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.All Trips / Europe / Italy
Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a beautiful shopping arcade in Milan near the Duomo, is the oldest shopping mall in Milan and one of the oldest in Europe.
In 1860 the government of Milan held a competition for the redevelopment of the area between the Duomo and the Scala Opera House. The winning design was submitted by Bolognese architect, Giuseppe Mengoni. The first stone of the mall was laid in 1865 by King Victor Emmanuel II, after whom the arcade is named. The Gallerie was opened for business about 2 years later, but work on the structure continued for another decade, especially on the grand entrance from Piazza del Duomo. In a sad note of irony, Mengoni fell to his …
Tagged arcade, Duomo, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, glass, piazza del Duomo, shopping
.All Trips / North America / Pacific Northwest / Washington
Tacoma — Water, Glass, more Glass, with a little history thrown in…
Tacoma is a city I’ve driven through numerous times but never thought much about. I was aware it was a port city situated on Puget Sound, and that it had a huge dome (Tacoma Dome) just off the I-5 freeway. I knew Tacoma is Washington state’s third largest city (Seattle and Spokane are more populous) and a gateway to Mt. Rainer National Park. But this time we weren’t going to Mt. Rainer, rather to Tacoma’s Museum of Glass, which Sylvia and I’d heard good things about. We had few preconceived expectations for our visit and as it turned out we were to be pleasantly surprised.
The Museum of Glass is an interesting hybrid …
Tagged Chihuly, glass, Pacific Northwest, Tacoma, Washington
.All Trips / Europe / Italy
La Dolce Vita (Part 6) Murano and Burano
Venice is just one “island community” (actually it’s an amalgamation of 100 smaller islands) in the shallow brackish waters of the Laguna Veneta. There are several other island communities in this large (>200 square mile) lagoon that can be comfortably visited in an enjoyable day trip from Venice all easily accessible by vaporetto. Settlers fled to these islands when the barbarians invaded Italy over 1500 years ago because the islands were safe from these marauders and sheltered from the strong winds and waves of the Adriatic Sea.
Murano Fire Watch Tower
1) MURANO
Murano is best known for its glass factories and the wondrous assortment of beautiful glass products they generate. The island itself was initially developed in the 13th century …
