So we left off with our friend Noelle falling and breaking her arm. She is in a cast and is doing very well with it. Thanks to all of you who asked. She goes back to London tomorrow and will see her own doctor on Monday.
Noelle’s arm hasn’t slowed either her or us down. On Thursday we had tickets to see the international Leonardo daVinci exhibit at the Accademia. We decided to leave early and walk slowly over there in case Noelle’s arm bothered her. Luckily it wasn’t too bad so we had a nice walk, stopped at Vino, Vino for lunch and got to the Accademia an hour before our Leonardo tickets. As we (Alan and I) had never been to the Accademia, it was a treat. The Leonardi exhibit was really outstanding and there were definitely parts of the Accademia we loved especially the Carpaccio cycle about St. Ursula. There were no pictures allowed in the Accademia so sorry no Leonardo.
We took the vap back while Noelle went on to the Guggenheim. Here is a view from the vap stop. Not too shabby!
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Noelle and I went out to dinner and Alan was picked up by his friend Giorgio and taken to Mestre to play music all evening. Just as happened 2 years ago, we were joined by Benedetto also a pianist, Pietro who is a cellist and Benedetto’s son, and Ambrogio who is a flautist as well as Giorgio’s wife, a friend (or relative of Ambrogio’s ) and another woman who I never figured out who she was. After a light dinner, prosecco, wine and conversation in a mixture of Italian, English and Spanish we started playing music. Benedetto and Giorgio played some Mozart for 4 hands, then Giorgio, Pietro and I played a Haydn trio, then Ambrogio, Pietro and I played a Corelli trio followed by more 4 hand Mozart with Benedetto and Giorgio. Then we had some homemade Tiramisu, some more wine and finally called it a night at about 11:30 because everyone had to go to work in the morning. After Giorgio dropped me off at Piazzale Roma, I walked back home through the remainder of the Halloween crowd at midnight. It was hard for me to wipe the smile off my face at the end of the evening. The pictures I took at Giorgio’s are on the i-pad and I don’t know how to send them.
Friday was All Saints’ Day and it is actually a national Italian holiday so, needless to say, the streets were jammed with families and tourists. Noelle decided she wanted to go to several different scuole (think guildhalls with incredible paintings, not schools), and Alan and I decided to go to the opening day of Ca’ Mocenigo. Wow, it is so neat. Again no pictures allowed inside but there are about 15-18 rooms in the Palazzo with art work, furnishings, costumes and a multiroom perfume sub-museum. Anyone who is in Venice should put this on their must-do list.
Alan and I then decided to explore Santa Croce sestiere a bit and go looking for S. Giacomo dell’ Orio church. We came across some absolutely lovely neighborhoods including the one around Campo San Giacomo dell’ Orio.
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and the Rio Marin where we hoped to go to San Simeon Grande but it was closed.
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We got to Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista and Noelle called. She was just a few streets away so walked over and we all three went into the Scuola and the Church.
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While trying to decide what to do next, we took a vote of one (me) and chose to go get gelato at Millevoglie. This was the first place we ever had gelato in Italy and it was as good this time as in 2008.
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Then we went on a quest to find a store we had seen when we had taken the Brunetti walk a few days ago. We literally redid the walk forward and backward and finally found the store catty-cornered to Tonolo, of all places. Of course the store was closed both for All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day but at least now we can find it.
Came back to the apartment via the Rialto Bridge. We wondered if the crowds on the streets and bridges matched the summer tourist season. It was jammed! Last night we went back to Casa Mia for supper and had a really good meal. Love our neighborhood restaurants.
Today we walked the length of Strada Nova to go with Noelle to get her bus ticket for Treviso to catch her Ryan Air plane tomorrow. Good grief, I thought yesterday was crowded but today was like trying to move around the French Quarter on Mardi Gras Day! Never again will we go down the Strada Nova on a holiday! We stopped at the Scalzi Church which is incredibly beautiful and then walked pass the rail station to the Piazzale Roma. We got the bus ticket, found where she will catch the bus tomorrow and then got her to the train station so she could go to Padua for the day. Alan and I had looked at the Venice map and realized there was a whole section of Cannaregio north and east of the railway station we had never explored.
We were finally able to get off the Strada Nova and onto the Fondamenta Venier which is across the canal for the Jewish Ghetto. The further we walked on this street, the calmer things got. The name changes to first Fondamenta Savorgnan, then Fondamenta di San Giobbe. It is such a peaceful area.
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We were looking for San Giobbe church but decided to stop for lunch first at Ai Tre Archi. This was one of the best meals we have had in Venice. We had never heard of this restaurant so were very lucky to find it. A short distance away was San Giobbe but it was not open.
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Then came the Tre Archi bridge across Canale di Cannaregio.
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After crossing the bridge to the Fondamenta di Cannaregio. We took it up to the lagoon and cut through some apartment complexes that had great views of the lagoon.
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Then we took Fondamenta di Sacca San Girolamo to Fondamenta C. Coletti to Fondamenta delle Cappuccine which turned into Fondamenta degli Ormesini. This then becomes Fondamenta della Misericordia.
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We were then able to get back to the Strada Nova from behind San Felice. As we walked down the street heading home, we saw a sign for an exhibition that was part of the Biennale. It’s called “Who is Alice?” and was done by several Korean artists. In keeping with the avant-garde nature of the Biennale, it was very strange but interesting. Here is a picture of the white rabbit for you Alice in Wonderland and Monty Python and the Holy Grail fans.
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After we got back to the apartment and Noelle got back from Padua, we went over to Alla Strega for dinner for lasagna and calzone. It was so much better than the last time we were there after the Opera. Good to know they are back on their game.


Comments

Day 26, 27 and 28–So busy! — 2 Comments

  1. What a wealth of memories you are building. Thanks for continuing to share.
    Glad Noelle was not slowed down by her accident!
    Continue to explore, and come back and let us all know what we should put on our “must see” lists!
    Judy