Murano & Burano

My goodness it was HOT! 
But Murano - the city of glass - and Burano - the city of lace, were much less crowded and were so delightful to behold.
It is tempting to post every amazing piece of art but I would crash the server. Everywhere one looks, there is something mind blowing to see.
Can someone tell me how these survived from the 1800s when I can barely hold onto chunky mason jars to drink iced tea from?

It is just astounding that bead makers can melt together dozens of glass canes to make a tiny image - from the impressive millfiori to the unbelievable portraits and pictures.



This broken piece illustrates how the image runs through the entire length to be sliced into perfect beads - often less than a quarter this diameter.




Alternatively, slices can be melted onto a larger base bead in a tabletop furnace.

We were taken by this modern Venetian artist, Marco Toso Borella, who etches gold foil on handmade glass panes and then adds enamels. I loved his blending of antique and contemporary, as well as social commentary.



I have a bunch more photos, but his website is probably much clearer and I recommend you check it out. Each piece has detail the viewer only slowly discovers the longer they look.
At this point, it was time to wander the island a bit more, eat a picnic in a piazza, and head to the next island.


This poor guy. Honestly, the pigeons were much more polite + less obtrusive than our last visit, however a seagull did brazenly swoop down out of nowhere and almost capture Max's sandwich. So rude!
The following one cracks me up. Have I mentioned how hot it was?
LZ very inconspicuously attempting to pose with the carabinieri. I didn't realize my stupid phone was on portrait mode, darn it.
Luca enjoyed this small memorial to Vittorio Veneto and all who perished in WWI. (Spoiler alert, we made a special journey an hour north to Vittorio Veneto later in the week to hike to an actual WWI trench and visit an amazing museum).

But for now, it was off to the delightfully colorful island of Burano to see the lace museum.




As if I needed any extra coaxing to visit a gelateria, just look at this fantastic sidewalk cone!

From here, we saw San Marco's Piazza and marveled at the historic city at night, but that will have to be another post as I have still have scads and scads of photos to sort.


For now, thanks for continuing to share in our Venice adventures - hopefully from somewhere frigid with air conditioning with a tall glass of ice water at hand!

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