Venice/Murano Trip - Spring 2008

Spring 2008 - In preparation for the spring/summer season, Lily and I hopped the train to Venice on yet another bead buying trip. (If the worst part of our job is that we must travel to Venice on buying trips a number of times a year... Well, I guess I'd better quit complaining!) We stopped first in Verona for a wonderful two-day visit. It was the first time we had visited the town of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. (And yes, we did visit Juliet's balcony: What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!) We absolutely fell in love with that city! It is endlessly beautiful and certainly we will be going back to explore it further. I digress...

The weather in Venice was a bit on the cool side but we were fortunate to have had nothing but beautiful blue skies for our entire stay. After spending much more than we should have bead-buying on Murano, Lily and I did some serious exploring of Venice; discovering some wonderful new areas and re-discovering others. It never ceases to amaze me just how uniquely beautiful that city is!      

View our entire selection of handmade Venetian glass beads

The Venetian Island of Murano

Murano is usually described as an island in the Venetian Lagoon, although like Venice itself it is actually a group of islands linked by bridges. It lies about a mile north of Venice and is famous for its glass making, particularly lampwork beads.

Murano is The reason we make this trip. Glass beads have been made here since the year 1291 when the beadmakers of Venice were forced to move there due to the risk of fires. It truly is a bead Mecca and a glass lovers paradise. (Not to mention charming as can be!) We travel there 3 times a year to re-stock our Venetian bead selection and see what new styles have just been released.

View our entire selection of handmade Venetian glass beads

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection - Venice, Italy

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is the most important museum in Italy for European and American art of the first half of the 20th century. It is located in Peggy Guggenheim's former home, Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, on the Grand Canal in Venice. The museum was inaugurated in 1980 and it presents Peggy Guggenheim's personal collection of 20th century art, masterpieces from the Gianni Mattioli Collection, the Nasher Sculpture Garden, as well as temporary exhibitions.

Lily and I were fortunate to have a morning free to visit the Guggenheim museum. Not only are you able to wander through her home admiring the work of artists such as Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock, you can also stroll through her beautiful garden and enjoy the view from her terrace on the canal. (The canal photos are taken from the terrace) A truly unforgettable experience!