Shiraz

we stayed in the Campo del Ghetto Nuovo area of venice in the north west corner of the city. its a great neighborhood! less tourists and more venetians which struck our fancy big time.
while walking around one morning on our way to the neighborhood bakery we passed this little jewelry store. i went bonkers over the stuff in the window but it was closed, so onward we went. i went back to check if it opened three more times before we left. luckily i caught them on our last day. (there is a lot of flooding in venice when the tides are high during fall and winter. this place had been hit and the hours were spotty due to clean up inside – all part of the venice experience!)
so, i finally got inside and it was all i could do to not go insane and crash my credit card. its full of not only jewelry but rugs and decretive housewares that i cant even remember since i was in «magpie mode»…oooooo shiny!
lots of his pieces come from the middle east – venice has a long and integrated history with trade and influence with the middle east, check out the architecture. especially the windows – i bought my mom a beautiful silver and lapis neckless from afghanistan and myself an antique ring from… well, i cant really remember where. its very venetian style so my brain chose to get lost in the sparkly bits and not take it off my finger.
they have tons of new jewelry too and a lot of carnivale style pieces, over the top and understated. and lots of classic venetian style pieces. i wish i could have spent more time (and money) there, but, i had a hungry boyfriend to attend too and they had wet floors to attend too.
it was a VERY venetian experience that i would not hesitate to repeat. next time you are in venice and your jonesing for a bit of shine (or a beautiful rug or a magnificent glass lantern) find your way to shiraz.