Take a water taxi from the island of Venice to the island of Murano. We watched the workers creating a beautiful Venetian glass chandelier that would sell for thousands of dollars when finished. It takes hours for the team of three men to create the roses for the chandelier. We learned all sorts of neat facts about glass. One of my favorites was why red glass is always more expensive than any other color. If you see various colors of the same glass item, the red will always be more expensive, because the formula to make the red glass contains gold. The tour ends in the gift shop, giving you a chance to purchase virtually anything imaginable made of glass.

Do not take the rides offered by your hotel to the island - it is a trap to hold you hostage until you purchase an overpriced piece of glass. Take the public transportation, explore the island at your own pace, visit some of the beautiful shops away from the tourist trap glass factories, and truly enjoy your visit. My best friend (an Italian native) and I went and against her better judgement, I insisted we take the beautiful wooden boat offered to us over to the island. We literally had to ESCAPE from the glass gallery out a back door or we would have never seen the island. They hold you captive in the factories galleries and tell you the only way to return to Venice is by their boat. Don't believe it! Take your own tour instead.

Many hotels in Venice will offer you a free trip to Murano. Murano is the island where all the glass makers reside. The glass business was set on Murano hundreds of years ago to assure that all of Venice would not burn down in a glass making accident.

You do not have to feel compelled to buy something at the glass factory just because you accpeted the free transportation there. We went with the intention of buying a special glass souvenir of our trip and the selection of beautiful pieces is amazing. If you do buy, ask for a private boat ride to where ever you are headed next, you will be accomodated.

There are several glass blowing factories on Murano. The one we happened to visit was called Vecchia Murano. We received a tour of the facility including a demonstration of glass blowing. ~~~~ Afterward, of course, there were opportunities to buy glass items. They ship your items home by DHL so you don't have to lug them around. In the basement of this particular factory, they had less expensive novelty-type glass (fish in "bags," "candy" and items of the sort). ~~~~ Glass is EVERYWHERE in Venice. Be sure the items you purchase are from a store selling MURANO GLASS (not just GLASS) or else you will be supporting the Czech Republic. The government has started cracking down on the practice of passing off inferior glass as Murano glass. Even among authentic Murano glass, prices and quality do vary, so shop around.

My sister and I, along with our husbands, had already decided that on this trip to Venice, we were each going to "splurge" and buy a lovely piece of Murano glass as a souvenir. Therefore, when a vendor approached us at the pier near the San Marco vaporreto stop, we said "yes" we would like to accept his offer of a free ride to Murano to view the Gritti Glass Blowing Operation.

We were escorted to a private motorboat and given an engaging ride through narrow canals that we could not have enjoyed on one of the larger "public" boats. On arrival at Murano, our personal guide met and escorted us into the glass blowing shop.

In the year 1291, because of the threat of fires in Venice, all glass factories were moved to this nearby island and now the name Murano has become synonymous with glass blowing. Today, artisans and craftsmen display their imagination and creativity in blown, etched, ornamented and filigreed glass creations produced with centuries-old basic tools.

We were given a personal demonstration of how the glass is colored, melted, heated, blown and shaped and we were welcome to take pictures of the glass making processes. The craftsmen proudly showed us a current project they were working on -- a fabulous set of glasses on order to the Vatican. (You don‘t EVEN want to hear the price!)

Then we were escorted to the gallery told that we would not be allowed to take photos inside the gallery. Seems they have problems with people taking photos and "cheap imitations" being reproduced by unscrupulous vendors around the world.

Glass ladies in pink dresses, ruby red bowls, crystal and gold vases, chandeliers with magnificent blue globes -- SO BEAUTIFULLY -- displayed everywhere! We were allowed to wander through the galleries and then met our guide in a sales room where we were offered coffees, tea, cappuccino or whatever else we might choose.

Since we live in Napa Valley and enjoy our wine, my husband and I selected a classic wine decanter etched with grapes. My sister and her husband chose 2 delicate pink ballerina figurines. We told our guide that we would be in Italy for 3 more weeks and would like our purchases to arrive after our return home.

Sure enough!! The day after we returned home, a package arrived. Securely wrapped to ensure safe arrival, it was our lovely hand blown decanter, signed and dated by the artist. A hand engraved certificate of authenticity was also included.

Just for information: We saw items displayed in many price ranges. Our decanter was about $375 US dollars and my sisters’ figurines were about $350. The price included shipping, US customs costs, taxes and insurance. Truly lovely remembrances and items we will forever enjoy and treasure.