{"id":11851,"date":"2023-09-10T09:12:11","date_gmt":"2023-09-10T08:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brianhuman.co.uk\/wp\/?p=11851"},"modified":"2023-09-10T09:12:11","modified_gmt":"2023-09-10T08:12:11","slug":"mining-the-diaries-55-italy-2004","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brianhuman.co.uk\/wp\/mining-the-diaries-55-italy-2004\/","title":{"rendered":"Mining the Diaries 55: Italy 2004"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Piano Rialzato, Venice, 6th<\/sup> May 2004<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The day started with patches blue breaking the overcast sky and promising better things.  By quarter past eight, when I went to buy bread and a melon in the Campo Santa Margherita, the sun bathed the awakening stalls in bright low light casting deep shadows.  After breakfast the market was fully alive and we bought sole and shrimps there for our evening meal.  Fish safely in the fridge and day bags packed, we set out for Burano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Line 1 vaporetto took us up the Grand Canal from Ca\u2019 Rezzonico to Ca\u2019 d\u2019Oro where we alighted and strolled through Cannaregio to Fondamanta Nove.  Artists at their easels, brought out by the sun, tried to catch Venetian light and colour along the Fondamenta Santa Caterina.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Venice, May 2004<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Going to Burano is not just a matter of getting from A to B, it\u2019s a partial tour of the lagoon.\u00a0 First, a short hop to the cemetery island of San Michele, romantic resting place of Ezra Pound, Sergi Diaghilev and Igor Stravinsky and destination for matrons in black carrying flowers.\u00a0 Next, as the towers and spires of Venice merged into a signature skyline, Murano: a centre for glass making since 1291 and the magnet for most of our fellow passengers, ready to be seduced by the dubious quality of its garish modern creations.\u00a0 Beyond it we were out into the open lagoon, carving a wake between the navigation markers and bouncing on the wash of passing boats.\u00a0 We sat in the stern, open to the air and spray, and relaxed into the freshness after the sticky closure of Venice\u2019s narrow calle.\u00a0 <\/em>In the distance, across water bothered by a light breeze, two landmarks emerged: the precariously tilting tower of San Martino on Burano and beyond it the slender campanile of Torcello.\u00a0 Then our penultimate stop, Mazzorbo – a charming canal and an island of orchards and gardens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burano felt like a toy town, a child\u2019s play-thing after the beauty and sophistication of Venice.\u00a0 Compact, small in scale, jumbled and painted it had a self-conscious picturesqueness.\u00a0 With endless photo opportunities and acres of lace (little of it now made there), it seemed to exist to fill tourists\u2019 time and part them from their money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black skies riven by lightening hung over Marcom Polo Airport on our way back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Piano Rialzato, Venice, 6th May 2004 The day started with patches blue breaking the overcast sky and promising better things.  By quarter past eight, when I went to buy bread and a melon in the Campo Santa Margherita, the sun … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,734,14],"tags":[288,343],"class_list":["post-11851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film","category-mining-the-diaries","category-venice","tag-diary","tag-venice"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9SdXd-359","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brianhuman.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brianhuman.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brianhuman.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brianhuman.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brianhuman.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11851"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brianhuman.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11856,"href":"https:\/\/brianhuman.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11851\/revisions\/11856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brianhuman.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brianhuman.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brianhuman.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}