Murano

Happy February, love is in the air this month, and to decorate my blog, here are some beautiful hearts for you.

The header picture for this month was taken by me at the Glass Factory located on the Island of Murano in the Venice Lagoon. This is the original front wall of the factory. The sign is all done in small tiles.

SHusband and I tend to collect heart images, and this one was taken for SH to see when I returned home. I took over 900 images on my memory cards. I wanted to share the trip with SH since he would never be going, so "Document R US" was the name of the game. I am thinking that if I were to take the trip now, I would be e-mailing him pictures on a daily basis with my new phone. I wonder how long it would take a picture from Italy to NYS via satellite?

If you look very closely, you will see a gold Glass Factory emblem embedded towards the bottom of the right heart.

The trip began in a private boat ride, with a female captain-very rare apparently there in the heart of the male-is-king society.

The factory was started on that Island in the 1200's when the glass factories were moved away from Venice for fear of fire. We had an absolutely gorgeous tour guide-I think he was an owner of the factory. He looked like he stepped out of a Doris Day movie-so typecast. Tall, dark and handsome.

We had a tour which included a glass blowing demonstration by this wonderful artist who has been with the company for over 40 years! He was so kind and seemed like he really enjoyed showing us his work.

I bought myself a teeny tiny pair of glass crystal earrings, but most times I forget to wear them-I must get them out to wear this week. OK, I am back, got out my earrings, took a picture for you, and then the low battery indicator came on, so replaced the batteries, and then put some new extra batteries in camera case-just in case, you never can stop a girl scout wannabe from being prepared!

Here they are, very bright because of the flash, but you can see that they look like a flower with a yellow center. Did you note that the gold logo on the red envelope matches the gold emblem in the glass heart?

Here are some more of their items that they sell:

I really thought before I went that I would buy a glass chandelier there. Silly me. The cost was so many thousands of dollars-but a lady on our tour did buy one, and the cost to have it shipped home was almost equal to the cost of the item! I still whine every now and then again about not buying one, and my SSister#1 laughs and says "Are you kidding me?". I think the cost of the trip was less than the chandelier!

Can you see this glass tea set is covered in gold, and do you see those nice decanters and vases in the back, they are just beautiful, in so many colors.

This is a gorgeous mirror. I don't know whose house that would be suited for, but you have to admire the beauty and skill.

Hope you enjoyed my trip to the Glass Factory.

So listen, welcome to February, SSon's birthday is this weekend, so February is a special month, hope yours is too.