A walk along Veliko Tarnovo's crafts street
reveals a thriving folk culture with opportunities
to watch artisans at work.
Rumi carves with a keen eye.
Rashko paints icons with a delicate touch.
Nina skillfully turns clay into art.
Meanwhile, her son finishes each piece with patterns
that go back centuries.
[ Hammering ]
Todor the silversmith --
with his strong hands and distinctive technique --
transforms strips and strands of metal
into exquisite jewelry.
♫
Delftware is famous all around the world.
Royal Delft, the oldest surviving workshop,
established back in the 1600s,
welcomes visitors to drop in and see how it's made.
Visitors to the factory follow the process.
First, the liquid clay is poured into plaster molds.
When dry, it's removed
and the seams are smoothed off.
Then it's baked.
And then, lovingly painted by hand.
A mesmerizing scene unchanged for centuries.
After being glazed to fix the paint,
it's baked a second time
during which the paint turns blue.
That's the secret of Royal Delft Blue since 1653.
The finished product -- this highly valued earthenware.
Rooms of historic Delftware show off this art.
This table setting is laid out
as if it was the home of a wealthy person here in Delft.
Speyside marks the heart of Scotland's whisky country.
It's practically a pilgrimage
for aficionados of Scotch whisky.
Of the hundred or so whisky distilleries in Scotland,
about half lie near the valley of the River Spey.
Its prized waters,
along with a favorable climate and soil for barley,
have attracted distillers here for centuries.
Along with natural resources,
a critical element of the Scotch-making process
is quality barrels.
The Speyside Cooperage welcomes visitors with guided tours.
From an observation deck, you'll watch master coopers
making casks for distilleries throughout Scotland.
Perhaps the single biggest factor
in defining whisky's unique flavor
is the barrel it's aged in.
The process is essentially the same today
as it was centuries ago.
In order to be watertight,
the oak staves are lassoed tightly by metal hoops.
Tight-fitting lids are banged into place
and sealed with a calking of fresh-water reeds.
Finally, the inside is artfully charred,
creating a carbonized coating
that helps give whisky its golden hue and flavor.
The United States actually contributes
to the character of Scotch whisky
because most of the barrels used in Scotland
are made from the staves
of hand-me-down bourbon casks from Kentucky.
It's impressive to watch the coopers --
who are paid by the piece --
work with such intensity and focus.
There's much more to this town than tourism,
as you'll quickly find
in the characteristic back lanes of the Oltrarno district.
Artisans, busy at work, offer a rare opportunity
to see traditional craftsmanship in action.
You're welcome to just drop in to little shops,
but remember, it's polite to greet the proprietor.
Your key phrase is, "Can I take a look?"
"Posso guardare?"
"Certo. Grazie."
Here in this great city of art,
there's no shortage of treasures in need of a little TLC.
This is beautiful.
How old is this painting?
This is a 17th-century painting.
From Florence?
Mmm...we don't know.
Maybe the area is Genova.
Genova.
Each shop addresses a need
with passion and expertise.
Fine instruments deserve the finest care.
Grand palaces sparkle with gold leaf
thanks to the delicate and exacting skills
of craftspeople like this.
Our next stop is Murano.
Venice is famous for its glass,
for centuries blown here on the island of Murano.
A 13th century law restricted the dangerous glass furnaces
to Murano to prevent fires on the main island
and also to protect the secrets of Venetian glassmaking,
historically vital to the local economy.
Today, glass is still big business,
as tourists come here in droves.
While savvy shoppers know
that cheap knickknacks are most likely from China,
the venerable art form is alive and well,
as you'll see in some of the elaborate showrooms.
You can witness the traditional mastery of this craft
in adjoining workshops, which welcome the public.
These artisans are from families of glassblowers
which go back many generations.
♫
Our next lagoon stop is Burano.
Burano, with its pastel facades gracing the lagoon,
was first a fishing town.
Later, it thrived as a lace-making center.
Today, it's popular with visitors for its gentle ambience
and lace shops.
Once sleepy, its main center is now crowded with tourists.
Locals say, "anything with a door is a shop."
Burano's lace-making heritage goes back 500 years.
Shops proudly display
these painstakingly produced works of art.
Rather than using bobbins,
women make Burano's beautiful lace
with only needles and thread.
Meticulously following time-honored patterns,
these traditions continue to be passed
from older generations to the next.
The art of mosaic-making is still alive
and well in Ravenna.
Nearby in the Koko mosaic workshop,
works commissioned
by an international clientele
are being created.
The process is much the same
as in ancient Roman times.
Minerals are baked into glass
to make a rainbow of colors.
The colored glass and gold leaf pieces
are broken with a hammer,
then artfully set in wet cement.
The results are almost as beautiful today
as they were in Justinian times
as the Ravenna tradition
of fine mosaic work lives on to this day.