Murano Money (glass)

 Thursday 24th August 2023

Another day in Venezia and I almost feel local. I have the Gondolier hat.

Just a quick reminder of the breakfast available at the hotel Benvecchiati.

Theirs (normal people)

Have a good look, very yummy looking

Mine Plain biscuits though I could have had a long life honey filled muffin. Wow. Lucky me (Pity Party moment)

Anyway after breakfast was the big Morano Island tour which had been booked ages ago and we assumed was a group tour.

In fact no, we were picked up by a beautiful Venetian lady, Mrs Chetti from the hotel before boarding our boat to the island for our private tour.  We had to walk through amazing streets to arrive at the mooring which was near the Rialto bridge.

Another shot of the hotel sitting area.

Again I had to jump across water to board the boat, with 3 people helping me. Sounds ridiculous but I have no faith in my ability to land on two legs with a bruised, if not broken, rib(s).  I was so traumatized by the boarding that I took no photos of the journey across to the island.   It was quite fast and might otherwise have been enjoyable. 

On arrival it was quite interesting looking.

Mrs Chetti left us in the hands of Enrica who told us her son lived in Sydney and she had visited him on a number of occasions.  We later found out how.

And then we were introduced to Magic Mario, the glass blower who was going to show us how the process works. Today he was making a jug to go with the amazing glasses we were shown.  He has been doing this since the age of 10 so about 50 years and is one of their most experienced artisans.

Mario and the glass on the table

I took hundreds of photos as the process has very many steps, in and out of the oven and addition of colours and bits etc, but I shall bore you with only  a few.

OK they are in reverse. The first photo is the jug and it goes backwards.

near the start of the process.

And then one for the animal lovers.  By this time, another two groups with their own tour guides had entered the small workshop so we were hearing 3 different commentaries.

Its a horsey!

And then the part where they show you the vast number of products produced and tell you how special they all are, hand crafted, authentication, blah blah blah.  Big sales pitch (this is how Enrica funds trips to Sydney).

So we ended up buying a couple of things, no photos. You will see them at some point if they ever make it to Australia.

And then back on the boat with the normal panic attack but this time I was able to take some photos of the trip notwithstanding the speed of the boat. 

Paul enjoying the sun on the boat, a water taxi.

Lovely ocean/sea/something

getting close to Venice

Going under the Rialto

Once back we made our way back to the hotel and had to have a drink and some lunch.

Our hotel terrace bar

Our shared lunch of tuna, egg and other things salad which was naturally gluten-bloody-free.  Very nice.

And another table ornament/rubbish in a glass.

Paul enjoying a beer under sprays of water keeping us coolish.

After a snooze and rest respectively, it was time for dinner, Australian time, not Italian time.  We set out about 6.30 to find a restaurant I had found on trip advisor that was recommended for its gluten-bloody-free pizza. 

Quick aside on pizza/pasta. We had found quite a few restaurants able to do gluten-bloody-free pastas but only one in Rome that would do gluten-bloody-free pizza. We both wanted a pizza that we could share as one whole pizza is definitely too big for one person. So I was pretty hopeful this restaurant would feed me pizza, and Paul too.

I had the instructions on how to get there and if desperate, there was always google.

On the way

someone important with his own square i think

A leaning tower. It really is.

Nice square

So after the first via or Callo as they are called in Venice, there was no sign of any of the others mentioned. We went completely in the opposite direction (again) and then somehow made it back and fluked upon the restaurant, the Rosa Rossa.(Google is hopeless in Venice) It was barely 7ish and far too early to have dinner. No self-respecting Italian would even contemplate dining before 8.

After confirming Rosa did do gluten-bloody-free pizza we moved off quickly seeking a bar to have a drink.   We found an American style bar/diner where we could have drink without eating.  Spritzers are our go to drink this holiday and they are everywhere. We are so in!

We didn't make it to 8 but it was definitely after 7.30 when we went back to the restaurant. There were only family groups and foreigners dining at this time

The Rosa Rossa turned out be a very good (read expensive) restaurant with lovely ambiance and food too.

First up bread

Mine are the rice sticks served with olive oil while Paul had lovely fresh bread with olive oil.

Then the pizza

It was very good, we couldn't wait. The crust was excellent and the topping was grilled vegies. Really nice. We did not need a secondo piatto (second plate) to share but the waitress talked  us into the special of red fish. We said yes before she said she would check on the price depending of course on its weight. This was beginning to sound expensive. It was. 

It was presented whole but again we attacked it before the photo and tried to put it back together again. Not a huge amount of fish for the price.......

Inside the restaurant

 

A lovely meal.

It feels good to know we are helping to finance the lovely Italians who are looking after us to go overseas and pursue their interests. Think not of the possibility of us being exploited but of the donation we are making to Italian life. Dad would be pleased (read horrified).