Beautiful Venetian Masks and Murano Glass pendants

Hi,

Its was a lovely day yesterday with the sun has shining most of the day, except for a little cloud about 4pm when we had a few spots of rain. but this morning its dull and miserable looking but the sun has just come out since I started writing this.

Today I wanted to show these beautiful Venetian masks. These were in a shop in Limone, I brought a piece of Murano glass pendant which you will see further down the page. These masks were on show and let me photo them. They were so beautiful against the stone wall, the back of the shop was cut into the rock making a wonderful backdrop for these masks.

Their is a very long history of the Venentian mask going back to the carnivals in 1268 but today the famous Venetian Carnival starts on February 2nd and ends on Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras), the day before Ash Wednesday. Venetian Carnival re-creates the fantasy of the original event with food, costumes, Venetian masks music, Commedia Dell'Arte Theater, juggling and other spectacles. The Venetian masks and costumes are worn by people who often travel from all over the world to attend and perform (or parade) on renewed Carnival in magnificent city on the water, Venice. The elaborate costumes and masks are handmade by variety of Venetian artisans. Traditionally people were allowed to wear masks between the festival of Santo Stefano (St. Stephen's Day, December 26) at the start of the carnival season and midnight of Shrove Tuesday. As masks were also allowed during Ascension and from October 5 to Christmas, people could spend a large proportion of the year in disguise. Through the Carnival Venetian Mask-makers (or Mascherari in Italian) enjoyed a special position in society, with their own laws and their own guild.

Murano Glass, I brought the heart last time we went to Limone, and this time I brought this beautiful blue pendant. Murano glass is a famous product of the Venetian island of Murano. In the lagoon of Venice Italy, Murano has been a commercial port as far back as the 7th century. By the 10th century, the city had become well-known for its glass makers, who created unique Murano glass. While Murano glass makers have settled and operate elsewhere, some say authentic Murano glass is fabricated only in Murano. It is only Murano glass if it has Murano stamp in the glass at the back.
Now what do you think of these, I brought the leaves in Malcesine, she even took the bottom leave off as they are very long for me, but over night I had an idea, I then brought the ones on the right in a shop called Melissa in Limone I have some ideas for them by taking them apart and making some tatted jewellery with them.
I had to take a picture of this, in this country we just shove things people buy in a bag, and these days you don't always get a bag either, when I brought the leaf earrings this is what she did with the wrapping, they were inexpensive earrings costing 10 euros and she spent 2 Min's wrapping them up and adding the stamp with the shops name and a red rose, the orange bag is not paper but a waterproof plastic type material.

I hope you have enjoyed today's post, I have had Bethany my grand daughter over the last two days learning tatting at least the art of tatting wont be lost and can continue with a new generation.

Have a nice day and until we meet again in blog land take care

Hugs

Margaret

Day trip to Malcesine plus more views of Lake Garda

Hi,

I promised you some more about our holiday, we only took one trip over to the other side of Lake Garda to Malcesine. It takes about 20 Min's by boat from Limone.

We saw these statues as we walked into the centre of Malcesine, the boat docked in the Porto Vecchio which had great views of the lake and quite footpath to walk along the shoreline and a short walk into the centre. This was a family of swans and babies that we saw in one of the squares in the town, unfortunately I thought I had more pictures but I think the rest must be on the videos which I have not looked at yet. Having coming home and going straight into hospital, I have got behind with sorting out all videos.
Malcesine is a pretty small town on the eastern shore of the Lake. It's a picturesque tourist resort with cobbled lanes and the castle, crammed between the blue lake waters and the massive mountain ridge behind, Monte Baldo. In the summer months Malcesine is packed with tourists. Malcesine would make a good base for sightseeing with the cable car running up to Monte Baldo which is a magnet for cyclists, walkers and para gliders. We sat one evening watching the para gliders come all the way down the mountainside to the lakeside from the hotel terrace, the air was still and view clear, in fact you can see the castle of Malcesine from Limone.
Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy, and Malcesine lies towards the narrow and mountainous northern end, and is on the main lakeside road connecting it with the other towns on that side of the lake, there is also bus service connecting it with Garda and beyond. The town is situated at the edge of the Veneto region, in the province of Verona. 'Malcesine' is a good exercise in Italian pronunciation: the name is pronounced approximately MalCHESinay.

The town is a lovely place to stroll for an hour or so, with picturesque medieval lanes winding up the slope from the lake. There are pretty little squares, cafes and restaurants, and shops selling designer handbags, shoes, and clothes.

Malcesine's most striking feature coming over Lake Garda is the historic castle, the Castello Scaligero. The castle takes its name from the della Scala family, who owned it and made alterations in the 13th and 14th centuries; the castle was used, restored and adapted for military purposes until the 19th century. Nowadays the castle is also used as wedding venue. The battlement fortress is open to the public as a museum, called the Museo Castello Scaligero.
There is a cable car to Monte Baldo we did not do this but it has great views of the Lake Garda from Monte Baldo it climbs from 100m to 1760m, it would be a great excursion, particularly on a hot day, as temperatures are lower and the breeze cooler than by the lake below. In winter this is a base for mountain sports. After the snows have melted, energetic walkers and mountain bikers take over. We were told the cable cars get busy so you should be prepared for queues. 45-people capacity cars run up to a half-way station called San Michele. The cars which continue the journey up to Monte Baldo take 70 people and are slower rotation so all can enjoy the views over Lake Garda and up to the mountain.
This is some views of the Lake on our way home to the airport

I hope you have enjoyed this next piece Lake Garda is a great place for a holiday, and of course the Italian food, local wine, where you go around this area of Italy you will see rows and rows of vineyards, even ordinary homes have a few grapevines in the gardens, wine is one of the exports of the region. I would recommend Lake Garda for a holiday to anyone young or old. I have something to left to post which I will do in a few days.

Until we meet again take care

Hugs

Margaret