Venedig!

Thanks to the benevolence of the director of our study abroad program, I was able to join the students at the end of their Italy excursion. After ten very productive days at the archives, I took the train to Venice for a long weekend (including Valentine's Day). In pedagogical terms, this was a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate to a couple of music majors how Venetian polychoral music and the chants of the office work in situ. We attended Lauds and toured San Marco in the quiet hours of the early morning before joining the rest of the group for a trip to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. The Guggenheim is all modern art, mostly from the first half of the century... so I got to visit with some of my favorites.

In personal terms... this was the perfect mini-vacation before the plunge into the semester. So have some pictures! Warning: do not expect the typical dozens of pictures of San Marco and the Rialto Bridge... I already did that a few years ago. This was Venice my way... slow and slightly random.

I have to admit the lion of St. Mark, which you find all over the city, still gets me. Even when they've been loved to death, like this half of a pair on the north side of San Marco.

But instead of hanging around St. Mark's I went to pay my respects to this dude.

And I guess Diaghilev can come too.

He obviously gets enough adoration from the dancers, though, even now. Tokens of respect.

From Il Cimetario, which gets its own island, it was on to Murano home of the glass blowers and some of the best public art ever. This one was new since the last time I visited.

And with about an hour of daylight left we (myself and the two students who were tagging along) decided to head all the way out to Burano. On the way we passed a lot of rowing teams out for some exercise. And a lot of sandbars like the one in the background which let you know exactly how shallow the lagoon actually is.

Also, some regular folks' houses.

Besides the lace, Burano has these incredible brightly painted buildings. And yes, that's snow on the ground in some places. Winter's last statement in these parts.

The custom's house (aka why Venice had so much money) circa sunset and...

...an example of how some Venetians spent that money.

And on the last evening I made one last visit to San Marco for some cafe coretto (coffee with grappa) on the piazza.

Slightly worn around the edges, but still beautiful. I'm not sure when I'll be back.

And on the way home I was welcomed back to Austria by the Tirol. You know you're back in Austria when...