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On September 24th, 2016 I awoke in the most pleasant of surroundings deep in the heart of Venice. I was in the presence of that most pleasant of companions (m’lady) and we had a touristic day of swoony bliss ahead of us.
The day included a ticket stub for the Murano Glass Museum, so I get to write about it here.
M’lady had planned a fun excursion for us to a couple of neighbouring islands. A glance at the water-bus schedule showed that we’d be passing a cemetery island along the way so of course I insisted on stopping.
After a very confusing (yet ultimately successful) attempt to find and purchase tickets for the water-bus we were on our way. We were among the very few that got off at the cemetery, where we were greeted by a sign that said No photography, No backpacks, No lots of things. We put our cameras away and went in, happy that neither of us had worn shorts (No shorts).
With much of Venice being an island I’m sure burying people six feet down is a bit of a challenge, but they’ve stepped up to the challenge with this island, which must be a half-kilometre square or so. There were vaulting mausoleums and walls of tombs and many standard North American-style graves as well. Several notables are buried there but the one I was most interested in paying my respects to was that wonderfully dissonant and unendingly influential 20th Century composer of The Rite of Spring, The Firebird, and so much more, Stravinsky.
It took some time to find his grave despite the clear and numerous signs pointing the way. I guess it’s because his tomb and that of his wife who lies next to him are so very plain. Each was a slab of stone laid upon the ground containing the name of the deceased in plain script and nothing more. No dates, no homages to the composer’s greatness, nothing but the name: Igor Stravinsky.
We took no pictures of course.
We hopped on the next water-bus and took it to Murano, an island famous for it’s glass making. And boy, are they still into it.
After tucking into a few tourist shops we immediately found a nice place to stop for a beer. It was a beautiful day so we sat on the patio overlooking the water and ordered a couple of local brews. Anytime you order a beer in them parts they bring with it a complimentary bowl of potato chips and I love it.
After a leisurely break we sauntered until we found the glass museum. We hummed and hawed and decided to go in.
It wasn’t the most interesting museum in the world but given the mass amount of glasswork we saw throughout the island over the next few hours the few euro the museum cost was well worth it. It started with a video loop on the history and different styles of glass in Murano. Clear glass was first invented here! There was a time when leaving the island without permission was considered treason, such was the local authorities interest in protecting the island’s trade secrets.
The building that housed the glass museum could easily have been a museum on its own. It was a big fancy house, every ceiling had a different painted motif; it was really quite a pad. Out back they had a sarcophagus display with mini-tombs going back to the year 800. Graveyard reprise.
The rest of the day was spent window shopping* until we finally jumped on a water-bus to yet another island (Burano) for a sunset stroll and a fantastically romantic dinner. When we asked for the bill our waiter even offered us complimentary shots of grappa, which is like tequila with an added kick. Sigh.
After swooning our way through the streets back to the water-bus stop we floated back to Venice under the stars, where we closed out another perfect day swooning beneath the lights in the Piazzo San Marco.
*”Window shopping” in Murano. Gosh, sometime I crack** me up.
**Hee hee.
Todd Man Out 