October 26, 2019
Yesterday our hosts here at Pisani Palace suggested a new activity to us. The island of Murano, just across the Lagoon, is the home of the Murano Glass Factory, producers of legendary Italian glass. As a courtesy to their guests, they called a complimentary water taxi for us to take us to the island (there are several islands off shore of Venice, each one with a different atmosphere and culture).
The lanes for boats are marked with pylons driven into the Lagoon bottom and topped with lights that are activated in the evening by photo cells. In an area where there are no motorized vehicles on land, everyone has a boat or travels by boat. Construction trucks, delivery trucks, garbage trucks, you name it, come by boat. We saw one large vessel carrying two full-size cement mixers.
Anyway, back to Murano. The taxi pulled right up to the front door of the factory and disembarked us. We were greeted by a bald, well dressed man, who introduced himself as Nicoleto, and he took us into the factory and gave us a tour. He seated us in the front row, close to the master glass blower who made, first, a pitcher, and second, a horse. I took some video of the fascinating process. Then he took us into the show rooms – and there are probably 10 – and explained some of the pieces, always looking for an opportunity to close a sale. Because we are not Italian, we get an automatic 22% discount (the Italian tax) and an additional 10-15% depending on the piece.
Well, as I titled this blog, each piece was more beautiful than the last. And very frequently more expensive. We saw a beautiful glass globe with a list price of 30,000 Euros – somewhere in the neighborhood of $36,000 Yankee dollars – a very nice neighborhood indeed. They have modern art pieces, classical decanters and gobblet sets, platters, glasses, bowls, and on and on. In one section, an artist had reproduced Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” in glass. There were Picasso’s and more.
Finally the gift shop, where we looked, and continued our non-purchase way. Thanking Nicoleto sincerely, we praised the work of the masters and his expertise. He thanked us for coming and offered us a free water taxi back to San Marco Piazzo. It was a great couple of hours and absolutely free.
We stopped for lunch and gelato along the way back and when we returned to our room, took a nap – the first of this trip. Then we were back out in the streets, found a nice restaurant where Mom had a Margaretta pizza and I had spaghetti alla carbonara. We wandered out towards the Rialto bridge, but changed directions for San Marco and home, stopping in Piazzo San Stefano for our evening gelato (yes, we had gelato twice today, but each time only one scoop).
Tomorrow being Sunday, most churches will not be open for tours, and we will find other amusements, perhaps doing a gondola ride. And maybe we will look for the House of Books.
It was a very good day.
Okey-dokey. It’s BonBon’s turn.
TTFN
First I will tell you we have a new chair which is not as creaky. I think we will not break this one. We got up at our usual time ( me having woken at my usual 3:30 and 5) at 8. We bathed and dressed and headed for breakfast. This morning I had an omelet with ham and cheese, toast and OJ. Then, we got a taxi and headed for the famous glass factory of Venice. It was about a 20 to 30 minute ride in a speed boat at times going very fast, but very enjoyable. We got to see some of Venice and the islands around it that we had not yet seen.
Now to the factory. The demonstration of the glass blowing was very nice and I really enjoyed that but from that point on I was very uncomfortable. Nothing in the showrooms, and there were more than 10, was priced under 4 figures. There was absolutely beautiful stuff. There were lots of things that you could set around and have to dust and there were useful items, lamps, lampshades, sconces, clocks, glass and pitcher sets, magnificent serving platters, bowls and more than I could ever tell. However, the gentleman was too close for my comfort. I would wander off from where he was talking to David but he would always come find me. You know how when you go into a store just to look and the clerk follows on your heels, well that is what it felt like. I enjoyed the visit but was glad when we headed back home. The return taxi dropped us in San Marco square so we knew how to get back home.
I did finally find a t shirt I liked in San Marco on our walk back to our room.
We both napped about 2 hours. I was awakened when I heard a stream of water running outside. In fact that is what woke me. When I looked out of the window down near the bottom of the building across the small canal beside our building was a stream of water gushing out from under a brick into the canal. He said he couldn’t see it but it was there. It stopped about 15 minutes after I first heard it.
Our trip out for supper and a little bit of shopping was fun. At dark the small streets are not quite as crowded except where there are small bars open to the narrow streets where the young like to gather. We wandered till we found our way to San Marco and then headed toward home. I found a small Christmas tree of Murano glass to go with the one I got from Malta. It has tiny decorations on it. Very nice. I still have one more thing I want to get but tomorrow is another day.
If you are planning on coming to Venice and stay a week you will need at least 100 euros a day just to eat and have gelato. If you set down at a café or restaurant there is a 3 euro charge per person for sitting down. Even at the little cafes if you sit inside at a table all the prices are 1 or 2 euros more if you sit at a table and don’t carry it away. When David rented our room he paid for breakfast for every day. So we are basically eating one meal, a snack and gelato each day. Which is more than enough. The servings are very generous.
Some of the large museums are quite expensive, too. The Doge Palace is 38 euros per person. There is a very tall tower in San Marco square , that we are probably going to go up, called Campanile that costs 17 euro to ride in an elevator to the top and you have 35 minutes to walk around.
Still have some churches and museums to visit. We visited 2 nice churches today. Very old but in most cases they are not well tended to. We are having a marvelous time and I really enjoy walking through the streets, even though they are quite crowded. Well, I had better say goodnight. Love you all. Hope you girls had a great time at the ladies retreat and are safely home. Hope Jack, Mac, Luke and Tate enjoyed the fishing. Hope Frank and Karen are enjoying the Smokies.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
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