of her time there. The Italian version seemed quite a bit different than the English versions I have seen, and the pictures were drawn in an Italian style and all the characters had Italian looks and hair cuts. It was a good laugh!

 

We did stop in San Marco Square, and also crossed the ever-crowded Rialto Bridge and later viewed the Bridge of Sighs, but visiting the bookshops had been a new adventure, one not packed with tourists like the more popular stops, and it was a good change of pace to pick a less traversed and desired part of Venice to explore.

No matter how many times I have done Venice, each visit always seems to end the same: with me and the guests running across the island to catch the next train. My sister and I caught our train home with a few seconds to spare. I have found that towing bags and not knowing quite where one is going, it takes us an average of 40 minutes to jog from San Marco Square to the train station (just in case you ever happen to be in that situation... there is my time estimate for you).

 

My sister, unbeknownst to me, quickly snapped this pic as of me leading the way as we wove  down narrow alley streets towards our destination.

Burano - Venetian island of lace

After 6 months of living in Italy we have now had our first guest! My mother was particularly keen to come and visit so she could meet her latest grandson (bonus, she could see some of Italy at the same time!)

After arriving Friday evening, my mother said she hadn't had any trouble adjusting to the time difference and was ready for an adventure the next day. She had heard of an island called Burano, famous for its unique hand crafted laces, and wanted to visit and acquire some of the famous Venetian lace. After some quick research by my hubby and myself, as well as the packing of various day trip bags, we felt prepared enough for a next day trip.

Getting to Burano was not exactly complex, but a very long and involved process. We woke early and drove to the train station, then took a train to Venice city, then took various ferries to the actual island of Burano, then did a lot of walking! (And there was more interspersed walking between ferry ports and the like) from start to finish we spent over four hours simply getting to the island, so we were tired before we even got to see anything! In addition, we were stroller-less due to a mold mishap after rain leaking into an already damp cellar (which destroyed numerous other things as well, but that's another story...) so we were taking turns carrying our 16 lb 4 month old. (Yup, he's a big boy!) 

Ready for the train! And keeping safe our train ticket too.

Taking in the view of the lagoon from the ferry

Being tired and famished, we decided our first order of business was to get something to eat, and since Burano is also known for its Seafood, Seafood was the plan for lunch. However, walking through the town square was overwhelming, with lace and restaurants crowded together and tourists flowing in and out of them. The only way to really know where the best place to eat would be to ask an Italian. So, in one of the lace shops I asked the Italian owner what her favorite seafood place on the island was. She proceeded to give us directions through a hole in the wall, down some back alleys, over a bridge, and to a place called "the black cat" or "Al Gatto Nero de Rugerro" in Italian. We couldn’t help but feel we were really going to a legitimate Italian style tasty seafood cuisine with directions like those!

Seafood pasta!

Alas, when we arrived there we found the restaurant didn't open for a few more hours and being ravenous we could not wait that long. Instead we ended up eating at a slightly touristier restaurant in the square, but it was still quite good and we got out seafood fix! We are keeping “The Black Cat” on the list though, in the event we travel back to Burano.

After lunch, my hubby left us ladies (and LO) to our shopping while he sat in a park with a coffee before napping under a tree by the waterside. (Not a bad afternoon, eh?) Meanwhile, my mother and I went to explore the lace shops. 

The legend of the Burano lace is as follows: Long ago, a betrothed fisherman, while he was fishing outside the lagoon, in the east sea, resisted and withstood the temptations of a siren who attempted to entice him with her song. Impressed by his faithfulness, the sirens' queen, decided to give him a gift. She thumped the side of the boat with her tail, creating a foam pattern from which a wedding veil developed. When the fisherman returned home, he gave the gift to his fiancée, who wore it on their wedding day. She was admired and envied by all the young ladies of the island, whereupon they begin to imitate the lace of the wedding veil employing needle-and-thread more and more thin, hoping to create an even more beautiful lace for their wedding dresses.

I love legends and stories behind places! Whatever the origin of the lace, Burano now boasts itself to be the oldest place in the world for embroidered lace. 

We were able to observe demonstrations of the lace being made. 

    

       Walking past street after street filled with lace shops, it was apparent that the lace Burano sells is no longer hand made, but machine stitched. I found this disappointing, however I understand why it is done this way. After observing the older women at work, I learned how long it takes to produce one item. There is no way they would be able to keep up with the demand of the tourists if only hand stitched items were sold. The lace items would also be FAR out of any normal person's price range, as it's a years worth of work for someone. 

The piece you see on the pillow is one she has been working on for a month! A tablecloth can take over a year of daily work to make. 

I noticed that all the women doing the lace work are fairly advanced in years, and I am wondering if the hand crafted lace is becoming a dying art. 

What souvenirs did I take home? I procured a table runner for our dining room table, and yes, the majority is machine stitched, but the owner said the style was that of burano and it was embroidered locally by hand. Good enough for our pocketbook :) (Though a small percentage of me believes that she only said that to help sell it, I don't know if any of it was done by hand, but that's okay. I like it either way) I also bought a small lace sachet  as a memento. I had wanted one of their embroidered lace handkerchiefs, but at four different shops they were out of the letter "S", so I didn't end up getting one. 

After having seen the demonstrations and procured our wares, we journeyed back to meet my hubby and stopped to take some pictures along the way.    

Burano, known for its Seafood and lace, is also known for its very colorful buildings. The small part of me that is a photographer was going crazy. It was difficult to get the pictures I wanted towing a baby and parcels, so I think if I were to ever go back it would be solely for picture taking. 

A colorful row of houses and two Italian boys playing soccer 

Painting to keep the houses vibrant

       I've been told and have read that if a resident of Burano wishes to paint their house, they must submit a request to the government who will in turn tell them the shades and colors they are permitted to use in their area. The validity of this statement I am unsure, but that's what I have read elsewhere on the internet. 

        My advice, if you ever travel to Venice and the surrounding islands, at some point pick a hole in the wall street (and literally, there will be a hole in the wall with a name etched above it, and that is a tunnel to a small street) and take it. Leave the busy main street where all the tourists shop and the vendors jump out at you proclaiming their wares are more original than their neighbors with identical wares, and see the back streets and the places the native Italians go. Sit on a bench and watch the local boys play soccer in the street and the girls bike to the gelato shop. Photograph the women hanging their laundry and the fishermen tying their boats up, and I guarantee it will enhance your experience. It will personalize and make it your own, and you'll experience something more real than the main streets can offer.    

I thought this was a cool door. 

As Burano is an island, and one without roads or cars, everything is delivered by boat. Here a woman sells fruits and veggies to the locals from her boat. 

Me in Burano! The island felt like being in another little world or perhaps a fantasy movie set.  So much fun! 

I hope you enjoyed this very colorful post!



For more about Burano and its lace, visit the links below:

Swide: Burano Lace
Burano