This morning I walked from the hotel to where the boat (River Countess) was docked to join the new passengers on a walking tour of Venice: the historic Castillo district, Rialto Bridge, St Mark's Square and a guided visit of the Doge's Palace. I'm getting the hang of this Venetian map - actually managing to get from A to B without getting lost.

The Castillo district is where you will find the Arsenale . Founded in the 12th century, the Arsenale became the greatest naval shipyard in the world. A whole galley could be constructed in 24 hours, using an assembly-line system. Lions, the symbol of Venice, guard the gateway. It is still the 'naval' area with navy personal a common sight. This was a very pretty area of Venice and off the beaten tourist track.

The Rialto Bridge and St Mark's Square I was already familiar with from yesterday.

The Doge's Palace, with its history, paintings and underground cells, was very interesting. And, of course, we all had to sigh after we had walked across the Bridge of Sighs as the prisoners were supposed to have done, knowing they would never walk back the other way. Casanova was an inmate here.

I caught the private launch back to the River Countess with the other passengers because I needed to be close to where the boat was docked to pick up my tour of the islands of Murano and Burano . This was a 4.5 hour tour that I had booked online before leaving Australia and was an excellent tour (Hidden Venice Tours). Taking a private boat, our first stop was Murano - famous for its glass making. I was particularly interested in this island because I wanted to buy some Murano glass jewellery. After watching the glassblowers at work, we were taken into the showroom. I was really disappointed with the jewellery - very fussy and blingy (not my style) and didn't like anything I saw. Consequently, I didn't buy anything. I thought I would be able to take the ferry out to Murano another day to have a look at the other showrooms but was told you can only go into a showroom with a tour. Pathetic!

Our next (and last) stop was the island of Burano - famous for its lace making. I wasn't interested in lace tablecloths etc but was keen to take photos of the brightly painted houses. Burano is the most colourful of the lagoon islands and can be distinguished from a distance by the tilting tower of its church. The tour guide took my desire for Murano glass jewellery to heart and found a couple of little shops for me that sell real Murano glass jewellery. I had a lovely time in these two shops buying unique pieces of glass jewellery. So, I bought my Murano glass jewellery on Burano - go figure! And I took lots of photos of the brightly painted houses.

Back in Venice I once again spent considerable time trying to find something to eat that wasn't going to cost an arm and a leg. I don't seem to be able to get anything to eat here except pasta and pizza.

What I learnt today...
1/ All hotels must send their linen for laundering off the island and to the mainland. This is to minimise polluting the canals. All the laundry gets loaded onto boats for taking to the mainland.
2/ Venice is made up of 180 islands connected by 150 bridges.