Handmade Beaded Jewelry

Friday, February 8, 2008

slide show of Venice

Hi, I just posted some of my Pictures of Venice. Hope you enjoy them. There are more to come. Let me know what you think...It was an incredible experience. One that I shall ever forget.....

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

3 weeks in Venice part 2


I think I have to clarify that picture I posted of the lace, in the previous post, was not made by me. But by my teacher. The new picture is of my Lily....

Saturday we went to Murano. It rained but that didn't stop us from buying beads. Lots of beads. We had lunch in a nice trattoria. Every enjoyable. Sunday we had a class. Monday we went on a walking tour with a Fiona our guide. She took us to S.Maria Glorirosa dei Frari. Fabulous church and a diffident must see. There are several large sculptures but the best is the triptych of Madonna and child w/saints and angels by Bellini. And the Assumption of Mary by Titian. Both are spectacular....On the way we took a treghetti. This is a gondola that takes you across the canal. It is very reasonable. Probably the best buy in Venice. Only .50cent euro. The catch is you have to stand up. It's like riding in the subway without having a strap to hang on to...LOL I love it...Fiona never warned us about the boat ride. Which was probably wise. No time of freak out.

When my husband arrived, a couple of days later, Had to take him over S.Toma for a treghetti ride....This time we even had singing...LOL And they were yelling back and forth at each other. Don't know what they were saying, but who cares. It's what makes a trip..Wish I could share the sounds with you all.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

3 weeks in Venice



Well the 3 weeks have gone by in a flash. I know, I said I was going to blog during my Grand Adventure in Venice to learn Lace making. Well this is Italy and not all goes as planned.

We left on Jan 9th. The plane ride was cramped. Surprisingly filled. No spare seats to spread out. And no chance of a little sleep. We arrived on the 10th safe a sound and caught the Alilaguna to S. Marco. While on the boat we were trying to get our phones working. That was a bit of a challenge. And a good thing that Elizabeth understands Italian. But still frustrating. We were able to get in touch with our apartment representative Irene. She met us at the stop and walked us over to the apt. TIP #1 pack lite . We had to go over several bridges and some of them did not have ramps for luggage. Also the apt we had was 1 flight up and no elevator. These are very old buildings that have been converted to apts. I was please with the place. Two bedrooms two bathrooms a living room and kitchen. There was supposed to be wireless, but it had not been activated???? I was told ,maybe in a week....So we had to wait for someone to come over and hook us up to dial up.That was about a week into our stay. And by then we were busy taking classes and doing homework. In between trying to do a little sightseeing. After all We're in Venice. So you see there really wasn't anytime to blog. Especially on dial up ...The apt. never did get wireless while we were there.
We dropped off our stuff and went out to lunch. Then back to apt for a nap.
The next day we went to Burano and the lace museum. To get an idea of what we were to learn how to do. We met our teacher for the first time on Sunday. A very elegant lady. I felt like a schlep dressed in my slacks..LOL.. she came everyday dressed in a skirt and sweater and wearing her pearls. Elizabeth did the translating for us. All went very well. I really wished I could talk with her myself. We both have grandchildren about the same age and I felt we had a lot in common. I learn a few words and she learn a few in English....
That's it for now. I'll be back with more tomorrow.....Ciao