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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Not Your Typical Venetian Mask - Ca' del Sol
Souvenirs! What would a vacation be without a little memory from the place you visit? In Venice, you have many things, gondolas, models of the Rialto Bridge or the Bell Tower of Saint Mark's. But for those of you who want something a little more personal, special, and elegant, I suggest purchasing a Venetian Carnival Mask...but not from the vendor or shops that you'll find dotted everywhere along the way. I suggest having it custom made.
Along the Ca' del Sol in the Castello district you will find a mask shop that looks like all the others, it's called Ca' del Sol Maschere. This little place produces their own masks for Movies, Theatre, or Carneval. All of their masks are either hand painted like the others OR made with fabric...and this is what makes them unique.
The fabrics that they use are of typical Venetian style, color, and design. They apply the fabric to the surface of a porcelain or plaster mask and then decorate it as you wish with vibrant feathers, gold beads or pearls, etc. When everything is said and done, you find that you'll have a very elegant souvenir of Venice that is completely unique to you and your tastes. Of course, you can buy off the shelf too, but what fun is that?
If you would like to contact me directly about this, or anything else regarding Venice or northern Italy, visit me HERE