Shopping in Venice

When my sons and I went to Italy the first time, we were absolutely "Innocents Abroad." Gawd! It's painful now to think about how utterly clueless we were. 'Course, Rick had just died and we were fleeing Christmas in Seattle, so I guess we had an excuse.

We landed in Milan, stayed the night and took the train to Venice the next day.

Psst ~ The next time you go to Milan and take the train ~ look up when you get to the station. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. I know. I know. Yes, it was a salute to Fascist power under Mussolini but it is a wonderful mix of very strong Art Deco and thirty years of design ideas from the beginning of the project in 1906. Overlooking Mussolini and all his really terrible pals, it's a really wonderful train station.

When we got to Venice, it was dark, raining and Logan was sick. We stayed at Hotel Paganelli (Go there! Stay there!) overlooking all'isola di S. Giorgio. For people who knew nothing, we stumbled into paradise. The Bear has been living in Italy for over four years and he still stays at Hotel Paganelli when he goes to Venice and recommends it to friends.

There seems to be two kinds of people in the world ~ those who loathe Venice and those who adore it. I'm in the adoring camp. Serenissima! It rained like hell the entire time we were there. The water was literally jumping up six to twelve inches high as it percolated up through the cracks in the stones in the piazza (acqua alta); the city had put up elevated walkways all around the city; the wind was rattling the shutters. It was glorious!

Just to give you an idea of what aqua alta is all about, when you go through the San Marco Basilica, look at the floor. Acqua alta is the main reason the sublime mosaic floor looks like a washboard. An ankle breaker but, atmospheric as hell.

Mostly, we walked around. Since we were so completely stupid, most of our stay in Venice was tourism by braille. We literally fell over wonderful places. The Guggenheim Museum with its Picasso Studio retrospective for one.

But, if you are shopping in Venice, you need to know these things:

First: Fortuny. I have complete confidence that God's apartment in Heaven has Fortuny lighting, some wonderful tassels and maybe a throw or two. There isn't one thing in the Fortuny showroom that isn't utterly divine and perfect in every way. Bring your wallet. Expensive but every dollar will be well-spent.


Second: Murano glass. Two things: It's expensive and really, really beautiful. I recommend loving it there and buying it used / vintage in the US, if you can.

When Rick's parents went to Venice in the 50's, they came back with a little Murano chandelier which they put up in their dining room in Windermere. When they sold their home in Seattle, the little Murano chandelier came to live with us. It is entirely too small to be a ceiling fixture. So, I took it to Harold's Lighting in Wallingford and had Kim retrofit the stem for me.

In my mind, I thought of the little Murano chandelier as a lamp not a ceiling fixture. I had Kim give me a really long raw brass extension from the ceiling to the chandelier so it ends up sitting about where you would expect a lamp shade to be over a table. I just love it! It's the perfect solution for a very small Murano chandelier.

The second thing about Murano glass ~ jewelry. When my daughter-in-law went to visit friends in Dubai before the baby was born, the Bear and I went to Venice. He and I walked around being tourists. While he looked at gold coins to have made into cuff links (another wonderful story), I looked at the multi-strand, small glass bead necklaces in the shops along our path. This was true window shopping for me. Mostly because it felt like the necklaces were a million dollars. I couldn't even desire them, they were so expensive.

And, then in a very small shop, I saw a wonderful  gold-filled glass bead multi-strand necklace. Oooh, it was so lovely. The Bear scooped it up and bought it for me on the spot for my birthday. "Isn't a trip to Italy enough of a present?" I asked. "No, " he said. "You need something with a bow on it."

I love that boy!

Third: Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday / Carnevale masks. Carnevale di Venezia is the festival that leads up to Lent. It is street parties, masked balls, a riotous time had by all. If you are going to buy a mask in Venice, get a nice one. One worth lugging around for the rest of your trip. Stay away from the touristy places and get one you'll be glad to have when you get home. A friend brought me a wonderful leather mask painted in harlequin that I tucked into the base of a lamp in my dining room. And, hanging on the wall in my bathroom, a fantastic mask with a crown of playing cards with images of cats. Amazing.

The thing I love about Italy is how generous and friendly the people are. It really is La Dolce Vita twenty-four hours a day. Sure there was that whole unpleasantness with Mussolini and his band of thugs, but mostly all the men look like George Clooney; the women are beautiful, the food is wonderful (I'll tell you about wild Sardinian artichokes later); the art is jaw-dropping; Prosecco for breakfast, lunch and dinner and it doesn't even seem weird. I mean, really, this is a culture where buying a champagne sabre to open your Prosecco is not considered a gag gift!

Is that a great country or what!

So, if you're going to Venice . . . tuck a Donna Leon novel into your carry-on, go shopping, eat lots of good food, walk along the Riva degli Schiavoni, hang out in the Piazza San Marco (the living room of Europe), drink lots of red wine or Prosecco, get lost in the windy streets and have a wonderful time.

Day 28 Everyday Grateful ~ 
jobs checked off my list
great night's sleep.
Happy

http://www.fortuny.com/
http://www.venetiastudium.com/
http://www.hotelpaganelli.com/
http://www.donnaleon.net/
http://www.haroldslighting.com/