Un piccolo giro di Venezia

Still really tired from jet lag and not sleeping well.
Today we went to the markets in the morning and bought fruit them wandered around Venezia mainly around Castello and San Marco. Most tourists are usually crammed into the same areas and as you move away from the Rialto and San Marco the numbers drop dramatically.

Gondola traffic jams around San Marco continue and the gondolieri have their work cut out for them with many gondolas stuffed to overflowing with up to six tourists packed in to save money.  It seems that more often than not the passengers are large tall people.  I can never understand why more people don't go for gondola rides in some of the quieter, equally picturesque canals and enjoy the sights and sounds of the canals. 

There have been a few changes in shops that we used to visit and there seem to be more shops closed with an ever increasing number of "2€" shops and cheap non-Murano glass shops and cheap leather bag shops.

The Queen of Casablanca,  an alternative clothes shop near Rialto has closed but at least another business has replaced it, many others remain empty. 

The weather is beautifully sunny and fresh and is forecast to stay that way for at least another week.  No big storms forecast for the marathon. 

We visited family in Mestre in the afternoon and it was lovely to catch up with everyone.  We had some very tasty home roasted castagne, just about the best we have ever had in Italy,  they were yum. 

It was a bread, cheese and fruit night for dinner.  Can't believe it, we've been here for three days and still haven't had a plate of pasta, although Rob has had white polenta and seafood.

Siamo in Italia

We arrived in Venezia yesterday after what seemed like a never ending journey. We caught the Alilaguna boat from the airport to Venezia and checked in to our apartment. The guy from the apartment company who merry us was very friendly and helped us with our luggage from the vaporetto stop to the apartment. Our apartment faces a canal not far from La Fenice, the Venice Opera house,  and also our favourite bar in Calle de la Mandola. It is quite comfortable,  very clean and has lots of space which is great.                         

Last night we were really tired as we had travelled for around 24 hours with hardly any sleep.                                          

Today we did all of the business stuff,  Italian sim cards and recharged our Venezia Unica travel cards etc.

These photos were taken with my tablet,  those taken with our cameras will be better and I'll usually post those.  I just wanted to make a start on this edition of the blog.                                                                                  

The fondamenta near our apartment. 

Nor far from La Fenice

I love gondole :)

Drinks in Piazza San Marco

Gondole near Piazza San Marco

Ciao da Australia

At home in Australia the winter rains have gone, spring growth is emerging in the garden and the days are getting longer. Meanwhile in Italy the harsh summer has gone and autumn, my favourite, is in in full swing.  How can we not go to Italy?

The countdown has started.  Once again our garden at home will have to survive springtime with minimal care and we will have to cross our fingers that  there is no heatwave while we're away. In a few more weeks it will be: Italy here we come again - can't wait.

Il Foro Romano

Another beautiful day in Rome so we went to the forum early to beat the crowds. We've been there heaps of times before, but everytime we go another little bit has been uncovered - or a favourite part "chiuso per restauro".  There is a lot of restoration happening around Rome - and even Venice which is great to see, private enterprise is finally contributing.

Yesterday we walked over to the Vatican but changed our minds about going in to see St Peter's Basillica again.  There were huge queues and I think that we would have had to wait 1 to 2 hours just to get in to the front of the church. We might go another day and try to be there just before opening time.

I'll post photos tonight

Piazza di Pietra

Not far from the Pantheon towards Via del Corso is Piazza di Pietra, a beautiful narrow piazza which has massive columns on one side. These columns were part of a temple built to commemorate the Emperor Hadrian.
There are a few popular restaurants and bars which make this piazza a lively place at night.

 The roof garden of Albergo Cesari overlooks the piazza

Yesterday afternoon the Polizia Municipale band played in the piazza and they had a very appreciative audience for their set of swing music.  At the end they all put on their hats and stood to play the Italian national anthem with great enthusiasm -a great rousing piece of music.

Artist Rachele Del Nevo

On Friday we came across Rachele Del Nevo, an artist who draws on cardboard from recycled cartons. Her drawings have a Roman flavour and she uses the designs/printing on the cardboard to influence her work.  Some are thought provoking. I really love her drawings  and we've bought a few. I'd love a wall full of them.

Rachele takes her work with her on her bike. She has a blog :
http://drawingbike.wordpress.com

Rachele De Nevo and a recently sold drawing of the Fontana di Trevi -if only it could have fitted in one of our suitcases :(

 Make sure that you check out her blog which has some examples of her work. If you are in Rome you can see Rachele with her bike and some of her current work at the Tazza d'Oro end of Piazza della Rotonda - home of the Pantheon. As well as larger pieces, she has some smaller ones which are perfect for gifts for friends as souvenirs of Rome. Much better than the mountain of plastic souvenirs in shops all around the Pantheon.

Ciao da Roma

 We have beautiful autumn days in Rome which are absolutely perfect for wandering around - sunny days and crisp cool/cold nights. We have done a bit of shopping and lots of walking.
Yesterday we walked up to Gianicolo and took lots of photos,

 Glimpses of the city through the trees

 Views across the centro storico of Rome

 St Peter's Basillica

 We also went to see the Tempietto di Bramante which I've wanted to see for ages.  The Tempietto is in the courtyard between the Chiesa di San Pietro in Montorio  and the Spanish embassy.  The chiesa was supposedly built on the site where Saint Peter was crucified but unfortunately it was closed, luckily the Tempietto was open.

Bramante's tempietto is considered to be one of the great buildings of the world

 On the way back down from Gianicolo Rob had the best arancini that he has ever had from a tiny Sicillian shop in Via Garibaldi in Trastevere. We'll be going back so I'll post the address then.  It is about a 4km walk from our hotel, but it is worth it :)

We had to stop in to Santa Maria in Trastevere whilst we were close by.  I love this church.

There was a strike/ union rally for call centre workers in Piazza del Popolo last night.  The various divisions of police with their anti-riot gear and massive vans  nearly outnumbered the protesters. From what I understood, regional call center workers are likely to lose their jobs and it seems as though there will be a centralization and outsourcing of services. There were representatives from Sardegna, Milano, Calabria, Sicilia and other places not mentioned by the MC.  The manifestazione was called La Notte Bianca and it looked as though it was going to be a 24 hour demonstration.

There were some good bands playing and we stayed for a while but left after an hour or so when it looked like the speeches were going to be lasting for ages.

Roma di nuovo

We're back in Rome. Sorry that I haven't been writing the blog, I've tried a couple of times but it has been a busy time and we haven't had good internet access. Hopefully this week will be better.

In Venice the fine weather started the day we left and there was fog the day after.  We had one day of fog in a month -I can't believe it, usually November is foggy.  Fortunately the acqua alta wasn't as bad as the past few years that we've been in Venice which was good. It's awful to see more and more damage from the acqua alta and the rubbish that gets dumped into the sea.

More pics and info tomorrow.

Wet November days in Venice

 Pick the Australian tour guide :)

There was aqua alta and a 10 minute break in the rain and the tour guide was telling everyone about the great outside bars

Queue of gondole waiting to go under the Accademia bridge

 Very heavy rain in the middle of the day

These tourists weren't missing out on their gondola ride for anything.

I don't think that the person with the orange umbrella would have seen a thing

On the 11th of November there are usually heaps of kids around banging pots and pans and collecting money and treats. Instead of the usual paper crowns these kids had plastic firefighters' helmets -much better on a wet day and easier for parents and teachers to keep track of them.  There are flat San Martino cakes in every pasticceria - a brightly decorated man on horseback with chocolates stuck to the icing.

Museo Correr, Museo Archeologico and the Sale Monumentali Biblioteca Marciana

Yesterday it was impossible to stay outside for long with the combination of acqua alta and rain so we went to the Museo Correr.  We hadn't been there since 1979 and we were interested to see what we remembered. The palazzi of Venice were my first introduction to the grandness of European life and the wealth of art and architecture in comparison to my upbringing in suburban Australia.

This time, to us the Royal Palace from the Austrian occupation of Venice, while grand, seemed out of synch with the real Venice.  We wandered through, looked at the rooms but there was little of Venice in them for us apart from the grand chandeliers and  sculptures by Canova.

 After the Royal rooms there is a great collection of pieces related to Venetian history.  The Wikipedia page for the Correr Museum has a good basic description.


This walnut library was moved from  Palazzo Pisani in San Vidal and reconstructed in the museum.  There is a fabulous collection of manuscripts and books  - those on display are in beautiful condition.

We were glad to have seen the  Museo Storico Navale di Venezia as many exhibits referred directly to items at the Museo Correr.   We spent hours wandering through the many rooms on the first floor and in the paintings gallery upstairs.

The original is at Palazzo Ducale ( used to secretly post notes dobbing people in for some misdemeanor or other) 

Venice lion

 Entry to the Museo Archeologico and the Sale Monumentali Biblioteca Marciana were included in the ticket price and were worth visiting.
There are many Roman statues and other sculptures -most of which seem to have been in the private collections of various Doges over time. Many are in excellent condition.

 Sale Monumentali Biblioteca Marciana

 These photo don't do this room justice.  We only had a small waterproof camera with us because of the heavy rain and didn't expect to be able to take photos.
It is a magnificent room in excellent condition and vibrant rich colours.  There are old globes of the world down the centre of the room and paintings by well know Venetian artists including Tintoretto.

This is a map of the world painted in the renaissance period -sorry i can't remember the friar's name.

Mostro: La Divina Marchesa

As Il Meteo predicted we have had very rainy weather in Venice-as for everywhere else the forecasts are not always right and we have had quite a few hours when the weather has been ok.  It's great when you're staying here and can wander around in light rain and head home or to a museum or gallery if it all gets too wet.  We had intended going to Ferrara today but won't as the forecast there is worse than Venezia -it is clearing up here today.

A few days ago we went to Palazzo Fortuny to see an exhibition called
 La Divina Marchesa: Arte e vita di Luisa Casati dalla Belle Époque agli Anni folli

We mainly went to see Palazzo Fortuny but unfortunately we were only able to see those areas which were part of the exhibition and the rooms were not that well lit. It was an overcast day and the lighting did not show off the beautiful Fortuny fabric wall coverings well. Maybe the many photos that I have seen in the past had lighting specifically for photography or filming.

The exhibition was disappointing because really it was just about a self indulgent wealthy woman and her fawning followers and it was difficult to relate to her at all.  She must have spent the greater part of her life posing for paintings, photos and having fittings for clothes -no different from many monied celebs now I guess.  The excesses of her lifestyle were disturbing and she didn't really seem to have any redeeming features. 

One ballgown virtually completely constructed from peacock feathers would have left a great number of peacocks feeling the cold -if not dead.  There were also scatterings of stuffed or skinned animals  for decoration.

The parts of the exhibition that we found most interesting were items in the Fortuny collection, the wooden models of Ca Pisani and some of the art, and fabric wall hangings.