Our next bus journey took us north to Zadar. Another delightful coastal ride and an equally fascinating town to explore. Once again an old city built on an around Roman ruins. Those Romans certainly had a busy time along the Adriatic coast! As before, the Ethnographic Museum was closed, awaiting restoration, but we discovered that a Convent Treasury would be open the following day at 10.00 am. The ruins of the Roman Forum alongside the Convent were lined with market stalls selling tourist souvenirs and surprise, surprise, a piece of Romanian Point lace amongst the crochet. This large, very decorative oval mat was selling for 70 pounds sterling, about 130 dollars or so, prices similar to mats sold in Romania. I could not afford this, so Pauline distracted the saleswoman while I took a surreptitious picture with the tele-photo lens.
Suddenly the Convent doors were open and we both rushed to buy our tickets. Religious paintings alternated with glass cases full of ornate silver-encased relics of the various Catholic Saints. Upstairs carved wooden figures were almost life-size. Then we saw the religious vestments - embroidery at last! Gold thread-work encrusted damask silk together with gold braids. Even better, a display cabinet of beautiful antique Milanese Lace. We were quite extatic when we found pull-out drawers with more lace, some Flanders, but mainly Milanese. We spent a long time discussing and examining the pieces. In the corner, a nun who had been sitting as a steward, came over, and asked in excellent English if we were interested in lace. We told her we were both lace-makers. She was so pleased as she herself had started to make bobbin-lace. Then she told us the story of the lace, and how it had been rescued for posterity. Next time - Sister Joan's Story. -- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for private users. It has removed 3011 spam emails to date. Paying users do not have this message in their emails. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
