So some years ago, I saw a short travel feature on some cable channel or other about an island town in Italy where all the houses were painted bright, vivid colors, and anyone wanting to paint their house had to request approval from the local government. It looked like an absolutely wonderful town, and I always had it in the back of my mind that I would try to visit it someday. (This was when I was going to Italy for the book fair every year, and the idea of getting to travel around the country seemed much likelier than it does now.) Except that I couldn’t remember the name of the town or which region it was in, only that it was an island, in the northern half of Italy.
And then I forgot about it, mostly. But every so often when I’m wandering aimlessly on the Web, I’ll try to think of things that I’ve always meant to look up, and the name of this town falls into that category…except that I never remember to look up half the things that I’ve always wanted to look up. But today, for some reason, I finally remembered the little town with the multicolored houses. It turns out that my memory was accurate, if fuzzy: the town is called Burano, and it’s an island in the lagoon around Venice. And it looks just as magical as I remembered from the travel show. Funny thing is, I’ve never particularly wanted to go to Venice, which I’ve heard is overcrowded and too touristy; I’d rather go back to Milan or Rome or Florence or, God knows, Bologna again. But I think Burano would be worth the trip.