Finally drifted off just before 7am, with the alarm set for 10. I didn’t want to end up sleeping the day away and getting into a bad cycle of being up all night every night. My goal was to get out the door by 10:30 and head over and go island hopping in the lagoon - Torcello, Mazzorbo, Burano and Murano. Off to the Fondamente Nove on the north end of the island, only 2 minutes away.
I made it to the boat at the time I’d hoped and grabbed a seat on the back deck. The water buses that run along the lagoon are different from those in Venice proper. The 41/42 lines circumnavigate the whole of the city with only selected strategic stops, then go out to Murano. Since they are on a course with more open water and subject to more waves and weather, they sit low and the seats are all in the interior, unlike the lines that course up and down down the Grand Canal that can hod a 100 people in the open deck and seat 60 in the back end under cover. (numbers approximated)
Catching the vap to the islands
Looking back onto Venice
The first island in the lagoon to the north of the city is San Michele, the cemetery island, walled in brick and lines I cypress trees. It is named for the church there - San Michele in Isola, designed in the 1460s. This is the first Renaissance church in Venice, a marvel in design at the time and copied off a church in Rimini, as everything around was Byzantine and Gothic along the canals a short distance away. It housed a Franciscan monastery but didn’t become the official cemetery island until Napoleonic rule in the 1800s. Napoleon stopped all burials in the city proper to stop unhygienic Venetians from digging graves in the land around the parish churches. But not all Venetians these days can be buried there because of the lack of space available now in the cemetery. It reached the saturation period at the turn of the 20th century- they have come up with a novel approach - which in essence makes it a parking lot. So while a family pays through the nose for a plot - the loved one can only be buried on the island for about 12 years. After that, it’s head ‘em up, move ‘em out. The family can then decide to move them to a plot on the mainland or to an ossuary on one of the smaller lagoon islands. My friends that Marsons never bothered to try to bury their family members there - didn’t want to deal with it later - a resting place is a resting place, as Francesca says. They have a family plot about an hour north of Venice in Portonuove; I’ve been there when they’ve done the plot-sitting before All Souls Day.
San Michele in Isola
The boat moves on to Murano - the island of glassmakers, but I’ll come back to that. I used it only as a transit point to get to Burano, then to Torcello. Most visitors take the trip in that order, Murano, Burano, Torcello, and are tired and most likely dismayed at the end result, as the this order presents a decline in sights to see and inhabitants. In actuality, Torcello is the most historic og these islands and in all the lagoon, because it’s where the history of Venice begins.
In the 600s this where the people from the mainland fled from the thundering hordes of barbarians overrunning the land. These were Romans in the last throes of the fallen empire, now reconquered and emerging as the Byzantine Empire under Justinian, used to being overtaken by Huns, Visigoths and Lombards. They would escape to the islands and stay for weeks, then months at a time. It took decades for the barbarians to attempt to go out there and attempt to get at them, which led to serious issues. First issue, their boats were too deep for the shallow lagoon. Second issue, mosquitoes and malaria. The settlers stayed so long they decides it wasn’t a refuge anymore - it was home, and started bringing the beams to build the church and altar from the mainland. Torcello was consecrated by the archbishop in the late 600s, and the first Doge was elected in 697. The settlers had mastered farming the islands by creating canals from directing the silted shores as they pleased. Not long after the farmers worked this out, along came aggressive noble families from the mainland to settle their own islets and build palaces and became masters of trade in fish and salt, then spice routes from the East. In the space of 150 years Torcello was left behind in the progression of building Venice into a powerhouse economy. Farming was not making a booming economy, just subsistence, and the Rialto area over at clustered settlement of 100-plus islands was where the Doge sat in power. Torcello eventually pretty much became abandoned - where there were once 60,000 people living on the island, there are now 20. It is actually put in the newspaper around the region when someone moves off the island. The only things on the island are the church and its museum, the ultra-expensive Hotel Cipriani and a handful of cafes to handle the daytrippers.
The floor of Santa Maria Assunta on Torcello. Inlaid stone.
The frescoes are still viewable in the alcoves outside the church.
Mosaic in the apse of the church. About 40 feet high.
Torcello boat landing
It’s a three minute trip on the boat to cross back to Burano, the island known for lace making. It’s a fishing community, famous for its brightly colored houses. My mission here was lunch at Al Gatto Nero. A fantastic meal was to be had, but I was in a pickle going there alone - the best dishes they are famous for are usually a 2 person minimum. After talking with the host and explaining how I really wanted the risotto alla burranella and the ghizzotto grigliata or the turbot but I was only one person. He flashed a smile, held up his hand in a “wait please, one minute” gesture and came back with the thumbs up. There were enough people just seated for lunch that there were bound to be orders of the desired risotto and he would add the extra portion in for me. Bad news on the fish dishes though - no one else had ordered those. I certainly could have eaten 2 portions, but at 25-30Euro per portion, that felt a little steep even if I was treating myself to one of the most fabulous dining experiences out there. I settled for grilled scampi and was pleased with the choice. I don’t usually go for shellfish or crabs because I don’t like to work that hard for my food and it’s difficult for me to not look like a savage trying to crack and break the meat out. How do these people do it so elegantly? I end up like a caveman with a rock growling “Must. Eat. Food.”
Wine carafe - front and back
Risotto alla Buranella - I liked it well befor Tony Bourdain gave it his seal of approval.
Destroyed 'em all...
The only drawback to the meal was the French couple sitting next to me smoking the entire time. Outdoor dining is not suspect to the smoking regulations in Italy, and this woman was taking great advantage of this. She smoked 12 cigarettes during the time there, about 90 minutes. 12!
Thanks for smoking
Fully satiated, I happily wound my way back to the dock and got onboard in the direction of Murano. This is the island of glassmakers. A law in 1292 restricted the furnaces needed for the factories to stay out of the crowded Venice center, after one too many destructive fires. They also were trying to preserve the secrets of glassmaking to keep it specialized and in demand from only this region. The factories are all brick, unlike the houses and buildings in Venice, which are wooden frames, plaster and stucco. The glassmakers started becoming famous for making mosaic tiles, which morphed into glass beads and glassware, vases and the ornate chandeliers and sconces still seen today in the hotels and palazzi around Italy (and the world.)
I was here for beads. There is an artists cooperative I buy my beads from, as it’s the only one on the islands where I can pick and choose size, shape, and color to my heart’s delight. It’s a heck of a lot cheaper than the bead shops in Venice, by almost half. I loaded up and got back on the boat for the Fondamente Nove.
Murano glass factories
Woman of glass
Marco came over with a pizza for dinner before he had to work the overnight. We watched one of my favorite game shows, the Italian version of “Deal or No Deal” which I prefer to good old Howie Mandel at home. It’s been around longer for one thing, and they don’t use briefcases held by the modelkins dressed alike in the studio. There are 20 packages, tied with twine and wax sealed on the front. Each package is held by an everyday person (and the next hopeful contestant for the game) from one of the 20 regions of the country - so for example you have Giuseppe the retiree from Emiglia-Romagna, Patrizia the housewife from Lombardy, Father Franco from Puglia or Chiara the university student from the Veneto. The most they can win is 500,000Euro, and the smallest is 50Eurocents 9or worse, a serenade from an Andrea Bocelli imitator.
I went out to the “consulate” to see my friends at the bar & tell them about my day and then to bed. I still need to tackle the best and most expedient way to get the internet wi-fi connection to upload the blog and photos. Will keep trying. Tomorrow is my day with Mamma - we’re going to the Rialto Market (just us, no Marco) and I’m getting a cooking lesson. Whoo hoo.
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