Hodgepodge 161/365 - Set . . .

My last full day in Venice was very nice—though it had its annoyances. I will choose to remember the nice bits, and the annoying bits are really no big deal, just: way too many people. I don't know how actual residents of this city keep their sanity. Of course, it's not always spring break.

I took the vaporetto out to the islands: San Michele, of the cemetery; Murano, of glass; Burano, of colored houses and lace; and the best, if you happen to enjoy Byzantine mosaics (as I do), Torcello, which itself has quite an interesting history as a safe haven following the downfall of the Roman Empire and the rise of the barbarian hordes in the fifth century.

On San Michele I located the graves of Serge Diaghilev, Igor and Vera Stravinsky, and Ezra Pound; on Murano I enjoyed looking at the glass products—especially the seriously expensive ones (there were also glass gondoliers and Christmas ornaments, for those with a few euros burning holes in their pockets); on Burano I enjoyed that it was wash day—everywhere there was laundry hanging out to dry, decorating the beautifully colored buildings. I also had a very tasty spaghetti ai frutti di mare on Burano, necessary fuel! (And a very positive experience with the wait staff, also good fuel.)

Torcello's Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, however, was the highlight for me.

On one of my solo visits to Italy, I rented a car and did some exploring. A friend had recommended Ravenna, with its eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites dating to the fifth and sixth centuries, so I stopped there to honor his suggestion. And that place blew. me. away. I would love to go back (though now I'm worried about crowds, sigh).

Torcello's grand mosaics reminded me of Ravenna's, although these are later (11th and 12th centuries; the church, however, was founded in 639). Still: there's nothing like an amazing work of art in tiny pieces of glass, a lot of them gold. It's also nice to walk twenty minutes along a rural canal to get there.

Unfortunately, every single option on Torcello cost something: the basilica, the campanile, the audio tour, the museum. I settled for the basilica only. I know I missed stuff. Being cheap can be a drag. But I did feast my eyes, and there were sketchy diagrams to refer to, so I know which mosaics depicted hell, and where St. Peter was standing, and that the angels Michael and Gabriel were flanking Jesus on the secret photo I snuck. (No photography! Why not? No flash I can see, but why no photography? Grumble.)

I also confess (as long as I'm grumbling) that I refused to stand in the queue for the vaporetto (line 12) from Murano to Burano, which seemed endless—and every boat that arrived was already pretty full, so the queue was shrinking incrementally. Instead I hoofed it to the boat stop that would allow me passage back to Venice (line 4.1 or 4.2), where I could pick up line 12 at its start. That cost me three-quarters of an hour, but at least I was moving—and I got a seat for the full forty-minute trip. (This is an excellent example of my "Red light, turn right" philosophy, which I'm sure I've explained elsewhere. Call me silly. But yeah: I really, really hate standing in lines. Or waiting in traffic. Or, basically, not moving.)

On the way back from Torcello, I got lucky, and the boat that arrived was heading all the way to Venice, rather than disgorging us on Burano for a transfer. Some little vaporetto angel must have been smiling on me. Probably laughing at me as well, but that's okay. I can take a joke. And I was happy for a seat on the boat.

Here are some other photos from today:

There are graves on San Michele as well,
but columbariums predominate. I liked the
way this one was designed with the cross
shape of light.

Burano

Laundry! And you can't really see it,
but the front door is stained-glass flamingos.

The bench was just painted: that's a WET PAINT sign.

Torcello from Burano. It's a five-minute boat ride.

My snuck photo. I just held the camera against my chest and
pointed up, without looking. Glad I did. Glorious!