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9332 Venice Tips. 17588 Venice Photos. 15 Venice Videos. Venice Pages by christine.j
Tips 1 - 7 of 7 Venice Off The Beaten Path
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Murano: The Glass Museum in Murano
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When we went to Murano it was raining and storming very hard, so instead of walking around first, we went to Glass Museum directly. Not too many people were there, probably the bad weather had prevented many tourists from going to Murano that day. The museum has lots of glass items on display, arranged according to the centuries in which they had been made. We saw beautiful things, including a huge centerpiece in the shape of a garden. Wonderful as it was to look at, I felt pity with the poor servants who had to clean it and set it up on the table. Much detailed information was given on the process of glass making. This was very interesting, I had never known how many different kinds of glass there are. Before we went out in the rain again, we had a coffee( from a machine !), which was better than many coffees in restaurants in Germany. And for just 50 cent it was really cheap. The entrance fee to the museum was 2,50 Euro. It's worth going there even in sunshine. Update: Ingrid (VT member Trekki) told me, that the entrance fee is now 5,50. I don't know if we looked like senior citizens and got the reduced rate? Or we were thought to be the teachers of a school class who had been waiting before us?
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Burano: Burano, part I
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We went to Burano early in the morning, as we wanted to be there before the crowds. The weather was beautiful again, we were able to see the snow-covered mountains far away. In Burano the vendors were just putting up their stalls, it was a very quiet and peaceful atmosphere. We strolled through some streets in which we were the only people around. Later that day, when we came back to have lunch (excellent!, see my restaurant tip), it was a lot livelier. There was a market going on and both locals and tourists were busy doing their shopping. The most striking element in Burano is the colour of the houses, especially when you see them reflected in the water. Since the day before had been really wet, many umbrellas were hanging upside down from the windows, a very practical method of drying them.
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Burano: Burano part III:Mysterious Carvings
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I had seen round plates with animal carvings in Venice on a church, but had no idea what they could stand for. In Burano I saw them again, this time on the facade of a normal house. Each circle holds two animals, one on top of the other, either riding on it or eating it. I still have no idea what they symbolize, if anyone can help me there, I'd really appreciate it. Update from May 2007: VT Member Trekki pointed me in the right direction, towards byzantine architectural ornaments. I checked in a lot of books and finally found a reference to these ornaments. It seems they were put up partly a simple ornaments and partly as "messages". A book called "Physiologus" had attributed certain characteristics to certain animals, so putting up two good animals was seen as an extra protection of the inhabitants of the house. An ornament showing two evil animals was supposed to tell evil spirits to stay away from there, as their place was already taken. Reading about this got me interested in this book, it seems this concept is still existing in our imagination today. Think about Disney's "Lion King", in which the lion is seen as the king of the animal world and not, for example, the elefant or the giraffe. In the Physiologus the lion stood for kingdom.
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It was still early in the morning when we took the boat from Burano to Torcello. It's only a ride of about ten minutes and you can see the bell tower of Torcello coming closer. This island is really small.In March 2007 construction work was going on and we couldn't go straight ahead to the village. We were being redirected on a path around, through gardens and very close to the water. It was very quiet and seemed ages away from San Marco's. There is an old Romanesque church in Torcello, free of charge and interesting to see. In the front of it there are stones , showing coat-of -arms of (I think) families from Torcello. You can see the winged Venetian lion and a very pretty one with three dolphins. Next to this church there is the Basilica di Santa Maria dell'Assunta. Here you have to pay an entrance fee, either for the basilica alone, or in combination with the bell tower or the museum. We chose the basilica and the bell tower and paid 5,50 Euro each, for each of us I mean, not for each of the buildings. It's absolutely worth it! The basilica is beautiful inside, with one of the largest mosaics I have ever seen. Showing the last judgement, set against a golden background, it is simply overwhelming. I later learned that it is one the most beautiful Byzantine mosaics in Italy and I certainly believe that.
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Join a Discussion October/November trip (3 replies, Wednesday, Jul 23, 2008, 1:34 PM UTC) Venice shopping/fotoromanzi (2 replies, Wednesday, Jul 23, 2008, 5:46 AM UTC) visiting venice for the first time (5 replies, Saturday, Jul 19, 2008, 7:37 PM UTC) Be the first to reply to these questions Euro 2008 - Italy vs Netherlands - where to watch? (no replies yet, Monday, Jun 2, 2008, 6:22 PM UTC) Club Piccolo (no replies yet, Wednesday, Mar 5, 2008, 5:07 PM UTC) Winery Tours (no replies yet, Sunday, Mar 2, 2008, 8:01 PM UTC) » All Venice Posts » Ask about Venice Special Services and offers Venice Hotels (0 comments, Wednesday, Jun 18, 2008, 4:57 PM UTC) 100 EUR - Rent my apartment at Rialto Bridge, Venice Italy (1 comments, Monday, May 26, 2008, 4:01 PM UTC) £1399 Balcony deal Queen Victoria in August (0 comments, Thursday, Mar 20, 2008, 11:24 PM UTC) » All Venice Deals » Post a Venice Deal
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Comments for christine.j about Venice | | | | |
Jerelis Wed May 14, 2008 10:57 UTC Great to see and read that you have really been off the beaten path to the islands of Burano, Murano and Torcello. Well don. Nice info and beautiful pictures. Thanx for sharing! | travelfrosch Mon Jan 28, 2008 02:09 UTC A very nice update, Christine! That "minimum two orders" custom could be a problem... but otherwise it seems everyone should visit Venice at least once! Thanks for sharing. -Mark | sim1 Sat Jan 12, 2008 13:58 UTC Fantastic page Christine! I am going back in February and looking so much forward to it. And I'll make sure to bring an umbrella and of course to get 'lost'; which I always seem to be rather good at, lol, if I want it or not ;-) | Herkbert Fri Dec 7, 2007 03:30 UTC Very nice Venice page, Christine. We are going to Venice in June '08 and will use your tips. Thanks for sharing. Tom |
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