I was so excited to read that Ca'Foscari gave tours of the university. I have always been…read moreintrigued by the beautiful palaces that sit on the Grand Canal and this is one of them. We met Elena on Saturday morning for our tour. It cost € 7 each to attend. There were only a total of 8 people on our tour, which made it more personal by Elena. The school is celebrating 150 years - 1868-2018. Some highlights of the tour were: they have the 2nd largest courtyard after the Palazzo Ducale; they originally offered 3 courses - Business, Diplomacy and Language; Foscari was the Doge for 30 years; and he was 53 when he became a Doge. After a brief history, we were shown the most stunning Mario Baratto Room - "Aula Baratto". The wide view on Canal Grand offers a majestic view of the Rialto Bridge on the left and the Accademia Bridge on the right. In 1936, Carlo Scarpo completely redesigned it. Carlo Scarpo work is easily recognizable by the style of the wooden windows, the furniture and the marble stage. The fascist work 'Venice, Italy and Scholarship' of Mario Sironi remained however on the wall. In 1956, Scarpa converted the large aula into a smaller room for lectures. His woodwork which separates the corridor from the aula is very fine. In addition to Ca' Foscari, we were able to tour the Ca' Dolfin. The 16th century Ca' Dolfin is located on the other side of the Rio di Ca' Foscari and was acquired by the university in 1955. You enter into a lovely, quiet garden. The impressive Aula Magna Silvio Trentin is now the main location for large events. As soon as you enter, look up and take in the sumptuous ceiling painting with 18th century frescoes. You feel really overwhelmed by the colors and images. One remarkable detail is the sculpture of a dolphin above the door. It refers to the Dolfin family who originally owned the building. Unfortunately, the 10 original wall paintings of the Venetian painter Giambattista Tiepolo had been sold by one of the former owners. The mirrors which now decorate the walls hide these empty spaces perfectly. From the terrace, you have lovely views of the rooftops and churches of Venice.

Stepping off the boat on to the island take a left and head past the first few shops, walk up a…read moreslight bridge to the dark green multi-pitched roof building. They have a nice glass making demonstration. We stop at the first demonstration a few Buildings earlier. It was not as impressive or informative. They also have a lovely showroom. You will need to ask to see it. The gift shop is a separate space.

If I had a million dollars (or euros) to spent at BF Signoretti Glass, I STILL would have trouble…read moredeciding what to buy! I love art glass and many of the pieces I saw make my heart flutter. WARNING: There are many glass galleries you can go to on the island of Murano under the umbrella of Murano Venetian Glass Center, and the quality of these places vary unbelievably from cheap tourist glass to art museum quality. So the turn "Murano Glass" doesn't really mean anything. However, BF Signoretti Glass Factory produces the highest quality Murano Glass, and it ranks as one of the world's top art glass producer. We were able to find them based on the recommendation of a local company. We spend a good three hours there because it was like a trip to a museum. Our guide (OK, salesman) was very, very low key in terms of sales and very helpful in guiding us through at least a dozen different showrooms. At NO point, did we feel pressure to buy anything. We started with a demonstration, as well as actual creation of the parts of a chandelier they were making. The craftmanship was outstanding, led by owner and artisan Alex Signoretti. We also had a demonstration of creating a small horse that only took only (and exactly) two minutes from beginning to end. However, the pieces they sell take sometimes months of work to create. We honestly had no intention of buying anything because I wanted to go because I just love looking at art glass. However, in the end, we wound up being a small cobalt blue vase, as well as four drinking glasses. It was shipped from Italy to our house (no charge) and arrived in perfect condition. Even if you don't intend to buy anything, if you like art glass, this is a most worthwhile 10 to 15 minute boat ride away from Venice. It's an experience I will never forget! We were not allowed to take photos in the showrooms, but their website has many great examples. I recommend looking at this page in particular: https://bfsignoretti.com/en/collections/.

We signed up for a class with Massimiliano via TripAdvisor and it was outstanding. He showed us the…read moreprincipals of glass work and then let us try it. We made a glass piece that he turned into a necklace. Highly recommended.

As the first tourist back to Italy, took a trip to Venice from the Amalfi coast to visit Venice and…read morethe island of Murano. In this boutique glass showroom you can ask for a tour of the factory behind the store which cost 10 euros per person. Alex who gave us the tour was able to take this time to explain about the process of making the glass which is something I didn't expect was interesting or exciting. However, I was blown away by the hand made examples of many different shapes and sizes. Murano is kinda slow and relaxed island, if you're looking to do something, pay Alex a visit and get the tour. The process hasn't changed in hundreds of years, except for the addition off gas and electricity to heat the minerals.

this was an awesome little glass door located towards the front of the Plazo San Marco…read more Shopkeeper was super friendly even that was a small store. They had lots of intricate stuff. We may be back to buy a little glass snowman.

Had a great time at Maria's Cookery Course. The grounds were well maintained and staff very…read morehospitable. We took the train from Venice and not only did we have a great time , it was a perfect change of venue. If you would love a quiet place to sit on the porch, drink vino, and cook often, this is your place. For me personally the one day was enough, I suffer from the go go go syndrome.