Murano

Murano is an island in Venice's lagoon that is famous for glass blowing.  At some point, the factories were moved to this island both to protect the rest of Venice from fire as well as to protect the secrets of making Murano glass.  There is a main canal that goes through the middle of the island that is almost all shops ~ we spent a day wandering in and out of these shops and saw some amazing things.  The creativity was endless.

The main canal in Murano

Some cool outdoor decorations

A beautiful chandelier

Loved these vases!

I loved these little glass pieces of candy ~ wouldn't that look cool in a candy dish at home?  Just wasn't sure if I could get them home in one piece.  They were so delicate ~ plus, they were so realistic, someone might try to eat them!

We all thought this spider was cool.  Even the web is made of fine tubes of glass.  We KNEW this would never make it home.

A fancy lamp

There were several huge glass decorations out in the public squares.

Don't these birds look realistic?

Italy's version of the Dollar Store. :)

We took a tour of a glass-blowing factory.  This man was a "master" glass-blower.  It is a trade passed down from father to son, taking 15-20 years to truly master.  He made a vase and the horse below in a matter of minutes.  Ben and Chris were enthralled!

He made it look effortless.

They have to let what they make cool for 24 hours because it is SO hot when it is done.  He put a paper towel in the mouth of the vase he had just made and it instantly burst into flames.

Here is the little horse he made.

This was a small area of the showroom at the glass-blowing factory.  We had one scary moment when a  couple of items on a shelf literally exploded into little pieces.  Jeff and I had a moment of panic as we tried to figure out where the boys were and luckily they were no where near them.  The owner said that sometimes happens if things haven't cooled properly.  What a relief!

This particular company specialized in chandeliers like the one pictured here.  They come in every color.    They make the majority of their money selling them to hotels, builders, etc.  Once we saw them at the factory, we started noticing ones like it everywhere.  There is even one here in our apartment in Rome (though it is not black!)

We have been finding amazing mosaics everywhere in Italy.  I really liked these rustic ones I saw in Murano. 

Do you recognize what this is?  Clue:  Think St. Mark :)