Tuesday & Wednesday-April 29 & 30-
The next two days in Venice I will describe as colorful and full of variety.
We rode 3 different types of water craft, visited 2 additional islands and the boys tried their hand at making Carnevale masks. The weather was as unpredictable as the waves of the Adriatic sea but allowed us to enjoy all of the activities on our "to do" list before we completed our time in this city.
On Tuesday morning we took the city bus (Vaporetta) almost the full length of the Grand Canal. We were fortunate to secure a seat in the fronts of the boat so we had a wonderful view. It was the first time since we have been in Italy that our feet did not have to do the work of taking us through the sites- mom and the boys were happy for the break!
Tuesday afternoon was was a return to art for the boys and a piece of the "colorful" part of our time in Venice. We were taken to an artist's workshop to see how Carnevale masks have been traditionally made. Ah Min then expertly & patiently led the boys through the making of their own masks. It was fun to see the boys ideas on white paper become 3D with paint, gold/silver leafing, antiquing & glitter. I think everyone was pleased (and a bit surprised) with the results- fantastic!
Wednesday took us to the islands of Murano- famous for glassworks, and Burano- famous for beautiful lace and colorful houses. Seeing these unique islands and learning how much time is spent on each piece of glass or lace certainly gave all of us a new appreciation for these lovely things.
Some interesting things we learned:
Glass works began on the island of Venice but at some point all of the furnaces were moved from the city to the island for Murano for fear of fire.
Glass blowers begin as early as age 12 learning the techniques & "secrets" of the glass & spend 15 years as an apprentice before they begin making artwork of their own.
Each single piece takes months to create because the glass must first be made & colored from silica.
Lace making was started by the wives of Burano fishermen who would sew as they were waiting for their husbands to return from the sea. The stitches were derived from knots they used to make the fishing nets.
Lace making is also an "apprenticeship" and each seamstress (I am not sure if there is a special name for someone who sews lace) usually sews only one type of stitch on a lace pattern. For example: a lace piece the size of a doily is comprised of 10 different stitches to make the pattern and 10 different artisans will sew their one type of stitch on that one piece- it takes about 6 months to complete a hand sewn piece such as this!
No vist to this ancient floating city would be complete without a ride on a gondola, so we took a pre-dinner cruise our last evening. It was romantic in the truest sense of the word and confirmation that Venice is truly a unique place.
