There's a Venetian style glass factory just outside Caracas (ICET Arte Murano) that was set up decades ago with retired artisans from Murano. Some amazing pieces, and the factory is on-site to watch them create. Some really beautiful art work - at least, once upon a time; nowadays I understand they've shifted heavily into the more "lower skill / easily produced" products.
We used to get them as gifts for family and friends, but I stopped when my sister got married. I bought a beautiful decorative, very colorful plate, but the x-ray machine in Miami didn't like it and it set off an alarm that upset the security folks. Probably had something to do with the minerals used for colors - iron, zinc, manganese, cobalt. Seems airport security is unusually sensitive to those.
We used to get them as gifts for family and friends, but I stopped when my sister got married. I bought a beautiful decorative, very colorful plate, but the x-ray machine in Miami didn't like it and it set off an alarm that upset the security folks. Probably had something to do with the minerals used for colors - iron, zinc, manganese, cobalt. Seems airport security is unusually sensitive to those.