A glittering assortment of international luminaries attended this weekend’s reopening of Vencie’s La Fenice opera house, eight years after it burned down. “To Venetians and opera lovers throughout the world, the 18th century theater represents the soul of this unique lagoon city, and its resurrection from the ashes – Fenice means phoenix – was cause for celebration across Italy. Fans lined up throughout the day to admire the newly polished marble facade, with the Fenice symbol, a gilded phoenix, hanging in the entranceway.”