Local Expert
Bradley Harden
Living the Sweet Life in a Fantasy Land
I was born in Missouri, but grew up in Minnesota where I was exposed to true winter and the health benefits of shoveling A LOT of snow. After graduating from…
Living the Sweet Life in a Fantasy Land
I was born in Missouri, but grew up in Minnesota where I was exposed to true winter and the health benefits of shoveling A LOT of snow. After graduating from high school I attended Northwest Missouri State University for 2 years and then transferred to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music and earned a degree in Music Business and Management. After deciding that a desk job simply wasn't my thing at this point in my life, I set out to see what the world had to offer. I found a wonderful little town a few miles southwest of Venice called Padova. This small, university town truly captures all of the ideas, visions, sights, and sounds of what you think Italy should be...except the gondolas, that is left for Venice.
I enjoy a lot of different things. Travel is obvious. I have traveled extensively throughout Europe in the years since arriving, trying to see as much as I can. This, of course, includes a vast amount of Italy. I have had a wonderful time experiencing the culture with real Italians that have taken me to the places that you can not find in any guidebook and that are not on any map. During the spring and summer I work as a liaison for travelers; helping them find their way from the airport or train station to their hotels and helping them navigate through Venice or surrounding area to see things that are off the beaten path. Of course, if it’s your first time you need to see the important historical things, but if you’ve been before perhaps a day of ‘live like a local’ is more your thing. I always find a huge amount of pleasure and satisfaction from seeing a city that I know very well through the eyes of someone who is experiencing it for the first time. When this happens I, too, see the city for the first time and I realize that the magic never left.
In addition to all of this, I also enjoy movies, most types of music, going out for a “spritz” in the piazzas during the evenings with friends, and since I’m living in Italy eating AMAZING food and drinking a GREAT glass of wine come almost automatically. This is the definition of "Having your cake and eating it too."
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Murano Glass For The Art Lover
This past week my sister was visiting for a couple of weeks. While she was in the Venice area she mentioned that she wanted to go to the island of Murano to see the glass factories and to pick something up as an authentic Murano creation. While we were walking around the small shops and suppliers of Murano Glass we opted to go into one of the largest producers on the island, Linea Mazzuccato located steps away from the primary vaporetto stop (Colonna) on the island. .
As we looked around for the special piece that caught her eye we were approached by one of the sales personal who mentioned to us that there is a second floor of items that are produced by one of twelve different artists for the factory and that if we wanted to, he would escort us to the second floor. So we took him up on his offer.
Located on the second floor of this factory are numerous rooms filled with one-of-a-kinds from these twelve different artists ranging from a couple of hundred Euro to in the tens of thousands for an elaborate chandelier. My personal favorite was the massive glass sculpture of the bottom of an aquarium by the master Adriano Dalla Valentina complete with seaweed, turtles, and fish all gliding smoothly through space. Each piece could be moved to any location but all the pieces interlocked with others to create a tightly woven display that would easily cover many small boardroom conference tables. Some of the pieces can be viewed on the second page of "sculptures" on this website.
If you're ever on Murano, I suggest stopping by to see the true beauty of Murano Glass sculptures located here. They are elegant and refined, far different from most of the other tourist items that are found throughout the main drag of Murano.
If you would like to contact me directly about this, or anything else regarding Venice or northern Italy, visit me HERE.