Friends, Babies, & Nove'--OMG I love Italian Pottery!

This is the post that I originally meant to post the day of the flood!  So here it is--thanks for waiting Beth! One of the fabulous things about an impending military move, PCS as we like to call it, is that without fail, someone you know has already been stationed there before you.  Part of being in the great "military family" is that one of your friends almost always "knows someone" who is already living where you are moving. It makes the constant moving almost bearable.  It's always an adventure--a chance to meet new friends, to get to see a part of the country, or even world, that you haven't gotten a chance to experience yet.   Facebook has made this whole process easier for military families.  Here's an example.  Just yesterday, I was chatting with my friend Heather on Facebook.  She and her family lived across the street from ours for a couple of years while we were all stationed at Ft. Campbell together.  Steve and her husband deployed together.  Our kids played together.  When we first met them, Heather was just a few months shy of delivering baby number two, a boy who would become friends with Delilah, our youngest.  When the time came, we dashed across the street to stay with their oldest, Lily, who is the same age as our son Jackson.  This is the way it works with military families. They are great people--part of our every-growing military family. Yesterday, Heather and I were chatting about her move to Ft. Leavenworth--she'll be just a couple of weeks shy of delivering baby # 3 this time...and expressed her concerns that she will know no one to dash across the street this time.  As military luck would have it...I do.  My friend Mandy, who lives just down the street from me here in Italy is moving to Leavenworth also.  Instant Facebook introduction.  It's the way it works in the military.  "But wait", I be you're saying.  "This post is supposed to be about Italian pottery!"  Don't worry, I'll get to it... Here's a little "teaser"...

  We found out that we were moving to Italy in the summer of 2011. Steve was still in Afghanistan when he "got the call". When he told me, I was excited, overwhelmed, and speechless!  I couldn't wait to talk to some friends who had been stationed here.  I rallied the troops....and no one.  NO ONE I knew had been stationed here.  Everyone was excited and WANTED to be stationed here, but NO ONE actually had been.  We knew no one in Italy, or anyone who had even been stationed here. My friend Anne, however; had visited the Vicenza, Italy area when she and her family were stationed in Germany years ago.  In typically military fashion, she told me all about her adventures here and even pulled out some knick-knacks she had picked up along the way here.   THIS is where the pottery comes in.   From atop her kitchen cabinets, my friend Anne pulled down the most fabulous pottery.  I can't remember if it was Crate and Barrel or Tiffany's, but I was hooked.  She told me about her trip to Nove' the Italian "capital" of all things pottery.  American companies like William Sonoma, Crate and Barrel, and Tiffany's (just to name a few) have their pottery manufacture over there in Italy by companies , she told me.  You can buy it there at cost... It's all true.   My favorite of all the ceramic factories in Nove' is VBC.  Andrea and his family have been running it for years. It also helps that he speaks perfect English and will give you a flat 10 percent discount if you use Euro.  Here are some of my favorites from his shop...

This is Andrea

 Pottery that has already been molded but not fired

 The giant kiln (big thing on the right)

Shelves and shelves of pottery that has already been fired

VBC ceramics on the cover of a William-Sonoma catalogue 

One of the plates from the WS catalogue pictured above.  This stack of plates was right next to the phone and apparently someone used one of the unfired plates as a note to take an order!

There were hundreds of these carts FULL of ceramics! 

The have dozens and dozens of different spoon rests and salt and pepper shakers

I LOVE this mosaic bowl! 

 And this giant plater 

And these olive themed pitchers 

I've got to have this bowl 

This man was another American...His wife had a big pile of ceramics on a cart behind him

Huge carton of ceramics that's about to be mailed to Dorothy in PA, USA

AND, are you ready for this...VBC also produces quite a bit of pottery for Tiffany.  I love the little child's bank--it's my new go-to present for anyone who has a baby!  I love them--and they are significantly cheaper when you buy them direct from the maker!

 This is the one that I bought for Delilah

Made for Tiffany & Co. in Italy :)

Check out what they sell for at Tiffany's!  I got mine for 20 Euro!

Here's another piece from Tiffany!

Made in Italy :)