Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Murano - - Memorable :)


After leaving Burano, we caught the next water bus and headed to our second island stop, Murano, known world wide for its glassmaking. We watched a blown glass demonstration which was facsinating. The glass master made a pitcher in a matter of minutes; twirling, twisting, heating, tugging, heating, pulling and heating again. It truly was incredible to watch him take a 'hunk' of hot melted glass and create such a beautiful piece of art. The glassmaster also made a plate and a small horse from multi-colored glass with precision and speed. Throughly enjoyed it.



Once the demonstration was finished we wandered through the studio of artwork created by the gifted glassmasters where we saw massive chandeliers, sculptures, vases, lamps and pieces of all shapes, colors and size. We opted to head back to the water bus rather than walk further into the island as we were wanting to get back to Venice to see more of the beautiful city that afternoon.



A short water bus ride that should have taken 10 minutes ended up taking us much much longer. :) Each time we were waiting in line to board the water bus we somehow managed to miss it and would watch it pull away from the dock - only to wait 15-20 minutes until the next one arrived going in the right direction. When the next water bus arrived, no one in our line moved, no one; and yet again the water bus left without us. Wasn't that the one we were suppose to get on? :) Maybe we were in the wrong line. Could that be possible? ha! So... we switched lines and waited on the adjoining dock, only to have the correct water bus pull up to the place where we had been waiting and yes... once again it sailed off without us.
This is where we validated our tickets before getting on the water bus.


By now my sister and I were laughing, but not too loudly as Jess and Katie didn't see the comedy in the situation. Jess was becoming so frustrated each time the water bus pulled away without us! So Jess squirmed her way to the front of the line to ask the young man with dreadlocks if THIS water bus took us back to Venice. "Next one." he said. We noticed a small smirk as he walked away. I'm guessing he understood English and had been listening and watching this fiasco unfold the entire time. Finally, we managed to get on the correct water bus and were headed back to Venice, a short 10 minute ride away. :)

 More than 4 hours! had passed since we had left our apartment and our return to the familiar streets of the ocean city was welcomed. It was now 3:00 p.m. and we were all ready to sit down and eat lunch. We made our way back up the bridge and toward the piazza close by our apartment. Because of the constant rain the previous day, we had searched for indoor (and warm) dining so today we thought it would be fun to sit beside the canal while we ate. After many, many hours on our feet, it felt good to sit down. We ordered water (water had to be ordered and you pay for it) and Katie and Jess each had a glass of wine. The menu had several things on it we were unsure of but we decided it was time to step out and try something different so Jess ordered speghetti venezia, which we assumed was speghetti with some type of sauce on it. It sounded safe and all she hoped for was that it didn't have seafood in it. She's not a seafood fan.

Our food arrived and in front of Jess was placed a plate of black pasta in black sauce. I really thought she was going to gag. It was hilarious. But again we didn't laugh too much because again Jess failed to see the comedy in it. :) I picked up a "piece" of something from her plate and made  the comment of how it looked similar to the slug we had found on our kitchen floor that morning. Again, she did not find the humor in the situation. She was hungry... she was disgusted... and she was mad that she was going to have to pay for something she had no intention of eating! Katie and Shell both tried to make light of it and offered to try the noodles. Not good. OH!! Did I mention that the "pieces" in the pasta were squid!!! And you could see the suction cups on the tentacles???!!!  And we found out later that the black liquid sauce was squid ink!!! Oh my goodness!! Needless to say Jess was 100% sure of what she ordered the remainder of the trip.  MEMORIES!





Interesting history about Murano :

In 1291, the Venetian Republic ordered glassmakers to move their foundries to Murano, in the Venetian Lagoon, because the glassworks represented a fire danger in Venice, whose buildings were mostly wooden at the time. Very soon the skilled craftsmen became leading citizens on the island. By the late 14th century the daughters of the glassmakers were allowed to marry into Venice's pretigious families. But there was one catch: glassmakers were not allowed to leave the Republic. If a craftsman chanced to set up shop beyond the lagoon, he risked being killed or having his hands cut off by secret police. This harsh treatment was rare but frightening none the less.
What made Murano's glassmakers so special? For one, they were the only people in Europe who knew how to make glass mirrors. They also refined techniques such as multicolored glass and milk glass. Their exclusive control of quality glass lasted for centuries, until glassmakers in Northern and Central Europe introduced new techniques and designs around the same time colonists were emigrating to the New World.

2 comments:

  1. Hey girls!! Did you hear me SQUEEEEEAL when I read that just now?? How "ICKY" that must've been in real life!! 'Cause that SERiOUSLY GROSSED ME OUT hearing the story weeks later in the comfort of my own home.

    Oh my goodness, that adventures you had!! What breathtaking sites you saw and what wonderful images you captured for sharing later. Visual images with breathtaking photography and images crafted with words in such a way that you paint a picture of all that you saw, smelled, felt, and enjoyed.

    Bra·vis·si·mo!!
    I can't WAiT to read MORE!
    @ng...

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    1. Especially when we saw the suction cups on the squid!! It was gross.

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