La Serenissima #4

Last full day in Venice.

Bought 12 hour ferry passes and hit the waterways. First stop was Isola San Giorgio with the key objective of getting up to the top of the belfry there. It has the advantage of having a lift so with no dodgy stairs to deal with I had the company of my wife who revelled in the lift journey up and down – yeah right! Great views over Venice and the lagoon from the top. The church itself was remarkable for being incredibly plain inside. It was Palladio’s last building.

Elton John's pad the yellow one to left of church

Then back onto a vaporetto which took us around the back of the city and up the Grand Canal. Saw a number of other areas from the water than we hadn’t seen before – tho not necessarily the most salubrious. Number of large cruise boats in the port area. Seeing them come past our hotel is quite a sight.

Got off at the San Tomas station and found our way around to the kitset gondola maker. In the end I didn’t buy a kitset – decided it might never get made. So bought a gondola prow instead. Model of course.

Then walked our way around to the Accademia through a really interesting area. Much quieter than on the other side of the Grand Canal – far fewer tourists and certainly no large walking groups. A lot of interesting studios, art shops and restaurants. The Accademia is being extended so lots of it not accessible but still managed to take in a good number of Tintoretto, Titian and Veronese efforts.

From there walked round to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Ju went in there to take in the Picassos, Klees, Miros, Dalis, Pollocks and the Yoko Ono wishing tree. Unfortunately a special exhibition had taken up half of the space.

I decided not to go in there thinking I’d nip into a couple more churches but they were all closed. Ended up at a building at the end of the island which in addition to having a needed loo was hosted an exhibition from the collection of Francois Pinault. Well I could recognise that the large model of a soccer game between US marines and burka clad women was some sort comment about the Afghan war but the large meteorite with bats attached hanging above it totally escaped me. The selection of resin shapes made from the spaces under chairs was interesting while the stuffed body of a horse sticking out from the wall (its head appearing to be embedded in the wall as if it has attempted to escape from the space) was just odd – but must have been some reasonable engineering involved to stop it bending at the neck. And I should have guessed that the red and white beaded curtain that I had to walk through to get into the exhibition was a melancholic statement by the artist on the death of his partner from AIDs while at the same time being a statement to maintain political awareness of the disease. Oh well think I’ll stick to interpreting religious iconography. St Sebastian is the one with the arrows sticking out of him!!

So after this art experience it was time for lunch by a canal to re-energise! Headed down to the nearest  traghetto station – they’re the two man operated gondolas that go back and forward across the GC. That’s our gondola experience!! Found our way to La Fenice – the Venice Opera House which has survived being burned down twice – in 1836 and 1996. Was rebuilt in it 1830s rococo style so heaps of gilding and chandeliers to make quite a glorious environment.

Then back to St Marks Square.

Last night in Venice. Fly to Munich just after 5 p.m. tomorrow and then on to Hong Kong. Heading for home folks.

So last dinner - ahh the veal! Walked down to St marks Square after dinner. We had been told that its the start of high water season - the walk way gear gas been stacked up around the place since we arrived. Its just coming up to high tide and the walkways in the square are in use. Water isn't coming in from the canal at this stage - rather bubbling up from ground water. A few centintres deep in the square. But the band still plays and people still sitting in one of the cafes. Slightly Titanicesque methinks.