Sequins, Safaris, Sirens and Scarves (Revised).

So much to tell you about today. Here’s the general drift. We went from our apartment to Piazza San Marco to see the main church, the bell tower, the huge square and the massive crowds milling about there. Next, using public boat transportation, we went to Isola San Michelle, which is a graveyard island. The whole island - graves. Back on the vaporetto for the island of Murano. Then we backtracked to Campo Giovanni e Paolo for a look at that Campo, a statue there, and the John and Pete Dominican church.

Now for all the connected stuff. It’s interesting how people decide what’s important to them for their travels. For example, Safari Guy. He bought a Safari hat, a Safari vest and Safari shorts. The vest and shorts were loaded with pockets, pouches and secret compartments. Judging from the newness of the ensemble, that man and those clothes will never, ever be on safari in anything other than a fully-developed nation like Italy. Hey, I look just as ridiculous in all my Nike gear. I’m 70 for God’s sake!

My only point is that travelers must make certain clothing and convenience decisions before they hit the road to anywhere. The yellow scarves represent a decision. Those people are on a group tour with a guide and transportation. They don’t want to make any decisions beyond which tours to take, which was its own convenience decision. And that lady with the red straw hat and the sequins at the bottom of her tights; she made a fashion decision. My guess is that she never leaves her hotel without being color coordinated. I understand her. I am a male version of her.

Oh yeah, the guy with the eyebrows. No photo – but on the vaporetto for Piazza San Marco I saw a guy with the bushiest eyebrows I’ve ever seen in my life! I feel certain I saw a quail take off out of them when a dog on board the boat barked.

Isola San Michelle, the Cimitero, is Venice’s fabulous graveyard. Ezra Pound, Igor Stravinsky, the Doppler guy – of special interest to Foley artists, weather reporters and weather watchers – and lots of other very famous people are buried in this quiet, but visually fascinating place. Not many tourists. Photos are forbidden, and that may be reason enough for someone to have bootlegged a video or two onto You Tube. (Note to Barry Ross: When you arrive, shoot some sneak photos here. We did. Who cares? The people are all dead.)

Lots of non-Italians are buried there. And the gravestones indicate that many of those were sailors and officers who died at sea near here. Why so many deaths at sea around Venice. All I can figure is that they were responding to a Siren’s song and crashed on her rocks. Who knew she was working the Adriatic waters?

At lunch, maybe because of our proximity to Ezra Pound's grave and maybe because of the dappled light in the outside garden where our table was, we had a brief discussion about poetry. I mentioned a line from a poem I know that uses the word "dappled." Wendy talked about her affection for the poet William Carlos Williams. Jack offered his favorite line, "Like two dripping grande (sic) hog balls." He couldn't cite the poem or the poet.

We ended up, after another vaporetto ride, at the out-of-the-way Campo dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo. There is a very famous equestrian statue there and the remarkable Santi Giovanni e Paolo Domincan church. Best, for us, was people watching while enjoying coffee and gelato at a table on the square there.

Tomorrow it’ll be modern art, and Venice – surprisingly – is loaded with it. We go to the Guggenheim Museum first thing in the morning.

PHOTO NOTES: All by Robin. Clockwise from top left - Sequins, Safaris, Sirens and Scarves.

FOR EXTRA CREDIT: What do you think the saying at the bottom of the gravestone is trying to tell us about the toes-up guy under the stone?