We walked to a different district today. It was warm and sunny and very pleasant to stroll the narrow, shop filled streets. The streets are quite busy probably caused by Carnevale. These crowds during winter make me think high season is one human mass. I can’t imagine being here during high season and being able to pause at shops or on bridges to enjoy the views. Dorsoduro, the district of today, is home to art colleges and the University. One can see the artisans working in the back of their shops: sewing, painting, jewelry & mask making. There are shops here that actually sell functional goods such as irons & coffee makers, unlike the San Marco district which has one glass, purse, glove & scarf shop after another. The city’s oldest squero, a boatyard for building gondolas, sits where two canals merge. Robert Browning and Peggy Guggenheim lived here; David Lean filmed “Summertime” with Katherine Hepburn here. We came for the Galleria del’Accademia in order to see some more Bellini’s and Carpaccios. The Academia was another of those museums thst needs a good curator. Poorly arranged & labeled pieces made it difficult to enjoy the works. The best was Carpaccio’s cycle of the St Ursula story. As with his St George, one room was dedicated to showing the series. Unlike the St George, they weren’t in situ. Urusula became a saint after she took off to Rome with 11,000 virgins and was subsequently killed by the Huns. The miracle today would be finding 11,000 virgins.
From tne Academia we went to the Frari Church, mainly to see a Donatello sculpture of John the Baptist. The Frari is the gothic church in Venice. The lack of solid ground was a deterent to the soaring gothic. This church is built of red brick, too. The inside is open and in a T shape rather than a cross shape. Mainly visual are the monumental monuments. Titian is buried here in one of the monuments. Conova’s heart is in his monument, his bones in southern Italy.
The highlight of the day was an evening Vilvaldi concert in Santa Maria della Visitazone. Vilvaldi was born here, and yesterday was his birthday. They performed The Four Seasons beneath a ceiling fresco by Tiepolo. Zowie!
When we were there in August – really high season – we found that away from St. Mark’s square the streets were not all that crowded. Wandering those back streets on our own, away from the crowds, was our favorite part of that visit. You are bringing back some wonderful memories and presenting so many things that we missed. We must return!
We’ve found that to be the most delIgbtful, too. And just as beautiful. We have fun for about 15 minutes with the crowds just to see the costumes & be a part of the festivities. Everyone is congenial and convivial so it’s not unpleasant, just not all that romantic. Much better off the beaten track. I think of you two often and how much fun we would have with you on this trip.
Oh, and you know that Venice is where Gabriel Alon, from the Daniel Silva books, worked and met his wife!
Did you read John Irving’s early book, Setting the Bears Free?