By Thursday, October 29, 2013, Dave and I had explored Venice's major sights--the Doge's Palace, the Accademia, the Frari Church, the Grand Canal. We toured the Basilica on our last trip. There were more exciting discoveries to make. We visited Ca Pessaro, Venice's primary modern art museum. Like most of Venice's sights, it was reached by vaporetto and alleyway. Ca Pessaro had works by both local and international modern artists. We also enjoyed looking out the leaded windows at Venice canal life below.
What was this statue about? Does it suggest how subservient workers sometimes have to be?
And these?
We visited the island of Murano last time we visited Venice, but we returned today. Murano is the home of world-famous glass-blowers who produce elegant lamps, vases, and jewelry. We browsed among the glass shops near the dock. As soon as I found a necklace I wanted to buy, David decided that was all he wanted to see of Murano.
We visited the Jewish ghetto, where Venetian Jews were herded in 1516. The word "ghetto," meaning a segregated neighborhood, gets its name from the foundry near Venice's Jewish neighborhood. Multistory apartment houses were built, since the land reserved for the ghetto was too small for all the residents.
We visited the monuments to the 200 residents who were removed from the ghetto during World War II by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps. One marker listed the names of Venetians who helped the Jews (I think) and another included a bas-relief of the train that carried the Jewish victims away.
We wandered through the Jewish Museum and we took a tour of three synagogues, some dating back to the 1500s and one still in use today. There are now only 50 people per week who attend the synagogue in Venice, and none of them live on the island.
We passed on the kosher gelato.
We attended an evening of opera arias sung by costumed musicians. It only lasted an hour, to David's relief.
We visited San Zaccaria, a church dating back to the ninth century which houses the bones of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. We were more interested in the church's Old World ambience than in the bones. I honestly can never visit enough Catholic churches (or Buddhist temples).
We walked along the pier beyond the Doge's Palace, admiring the yachts. The Adriatic is a playground for rich people with boats. Besides the glitz of Venice, there are innumerable coves and islands along the Croatian coast.
We continued to the Arsenale, where, in its heyday, Venice demonstrated to King Henry of France that it could build a galley in four hours.
And we spent several hours at Venice's huge international modern art fair, held every two years--the Venice Bienniale. I had read about it and always wanted to go.
Some 70 countries send submissions. Dubai's "Walking on Water" was an installation in which you enter a room which simulates the experience of riding on the bow of a boat, with a video monitor showing the sea in front of you, as it changes minutely from moment to moment. In the installation from Kosovo, we climbed through a twist of branches and roots and soil, peeking out through holes among the trees and looking up at roots above us. It wasn't quite clear whether we were in a forest or underground, but I imagined it reflected the lush, wild landscape of Kosovo.
The submission of another country--Morocco, I think--was an arrangement of brightly colored spices which perfumed the room.
Some of the submissions were pulled together into long exhibition halls. We saw photographs of Nigerian hair styles, paintings with West African motifs, and plates from a cartoon version of the Book of Genesis that wound around large rooms. The book version was sold in the gift shop, and I contemplated buying it for next year's Gospel Doctrine lessons.
We also saw some art that was beyond strange. There were several round, blobbish statues that David labeled "dinosaur poop". There was also a green, phallic-shaped item draped over a sofa which David decided "should be in every home."
We boarded the Celebrity Silhouette cruise ship on Thursday afternoon, spent the night there, and then had another day in Venice. At last, on Friday afternoon, we took our last vaporetto ride through the lagoon to Tronchetto, where the cruise ships dock. As we passed San Giorgio Maggiore, we saw a nude statue, placed in front of the church as part of the Venice Bienniale. We took one last look at yachts and Venetian palaces.
Finally, we arrived at our ship.
We cruised out Friday evening, through Venice's harbor with the lights flickering on the ships and riverboats, past St. Mark's Square, and into the Adriatic Sea.
No comments:
Post a Comment