Author: VenetianBeadShop

UPDATE on the problem with Gypsies!This summer has seen more “gypsies” in Venice than normal and they have gotten progressively more aggressive. Their newest business ventures  are selling vaporetto tickets, baggage handling and tourist information.
But there’s a bit of a hitch in these new ventures.
(1) They are selling used vaporetto (imob) tickets they have recovered from the trash, so totally worthless.
(2) They charge 5-15 Euro promising to take your baggage all the way to your hotel only to vanish a short distance from where you started.As you paid them in advance. Well you are truly left holding the bag (yours, we hope). And if you entrusted camera bags or computer bags, those may disappear as well.
(3) Selling tourist information, well maybe disinformation, since they actually know little about Venice.

The “helpful” baggage handlers are positioned at the foot of the Calatrava Bridge (Piazalle Roma across the canal) and they are competing with Italians looking for this work as well. And they can be found as you descend from your train at the train station, offering their services.However, unless your hotel is very close to the train station, getting over this bridge will not really help you. You’d be much better off taking the vaporetto to the closest stop to your hotel.

Know before your Go: Search on line, buy a map, but know where your hotel is. Print out a copy of the name and location (and telephone number) of the hotel. Know which vaporetto gets you closest to the hotel.and the vaporetto stop name. (All hotels will have information online about how to arrive, print that out and have with you.)

My favorite Venice Guide Book:
Venice, Knopf Guides ISBN 0-679-74918-7  The best part is the fold out center which names each of the palazzo along the canal. A little Caution: This summer has brought some new nuances to traveling in Venice. So here’s your heads up if you are traveling. Last week in Venice is a good example of everything that can happen.An unsuspecting Japanese tourist had her purse lightened by 35,000 Euro, all in Yen, which for sure makes finding the suspects a bit easier as they will need to exchange to Euro to make it worth their while. This happened near the train station, Santa Lucia. Hint: hanging out in the train station is never a good thing as you are always a target, in any town! So if you must wait, find a café, spend a few Euro to improve your chances of not being subject to (1) pickpocketing and (2) fall prey to a really good scammer.  A few years ago, in Milano as we waited for a train, we spotted a young American girl who had been “befriended” by a very good looking young man. Right before our eyes, she left her entire earthly possessions with this young man and went into the tourist office. As soon as she entered the doorway, the young man scurried away with her belongings. Imagine her panic when she came out of the station with absolutely nothing. Fortunately, she did have her passport, but little else other than the clothes on her back. Hint: Don’t give your valuables to a stranger anywhere – no matter how friendly they appear. Remember this when you are traveling.  Little things, like someone who offers to carry your briefcase up the stairs at a train station.  Sounds like a really helpful person and maybe there are some saints in training around – but imagine your dismay at the top of the stairs when this helpful person has disappeared with your computer and belongings.  Il Gazzettino also reported they arrested a couple of guys dressed as monks in the traditional cappuccino and with a rosary – looking very official who were soliciting for the “poor” on the bridges near Piazzale Roma. As a rule, monks do not stand on the street and beg. In an effort to control these unwanted solicitors, the Veneto Region has begun a campaign to disband the encampments of the clans of zingari (gypsies, known locally as Blackbeards because the head of the clan wears black and has a beard) with the head of the group who sends out his band of thieves and beggars each morning, including babies and old ladies, like pendolini (Italian slang for commuters). At night they return giving all they have begged or stolen to the boss, who in turn is padding his bank accounts out of Italy. Organized crime at its lowest level – it’s hundreds of years old. However, as it turns out begging is not a crime in Italy, so the local municipalities are having trouble controlling the presence of these groups. So, even though I say Venice is the safest city in the world, it is not without it’s unsavory characters. As a tourist in a strange place, you are always a target.Hint:(1) Avoid the train station in Mestre (the last stop before Venice). A large band of gypsies are making even locals passage difficult. (2) Keep your valuables near you, most of all your passport. Don’t have anything in your back pockets.(3) If you are arriving/departing by train, get out of the station as quickly as possible. If you must wait, there are several nearby cafes, spend a few Euro to be safer. (4) Be sure your purse is zipped closed at all times, if you are in line to purchase an item, put your money away and close your purse before you walk away. Google

Update: Cruise Ship Comes Dangerously Near Venice  Read about the fight to ban these “Mega” Cruise Ships from Venice and the “No Grande Navi” Protests. 

The glass factories of Murano have long been a tourist favorite to visit and watch a small horse being made. The maestro (though usually not a maestro, rather a production glass blower who has been hired to demonstrate to the tourist). The major work goes on in the furnaces off  the main streets in Murano. It is dangerous work, timing is key and the production furnaces have schedules to meet for the wholesale buyers around the world.  Even so, the magic of creating a horse out of a ball of molten glass is still entrancing. (On the left are some of the very low tech tools used to produce the beautiful and intricate products.)  Tourist Demonstrations:

Here is a typical tourist demonstration piece, but note that it stands on a drawing for production products. They make it look so easy, effortless, and tourist standing away from the heat hardly realize the intensity of the furnace or the dangers lurking. The glass burns your body instantly upon contact. In the US and elsewhere, the glass blowers wear protective coatings, gloves, and specially coated glasses. In Murano they sport le ciabatte, bedroom slippers, shorts and that Italian flair. But don’t be fooled by their apparent casual appearance, they know the dangers, it’s experience not carelessness! It is a carefully orchestrated routine they follow, all at the command of the maestro who has total control. How does one become a glassblower?In the US and elsewhere, it is most often through the Industrial Arts programs at colleges. There are some marvelous glassblowers and it’s a love of the glass and a draw of the furnace. When I studied glass blowing, at a local university and from the first day of the class it was a clear divide of students: those who were absolutely horrified of the heat and intensity and those who were infatuated and drawn to the furnace. Count me among the latter. 

In Murano, it’s the luck of being born there, and especially if you are born into a family of glass blowers. The older blowers (now nearing retirement) often began working when they were in their ‘teens to help support their family, learning on the job and never finishing school. It takes years of experience to become a maestro and not everyone makes it. One of our closest friends went to work at 9 years old cleaning in the furnace until he was strong enough to do other work. He bought his own furnace in his early 20s and became a spokesperson for the industry throughout the world. It was his passion, like so many in Murano of the famous glass blowers. Below in the “muffler” or annealing oven are lampshades in the front and wine glasses in the back. They gradually bring the blown glass temperature down to prevent cracking.  Want to study glassblowing:Check your local colleges for classes, but be prepared to spend long hours working as an apprendista. Many schools offer the course as continuing education. It is both a trade and an art. A quick search on the web can give you results as does GlassArtSociety http://www.glassart.orgGoogle

Every summer in Venice, the vaporetti become over-crowded with tourist, the boat stops jammed with people from every country, all speaking different languages and very few who know where they want to go or how to get there. Mix this with the locals who absolutely know where they want to go and unlike anywhere else in Italy, they want to be punctual. They want the boats to be punctual. But this years there is even more to complicate travel. The problems this year began a couple of weeks ago when the ACTV, the city and company which runs the transport system, laguna and terra ferma (lagoon and land) boldly cancelled the union contracts of all the ACTV. Some had been in place for up to 40 years. However, like public transportation, public services around the world, the pension plans, the overtime, and the salary increases are causing grave problems for the cities. So, they simply cancelled the contracts! A bold move, especially for Italy.

 In turn, the drivers and attendants (the guys who open and close the gate on the vaporetto) are in a “slow down” mode. They have always had strike days (with no apparent reason) announced well in advance as to start and stop of the time. But now, it’s random with the slow down being more of a problem. For some people who live in out of the way places, unaccessable by walking (swimming could be an option) but Guidecca, Saint’ Erasmo, Torcello, Burano, other small islands and even Lido absolutely require a boat. The residents are being tortured by the scheduled boats never showing, or two in a row and sometimes not stopping.  The discussion (blame placing) is the same as in every city. Only now the ACTV, who one month ago was crying that the tourist were not taking the vaporetto and a shortage would be in the city coffers, now are complaining that the slow schedules are due to tourist who are jamming the boat stops. The residents asked for the usual “residents only” lines to be put into service, but the ACTV says it has not the money to operate these additional lines. Last week after a couple of successively missed, boats not stopping, over crowded boats, some residents threatened to take control of the boat, in a scene which could be played in an Italian opera. La polizia (the police) were called to break up the row. Imagine a local citizen driving the vaporetto, that should be fun.  So if you are a wide-eyed tourist experience Venice for the first time, maybe it is better you walk. It is good for you. You can’t get lost. And you’ll see some really wonderful parts of Venice while the city and the union sort things out. And fortunately there are only a few weeks of summer left!Google

Ok, so if you declared your love in Venice by attaching a small padlock to any bridge, be prepared for the removal of your lucchetti dell’amore. They have removed some 600 last week and are prepared to remove the more than 2,500 on the Accademia bridge alone. But, it seems they reappear almost as fast as they are removed. (See Previous Post)

                 ( Looking through the Bridge to the Franchetti Palazzo) Some locals are outraged over what they consider to be vandalism. Frankly, I find it charming. Now I often write the Don’t Do this list for tourist which is basically about having respect for the older local population. Do not throw trash into the canals nor rubbish on the streets. Do not sit on someone’s doorstep eating your Panini. Do not sit in the spaces on the boat reserved for the elderly or pregnant, surely you can see the pictures and understand. Do not talk about the locals as though they do not have ears or understand and speaking louder will not help translations! But the idea that two people pledge their love for each other on a bridge somehow just does not fit in my Do Not list.  The Venetians do become jaded with the tourist. However they do want and need the tourist and the money they bring. So, knowing the practical Venetian, I am amazed that they have not found a way to save the locks, all the while making money on it. By now they should know they can’t beat this fad, so they should just consider how to capitalize on it.  (I’ll let you know whey they do!)