This part two took too long to put up. xD Sorry!
The second day of the Venice trip started off with a long vaporetto ride to the island of Murano. Technically, I believe that Murano is considered part of the Venician Republic, but it has enough of its own identity to still claim itself.
On one really took the memo of 'rain' to heart as we headed off to Murano. There are not a lot of places to hide from the stuff when below deck if full. I did bring my hot pink umbrella--besides the wind, it was super helpful! 
A fun little side adventure: I met a British guy at our transfer vaporetto. His Brazilian friend took a group picture of the SAI group (my program), then asked me where we were all from and introduced his companions: a Japanese lass and the Brit named Will. Will and I had a chat that would have been lovely if I had kept my mouth shut for most of it. For some reason, I had lost the art of conversation and babbled through different topics instead of asking about himself. I do know that he lives in London, almost got robbed in Barcelona, and is a Sherlock-purist. He is not a Whovian (Doctor Who fan), nor was he familiar with the term and did not know about the BBC Sherlock TV series (probably because he did not bother with his Sherlock-purist ideals--which I respect). We only got to talk for 10 minutes or so. If we had talked any longer, I'm sure I would have gotten better at the conversation. I fear I may have left him with a bad impression. Fun fact: he knew that Wisconsin was the dairy state of the US! I think he was more book-savvy than British-pop-culture-savvy. I wish I had more time to get the conversation right. He did smile and wave as I left in the opposite direction on the vaporetto, so I hope I did not leave a too horrible impression.
After the gorgeous hour boat ride to Murano, during which I took many-a-good pictures, we arrived in Murano. Murano is a stone island rather than a wood island. That is easiest to see by the ground. In Venice, the ground mimics the waves on the water due to the material it is built on. Murano is fantastically solid and flat.
What is Murano famous for? Glass blowing! I immediately thought of you, Mom! I was not close enough to take pictures, but I stole these few from Makena Cummings' blog. I asked, it's cool. ;)
The glass blowing was very exciting and all the stuff in the workshop was gorgeous. And expensive! I was hoping that because everything was made just in the other room. The small stuff was cute, but I was not really interested in paying 10 euro for it. Next time, when I have a paycheck, I will get something real cool!
Finished with the short visit to the glass studio, we had the rest of the day off. Across a bridge I found a church:
It was very beautiful inside! And requested no pictures... So even though no one was there to monitor that, I did not take pictures. It was a very interesting, beautiful church. It had the Byzantine influence mosaics on the ceiling and styled marble on the floor. Then there were Renaissance paintings on the walls alongside contemporary paintings and statues. A very interesting church indeed! And bright, which does not happen all the time. Very quiet--no one was there except for a couple.
Eventually we made it back to Venice. I got a seat below deck because I was worn out. I fell asleep for most of the hour journey back to San Marco. Time flies when you are not aware of it!
Not much happened after that. We did a little bit of window shopping then made it back to the group. On the way out of Venice, we were given the treat of a magnificent sunset. I could not decide which pictures to upload, so I made a slideshow of them to show them all!
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