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mikefrantz 2009-01-27 8:39pm

To Murano Guests
 
I have put together my first letter (17 pages), please send me your email address to Mike@frantzArtGlass and you will receive the first letter to be followed up by things I forgot in the first 17 pages and with other information that you will need or want to know.

Mike Frantz

NW-Teri 2009-01-28 5:54am

Mike - just sent you an e-mail - looking forward to the trip.

frogee 2009-01-28 2:38pm

can't wait
 
Just sent you an e-mail! Thanks Mike! We can hardly wait.

happybeader 2009-01-28 8:09pm

Thanks, Mike I got mine!!! Can't wait

PaulaD 2009-01-29 10:22pm

Is any one bringing their laptop?
Is this going to be a major hassle if I do?
Paula

PyroBarry 2009-01-30 12:01am

If you take your laptop, make sure you have a full back up ... customs can take it and keep it as long as they want to go through the information on it. Unlikely they would, but they do once in a while.

beadsoncypress 2009-01-30 4:38am

To the other ladies arriving on the 13th....please PM me so we can coordinate the trip to the apartments!! Or is Mikey meeting us to "escort" us??

PaulaD 2009-01-30 8:07am

Quote:

Originally Posted by PyroBarry (Post 2353444)
If you take your laptop, make sure you have a full back up ... customs can take it and keep it as long as they want to go through the information on it. Unlikely they would, but they do once in a while.

Great.

Paula

mikefrantz 2009-01-30 11:19am

Boat to Murano
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by beadsoncypress (Post 2353512)
To the other ladies arriving on the 13th....please PM me so we can coordinate the trip to the apartments!! Or is Mikey meeting us to "escort" us??

If you have not yet gotten my 17 page letter about your trip to Murano, please send me your email address. There are four guests arriving on the 13th between 9am and 9:45am. From the time you touch down until you clear customs can take thirty minutes. I will be arriving at the airport at about 5 minutes til 10am. For those arriving at 9am just hang out and do not worry about finding me, walk around, relax, have a coffee, we will find each other and I will be the one with a black t-shirt with the Frantz Logo on it.

For those coming in a 9:45am, look for me when you clear customs. You should go through the doors that say nothing to declare. There are usually a German Guard dog that sniffs everyone coming into Venice, they are not looking for bombs, just drugs.

I will escort you as a group to Murano. You have two choices, one choice is to pay around $10 each and get on the slow boat to Murano where you will be dropped off at one of two different places on Murano and you will have a 5 or 15 minute walk to the apartment.....or you can each pay around $25 and take a fast and sleek water taxi that will get you to Murano in half the time and drop you off right in front of the apartment. Does not matter to me which method we use, you are the ones paying, you decide. The rate (last time) for a taxi was around 70 euros for the taxi ride and it can hold lots of people.

Mike

Cabanlet 2009-01-30 1:48pm

Just saw this and emailed you! Thanks Mike! See you the 13th!

Amy

mikefrantz 2009-01-30 3:33pm

Compter Stuff
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by PyroBarry (Post 2353444)
If you take your laptop, make sure you have a full back up ... customs can take it and keep it as long as they want to go through the information on it. Unlikely they would, but they do once in a while.

Come on Barry, maybe if you are a terrorist! While anything is possible they are not going to take away your computer....on the other hand it is Paula!

I take it each time I go, the biggest problem is that going through some airports they are being very stingy on what you can carry on and even in First Class having a laptop computer and a small carry on was too much for me to carry on. And if we ever get to talk together I can tell you stories about me and the airports and customs, now cheese I have a problem with, but computers..nah.

mike

PaulaD 2009-01-30 3:45pm

Or they might think I am a business owner or inverstor that needs her daily fix of stock market news! eta I will be sure it fits into my carry on~
Paula

moushka 2009-02-04 7:25am

Hey Mike,

The letter said we could buy glass in 22 lbs increments. Any slight chance that that could be 22 different colors?

mikefrantz 2009-02-04 9:25am

Per Color Only
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by moushka (Post 2361034)
Hey Mike,

The letter said we could buy glass in 22 lbs increments. Any slight chance that that could be 22 different colors?

Sorry, each color comes in a 10kg bundle (22 pounds).

mike

PaulaD 2009-04-16 4:30pm

So who is there the first week??

And who is packed already??

Paula

PyroBarry 2009-04-16 4:56pm

I mention this because my Brother had his taken. He works for a company that has offices in the USA, Netherlands and Canada and he travels often. He was on his way back from Europe when it was taken ... supposedly ... randomly. He travels often and has a passport that has more stamps than the post office. Maybe the frequent travels is what caused the red flag. I don't know.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikefrantz (Post 2354387)
Come on Barry, maybe if you are a terrorist! While anything is possible they are not going to take away your computer....on the other hand it is Paula!

I take it each time I go, the biggest problem is that going through some airports they are being very stingy on what you can carry on and even in First Class having a laptop computer and a small carry on was too much for me to carry on. And if we ever get to talk together I can tell you stories about me and the airports and customs, now cheese I have a problem with, but computers..nah.

mike


moushka 2009-04-17 8:01am

Who is packed and ready to go? Who is going the first week and what plans have you made?

happybeader 2009-04-17 9:06am

I am in the second group. Not packed but I have started the gathering process.

moushka 2009-04-17 11:49am

I am currently rreading The City of Fallen Angels. Its by the same guy who wrote Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. So far pretty interesting. Full of Characters!

PaulaD 2009-04-17 3:20pm

Starting the Gathering process too!
Paula

mikefrantz 2009-04-17 6:53pm

Murano
 
After just doing nothing after returning from Glass Craft Expo, I am now needing to get down to work and get packed for my trip to Murano.

A few more guests are arriving in Murano and staying in other apartments. We will need to find a large facility for a big party!

For those of you going, try to bring clothes that dry quickly. There are washing machines in the apartments, but they are small and there are no clothes dryers, only a clothesline and good weather will dry your clothes. I do think there is two facilities on Venice for doing laundry.

I just bought two pair of New Balance shoes for walking around and had a chiropractic adjustment this afternoon.

For those of you who have been watching our auctions on our website, a good portion of the money is going to a great cause......my trip!

I am working on a new Vault Pack that has never been offered. It starts with mostly one rod each of rods like: streaky pink, frosty blue,riverrock, you get the idea? There is around 2 pounds of assorted one-of-a-kind rare glass. By the time I am finished the box will weigh 5 pounds and will be better than a chocolate sampler!

PaulaD 2009-04-18 8:28am

Didn't you say that your Venice guests are getting one of those sample packs??
Paula

moushka 2009-04-19 7:30pm

Yes, I thought I heard that someplace also....

PaulaD 2009-04-19 7:39pm

I am sure he said that in one of those private emails....

barbaracollins 2009-04-20 2:21am

NO, it is for an auction for us stay at homes!!! And to raise money for Mike's trip, so he can see all sorts of goodies for us to buy when he gets back. Have a great trip everyone! send lots of pictures.

Ofilia 2009-04-20 6:21am

[quote=mikefrantz;2463198]
For those of you going, try to bring clothes that dry quickly. There are washing machines in the apartments, but they are small and there are no clothes dryers, only a clothesline and good weather will dry your clothes. I do think there is two facilities on Venice for doing laundry. [quote=mikefrantz;2463198]


I would also recommende that you bring your own cloths pins! There are very few there this year?! SO, if you don't want your undies to land in your downstairs neighbors courtyard, or on the canal sidewalk where likely doggie poo-poo will give your clean laundry unwanted staining, be sure to secure your laundry on the lines!

The weather has already started to be uncommonly warm, so May should bring you all wonderful hot days to dry your cloths quickly!

Ciao! Have a great time there:p!

mikefrantz 2009-04-20 11:05am

Sounds Like...
 
[quote=Ofilia;2465969][quote=mikefrantz;2463198]
For those of you going, try to bring clothes that dry quickly. There are washing machines in the apartments, but they are small and there are no clothes dryers, only a clothesline and good weather will dry your clothes. I do think there is two facilities on Venice for doing laundry.
Quote:

Originally Posted by mikefrantz (Post 2463198)


I would also recommende that you bring your own cloths pins! There are very few there this year?! SO, if you don't want your undies to land in your downstairs neighbors courtyard, or on the canal sidewalk where likely doggie poo-poo will give your clean laundry unwanted staining, be sure to secure your laundry on the lines!

The weather has already started to be uncommonly warm, so May should bring you all wonderful hot days to dry your cloths quickly!

Ciao! Have a great time there:p!

Sounds like you have lived in the same apartments that I have lived in on Murano, and of course you have and you are 100% right on. But, why not just buy some overpriced clothespins at the market on Murano along with some bananas? I have always thought that May is the finest time of the year to visit Venice. October can be just as nice. Being from the Northwest U.S., anything over 75 degrees is getting on the toasty side. And at 70 degrees I am in my shorts and T-shirt, but I am always in my T-shirts!

Wicking clothes works best and now that the price has come down since at one time it was only available at Travel Smith at $25 per pair of t-shirt or underwear, these items have come down in price. But I find that thick, wicking socks still take a wicked time to dry! I have had to take undergarments and ironed them to remove the wetness on days when the evaporation is not happening at all.

On one trip we hung clothes where ever we could find a spot and I was to find out a new term of Aqua Morta which is Water Death and when you put clothes in an area like a closet where there is no air circulating it is like leaving your wet clothes in the washing machine for a few days! Yuk!

I may be headed off to Italy a few days earlier than my ticket now shows, that is if I can get into my apartment two days earlier and can change my ticket to two days earlier and find an upgrade for a better seat and then get a flight that leaves two hours earlier. Leaving two hours earlier will not get me into Venice two hours earlier, but it will give me an extra two hours between the time I arrive at Heathrow and the time I leave from Gatwick to get to Venice. When flying with British Air, you land in London, but then you have to take a train or a bus to Gatwick, and fly from there to Venice. That extra two hours allows me to go into a lounge and take a shower and have a good meal.

In-as-much as I love Italy, I have gotten to that point where I think that the excitement of going is wearing down, but as I come within two weeks of my departure, I can feel the excitement brewing again. I think the most fun will be taking guests around who have never seen Venice or Murano before. It beats the crap out of "Small World" at Disneyland.

For those going, stay healthy, do not get a cold or the flu, be ready for a trip of a lifetime and start thinking about how you are going to get back there for a second time since after a short week there will not be enough to satisfy your needs. Murano is magical, Venice is a treat and the food and wine out just out of this world. And if you do not like pasta or seafood, why are you going? But there is a McDonalds and a Burger King if needed.

Mike Frantz

PaulaD 2009-04-20 1:24pm

I will be in London for 3 days but will do the same trek from Heathrow airport to Gatwick airport. Right now I am more excited about London than Venice!
Paula

moushka 2009-04-20 2:12pm

Mike, do you have a more definate idea of what days we are going to the factory etc?

Jen

mikefrantz 2009-04-20 7:47pm

Effetre
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by moushka (Post 2466454)
Mike, do you have a more definate idea of what days we are going to the factory etc?

Jen

We will be going to the Friday that you are on Murano.

Mike


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