In January, Nadine went to Venice for a few days to explore Murano and Venice for the embroidery class with Jenny Adin-Christie in end of April/ beginning of May. It is important to us that we visit all the venues and locations before we arrive with our guests. As the schedule is pretty full for 2026, Nadine decided to visit Venice in January just after the New Year. Please read below what Nadine has found out on her trip to Venice.
The arrival on Monday lunch time was great as Venice airport was not very busy. It is a small airport with two cafes on either end of the arrival hall. You can see confused travellers who are looking for taxi's and buses. After a few minutes looking for the sign for the water taxi's, I have found that I have to go up into the 1st floor and follow the blue sign for water taxi's. I liked that the walk was covered with a ling escalator helping you to walk. Once I have arrived at the terminal for the water taxi's more confusions appeared. There are Italian men standing asking you if you want need a taxi but I knew to say no and carried on to the ticket office. There, I bought a ticket to Murano. I was lucky as the boat was sitting right there and waiting for the last travellers to join the journey. There is a very lovely feeling when the water taxi takes off and you know that will be on Murano in 30 minutes.
Some of you may ask, why we have chosen Murano and not Venice for Jenny's class. Murano has a very tranquil atmosphere and it is the home of the famous Murano glass. We found a lovely hotel with a small entrance but once you are in the reception and you walk through the hotel, you have the feeling of a sanctuary and calmness. Matteo at reception was very welcoming and he works there for almost 3 years. As he explains everything to me, I am starting to notice all the Murano class and art hanging on the walls and ceilings. The hotel is still decorated with Christmas trees and the Christmas baubles have the names of all the staff members on it.
I met Silvia who is our meeting and sales contact for this hotel. It was her day off but when she heard that I would be coming to visit, she changed her working schedule to meet me. We had a friendly chat before walking through each room category, spa, gym, bar and of course the meeting room where we will be stitching with Jenny and the guests. As soon as she opened the door to the first meeting room, I saw already an issue. The room was too small. Silvia saw my face and I explained what we will be doing on our week of embroidery and with what equipment I will be arriving. I showed her photos from previous embroidery classes and her eyes lid up. She told me that she does Ricamo (embroidery in Italian) herself and recently learned to crochet. Within 5 minutes, she showed me a bigger meeting room which was much better suited including a roof top terrace and floor to ceiling window for natural day light.
The bedroom is stunning, an upgrade to Junior suite with a view over the lagoon will do I guess. The beds are so comfortable, the towels are warm, the hairdryer works perfectly and there is a kettle and coffee machine in the bedrooms.
Next day, we got dressed, had delicious breakfast and the best view over the lagoon from the breakfast room and walked to the station where the water taxi's are located. We bought a day ticket but you can also buy 2 and 3 day tickets. We took a 15 minute ride before we arrived in Venice. We started walking and our first stop was the Belviacqua factory where we will have a private tour with owner. As it is January, the walking thought Venice was cold but the street were quiet and we found beautiful artisan shops and wool shops. Not far from the factory, we found the museum di Palazzo Mocenigo which hosts textiles and at the moment the Kimono exhibition.
We have had quite a time to figure out the water taxi directions but after a few times, we knew which ones to take. The Museo Fortuny was one of the highlights for me. Walking through this fabulous museum and seeing all the stunning fabrics was just amazing. For our trip to Venice, we have asked Rebecca Devaney to do a Textile Tour of Venice for us and we are excited. Rebecca will take us to Rubelli fabric store and Belviacqua shop. We found fabric and tassel stores but this is for another blog to write about these colourful tassels. We found a shop for shoe making and gloves. I did not know that they are so many different styles of gloves and I must admit, most of the Venice ladies are wearing stunning gloves and they all look very chic.
In the evening, we had two tickets for the incredible Vivaldi concert played by Interpreti Veneziani at the Church San Vidal at the San Stefano square. There were about 100 people seated in this warm church enjoying 1h30 minutes of stunning classical music. As it is such a small menu, we could see the musician so close and it was just mesmerising. Venice is the city of harmony and it is so true.
Next day, on our way to the airport, we chose to try out a private water taxi which picks you up directly at the hotel's own pier. Punctual at 8.30am, the taxi driver arrived. He was holding my hand while stepping onto the boat. The warm leather seats in the boat are most comfortable. It is such a relaxing way to travel in style to and from the airport.
We are looking forward to our Venice retreat in the end of April with Jenny Adin-Christie.
Thanks Nadine
