Saturday, August 13, 2005

Lido, Murano, Burano, Torchello and Verona

Lido : The beach on the island Lido was THE BEACH for the Venetians. It was an ok beach.. you can give it a miss. Nothing really spectacular. But the hot chocolate there was the best that I have ever tasted in Italy. I was so inspired that I bought 3 boxes. (better to feed Spot and anyone else who comes to visit me!)

Murano : The place where glass making originated. We took the vaparetto there and promptly went into the glass making 'factory' where a man was making a vase and a fish - quite impressive. The man who was explaining the process whose name is Leno started talking to Shirrene and I. Shirrene insisted that he was checking me out.. who are you kidding?? Anyway, he was so impressed with us cos we bought a set of froggies (me) and octopuses (Shirrene) that he 'decided' to show us the GALLERIA.... where the beautiful pieces of art that never loses its value were sitting. It was impressive but the price tags were even more impressive...into the thousands and ten thousands of Euros.
Leno kept on saying that if we ever need him, we have only to whisper and he will be there.... charming or what... I think he reminds me of a very oily man. If you ever go there, do not buy anything... too expensive (we found that out much later!)

Burano : Such an enchanting little island where the houses are painted in bright happy colours ie fireman red, sunflower yellow, naranja orange, ultramarine blue.. etc. Burano is famous for lace but I was not impressed by the collection I saw and sadly most of the lace are made from China as it is just too expensive to make by hand in Italy now.

Torchello : Small fishing village with a very ancient tower in the middle and a fat carnivorous like cat basking in the sun but virtually uninhabited. You could still find an odd bed and breakfast place or boutique hotel and a few decent restaurants but go only if you wish for utter serenity with minimal activities.

Verona : A 2 hour ride into the west of the Veneto (supposed to be only 1.5 hours but it took us 2 to get there), it is the background of which Romeo and Juliet (Giuletta)'s tragic romance took place. Went to visit Juliet's house and watch countless people molesting her right breast in hopes of returning to Verona again. Her right breast looked so worn out and shiny.. I must say that is seems flatter than her left which Juliet cleverly covered with her own hand.
Surprisingly, Verona looks like a fancy shopping place.. with designer goods in shops along the streets. It also houses one of the best operas 'stadium' where there are shows almost every night - in Italian - of course.. or we would have watched it. When we were there, it was showing Turandot by Puccini - so interesting... if I could only understand it.. dang!

1 comment:

Biow said...

eh.. ame, post some pics!!