This has truly been a once-in-a-lifetime sort of trip, and our adventures in Murano were no exception.

Our first day there was in the afternoon, having not previously realized that much of the glassblowing takes place very early in the day. We made plans to return the next morning for a much anticipated private tour of a closed-to-the-public glassblowing company, which we happened to be able to arrange by a chance meeting (more to come in the continuing Murano adventures). Then we sat down for lunch (though the restaurant was recommended by locals, we wouldn’t so there’s no need to mention to the name). However, the vaporetto boat ride from Venice to Murano and back is a stunning way to fall in love with this beautiful city all over again. I recommend sitting outside to take in the views and the fresh air!

We happily wandered the island (which felt a bit like a smaller and slightly less crowded Venice) and enjoyed the fantastically huge glass sculptures. There was a large glass blown garden in the Italian flag colors, but my favorites were the one that looked like fire (pictured above left) and the huge blue and turquoise icicle-like sculpture (pictured to the right). Storefronts in Murano are filled with some of the most creative glass items you could dream up. From the tiny to the huge, there are figurines of absolutely everything, lamps, frames, chess pieces, jewelry, sculptures and much more.

Giorgio takes a look at Abby

And the hind legs appear

Along our wanderings, we met two brothers who’ve been blowing and working with glass together for about 26 years and have side-by-side stores. We had seen plenty of tiny animal figurines and even many dogs, including a Pug, but no Boston Terrier. So when Giorgio offered to make anything we’d like while we watched, we jumped at the chance to have a tiny Abby figurine. He took a good look at her and got started while I began snapping pictures (no video allowed).

Abby is appearing out of the glass

The final sculpting touches

Here’s a start-to-finish series of photos showing Giorgio create this adorable glass Boston Terrier figurine… my tiny glass Abby!

Giorgio also made a beautiful black and orange glass Monarch butterfly for More Diane and Mama Jude got a medallion-like necklace. Giorgio does most of the smaller, sculpting pieces in their shops and his brother Bernardino works on the larger blown pieces; both were incredibly sweet and talented.

After this lovely encounter, Abby ran outside the brothers’ shops and made fast friends with a Pug named Polly traveling with a German couple. Read more about Abby’s adventures in Venice in her post and see a picture of the two cute pups below. After all these wonderful adventures, we sat and had a coffee before returning to Venice.

Giorgio, Me holding Abby, Bernardino (L to R)

Stay tuned for Murano adventures part two (among more Venice photos and stories I’ll be posting), and don’t forget to read Mama Jude’s blog: https://giudittalia.wordpress.com/. And please leave comments on our blogs… it helps us to know who’s joining us!

Polly loves Abby