3956 Murano

Ah - Murano glass - favourite lamp maker called Barovier e Toso except I can't afford it!! Nice place to visit (isn't it a pity I have to add "off season"), and explore a charming island with a free guided visit to the glass factories.

There are other islands in the Venetian lagoon - Burano, and (though this might sound a bit ghoulish) also the cemetery island (San Marco??) which (if you are into a compressed history of architecture post 1800) is an absolute must.

I must find a bit of time to talk about Palladdio's villas - most of them visitable (some for sale if you have a few million spare!) - but when I first looked at the asking prices - scary - but now look seriously "missed opportunities" - story of my life...

This is a thin thread - but presumably the forum is a bit lacking in mega-rich Venetian dwellers!!

[QUOTE=Anastasia]I'm feeling a bit sorry for poor old Venice - although it's not my kinda place - I don't like to see it being so neglected on this Grand Tour..

What about Murano and it's glass? Click on the photos to enlarge..
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Murano is one of the Venetian islands and regarded as being the producer of the finest, most elegant and recognizable glass in the world. Murano glass is often referred to as 'cristallo' due to its unique properties.

The art of glass making in Venice has been present in the city for many centuries. The Venetians acquired glass making techniques from other civilisations through their extensive trading colonies in the Eastern Mediterranean and Islamic countries. Although they were not the only ones to make glass, Venetian production has always been more refined.

The picture below is the entrance lobby ceiling at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. It cost over two million dollars and really is a sight to behold - the photo does not do it justice.
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Venetian glass was one of the leading sources of trade and one of Venice's most guarded secrets. The art of glassmaking was handed down from father to son.. and then became a trade for those born on the island of Murano. This picture is a close up of one of the flowers in the above ceiling.
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Here is a link to a short video clip

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Venetian glass - always makes me think of my mum. She used to collect the stuff and thought it was wonderful when she had any bought.
I remember she had a clown (didn't everybody) and a vase brought from Venice by my brother and it was like she owned the world and she had one or two other pieces on the windowsill.

Happy memories eh?

My first visit to Venice was in the early '90's and we went for the day from Sorrento. It's a place everyone must visit sometime in their life. Been since but would love to stay for a few days, one day maybe.................:rolleyes:

Lorraine

Ooer Lorraine.. your post jogged the memory! My mum didn't have a clown.. hers was a dolphin.. very large elegant piece in turquoisey green blue and white colours - very attractive and had pride of place on top of the radiogram.. God help anyone who touched it!

One day, one of my fathers friends knocked it over and chipped a massive chunk off the fin of the dolphin. My mum smiled sweetly and told him not to worry and asked if he would he like something to eat and drink while he waited for my father.. she returned from the kitchen a few minutes later with a plate of sandwiches, which he devoured gratefully.

My brothers and I were amazed at how cool mum was about it.. we simply couldn't understand how World War 3 hadn't broken out.. until she told us that she had used kit-e-kat as the filling for his sandwich! :D :D

As soon as I started reading this post I thought of my nanna she loved Italy and had the most beautiful deep red glass goblets with gold made from Murano glass and I loved them.

Memories ahh!!

Dawn.

[I][B]QUOTE:[[/B]I]There are other islands in the Venetian lagoon - Burano, and (though this might sound a bit ghoulish) also the cemetery island [COLOR=red][B](San Marco??)[/B][/COLOR] which (if you are into a compressed history of architecture post 1800) is an absolute must. [B]END OF QUOTE[/B][/I]
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[LEFT]The cemetery island is called San Michele.
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I fell in love with a glass showroom run by Linea Mazzucato just along from the Colonna vaporetto stop. Downstairs, he sells every kind of piece to suit all budgets. I picked up a filigree vase for quite a few thousand Lire as they were then, and for that reason, he showed me other pieces upstairs which he reserved only for those with connoisseur tendencies (so he misread [I]me [/I]very badly then!) :D .

They were very helpful in there, and offered to ship all that I bought free of charge. It all arrived a few days later in perfect condition.

They also have a [I]fornace [/I]at the back (visible also from the street which runs around the back of the factory) into which they allow anyone who asks, without any commitment to buy neither before nor afterwards.

There is also the fantastic [I]Museo del Vetro[/I] to see, which is a must for any lover of Venetian glass.

:)

We were accosted by a 'city official' while strolling across Piazza San Marco - and invited to a 'free trip' to Murano. ;)

Knowing full well how these trips are organised, we agreed, were put on a free taxi ride (good fun) to Murano, watched some glass blowing and strolled through the show room. Needless to say we were shown the back door when they realised we didn't really want to buy anything (very expensive, probably overpriced), which was what we were waiting for. Then we had the most lovely afternoon strolling across Murano, looking into lovely shops and eventually taking the waterbus back to San Marco! :p

Our positive attitude turned this merchandising exercise into a lovely and cheap trip across a lovely place.