November 14, 2011

0 Venice Trip: Murano

Murano, a small island northeast of Venice, has been the home of some of the world's most renowned glassmakers since they were moved out of the city in 1291 due to the risk of fire from the furnaces.  As a result of this reputation, Murano has become a must-see for many tourists.  Hotels and foundries have a bit of a manipulative relationship, boating in the hotel guests and herding them into tours that end in beautiful showrooms filled with brilliant glass chandeliers and figurines that are wildly out of financial range.

We accepted the boat ride from our hotel, mostly as a free ride to the island.  The overall "tour" consisted of one room and one glassmaker.  It was quite disappointing after Waterford's tour, I'll admit.  The highlight was the quick, adept shaping of the example:



Impressive work for only five minutes!!

We spent the rest of our morning on the island walking around and enjoying the scenery, as well as stopping in many glass souvenir shops to peruse the merchandise- and make a few purchases!



We came to realize that nearly every tower in the lagoon leans- this was the first one we noticed. 



There are many examples of glass sculpture around the island.  This one is a very large piece covered in blue spikes. 



Those are glass flowers in the window planters!

Another glass art piece- a garden!



Murano was definitely worth the visit.  As long as you're aware of the car-salesman shop proprietors, you'll be free to enjoy the island and pick out a few memorable glass souvenirs!

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