@brittarnhild
The boat trip in the laguna the other day, with Mauro and his family, had a very special purpose. Saint Frances plays a part in my project, and he visited Isola S. Francesco del Deserto in 1220.
Before coming to Italy, as a preparation to the project I am working on, I had read a book about St. Francis written by a Norwegian woman. In the book she mentions that she spent some days out at Isola Deserto while writing the book. I found the address of the island monastry online, and wrote them an email, asking if I could come and stay for a night or two.
Unfortunately they said no, the monastery was only open to public during the regular opening hours. They also added that to get there I had to come by public boat from Burano.
I told Mauro about this, and he didn´t hesitate at all: "I´ll take you there. We can go in my boat and make it a family trip!"
So we did.
And had a most precious time together.