Today, we had coffee and went for breakfast in a little bar…cappuccino and rice ball with cheese. Not wild about them, but needed to try it. Oh, speaking of food, I didn’t have mussels last night, I had a typical Venetian dish of sardines and onions, some type of vinegar and whole peppercorns. Very good. We went to the Vaparetto stop to get a boat to Murano. We were approached by a man who gave us tickets for a free boat ride to Murano and told us he worked for one of the glassblowing factories. About that time, a man came up and shook hands with first man and offered us a free water taxi ride to Murano. He is the manager of the glass factory. This ride would have cost us $100 euros on our own…he said. When we got to the factory, we saw a demonstration of three men making a glass horse for some Russians. Two men would get the molten glass from the furnace and roll it on a metal table to get it a bit cooled and the size needed. They would take it to the Master glass blower who would add the piece to the horse and shape it. If it cooled too much he would zap it with a blowtorch to make it more pliable. There are 25 Master glass workers on the island and the craft is kept in the family. No outsiders are ever allowed in. Glass works in Murano are a strongly guarded secret. An interesting book to read is called The Glassblower of Venice. How centuries ago, the glass blowers were virtual prisoners on the island, and if they ‘escaped’ their families would suffer. We then toured the gallery with pieces made by the Masters. Very beautiful and prices to match. Obviously, the best of the best. Went to the church where all the chandeliers are Murano glass and two three-tiered chandeliers flank the sides of the altar.
After Murano, we took a Vaparetto to Burano…the lace making island. The houses are all painted every color of the rainbow. We ate lunch…here I had the mussels and then went shopping. We saw the church with beautiful lace edged altar cloths and then did the Lace Museum tour. All kinds of ancient handmade laces…on up to modern work. After the museum, we stopped in a shop that had their own museum…even better than the official museum. Their collection dated back to the 1300’s. In many of the shops, there was an older woman making the lace. Using a hard round pillow on her lap as a table, she has a pattern drawn off and uses a needle and thread to make the lace. I have seen bobbin lace makers, but these women don’t use bobbins. We were told that a piece the size of a salad plate would take 7 women a month to make. Each woman has her speciality…lattice work, loops, flowers, edging etc. I looked at a pair of booties for 450 euros. Heirloom, christening type booties! Just exquisite! It is a dying art, unfortunately.
After Burano, we went back to Venice. Dinner and more shopping around…mostly looking. And off to bed. We asked about Carnivale this year and were told less and less people come every year. They don’t know if it from lack of money, threats of terrorism or what, but participation is down. The masks in Venice are works of art..and of course, just some that are junky. Every animal, real or imagined, classical Carnivale masks and beautiful masks with feathers, lace and jewels. That was day 2 in Venice.