A Busman's Holiday
A Busman’s Holiday
Well you know how it goes, the prospect of a significant birthday and the weather at home isn’t all that, so a birthday abroad is just what the doctor, if not what the bank manager ordered. And being well, in the business of fine glassware why not take a peek at the making of glass across the narrow sea. The first stop on the holiday though was to Rome. There were plenty of glass artefacts on view as it’s well known that only two things pass the test of real time and they are glass and pottery. Roman glass wasn’t quite of the sophistication that we know now, but some of it is very pretty and delicate, with beautiful colours and it probably was made in a day. The highlight for me though was a trip to the Colosseum that ancient entertainment space where as many as half a million went to die for the amusement of the Roman throng. It had sixty lifts and it seems that Emperors didn’t really want gladiators to die, because then they had to compensate the owners, because gladiators were all slaves, if they got killed it was huge financial blow, especially to the Gladiator!
Glassmaking Secrets
Then it was a high speed train to Venice which went at 250 Kph, that’s 155 Mph, nearly all the way and we got free coffee in our seats. So different from ScotRail where you get coffee in your seats when some hapless traveller spills their poorly insulated take-away cup of milky something or other on your lap. But in Venice we’d paid a small fortune to go to Murano, home of glassmaking secrets for centuries. Long ago the masters of glass discovered the secrets of glassblowing and their reward was isolation. They were locked away by the Doge, on Murano about four miles out in the lagoon so no industrial espionage could take place. Some reward eh, perpetual isolation? We were booked in for a making display by one of the glass masters and a high pressure sales job by the salesmen afterwards. Mario was the glass maestro, he’s in the picture, and by jings he was pretty good and you could have one of his whimsies for the price of a second hand family car. Even James May in his Amazon Prime journey round Italy said, “Oh my goodness is that in Lire,” when he glimpsed one of their price tickets? The missus and me wanted a souvenir, and we got one, but it was a tiny dish, with a not so tiny price and we managed to get it all the way home without it breaking, despite our flight being hours and hours late. Thank you French Air Traffic Control. Haven’t you heard of the Auld Alliance?
Is That in Lire?
Now these days the secrets of fine glassware are more widespread and this has brought innumerable benefits to us all. The days when only Princelings, Hollywood stars and the heads of the Mafia could afford fine glassware are over. Now with the spread of knowledge and fine craftsmanship we here at James Pirie can offer very fine goods at reasonable prices, ones where you don’t have to ask, “Is that in Lire?” If you want fine things without astronomical price tags then you are in the right place. Have a gander at these and say you heard it on the grapevine, with these two Grapevine White Wine or Rosé Wine glasses. The Vine is a beautiful grapevine design which has been hand cut by one of the most highly skilled intaglio craftsmen in the UK. That’s got to be a stonker and in case you are not convinced it’s on a half price and they are sold in a lovely presentation box. Go on have a look.
