Day 37: Good-bye Italy

 Our last day in Venice was a full one. We started by taking a Vaporetto to the 2023 Giardini of the Biennale. 

The Giardini is the garden is where they have the structures built by a number of different countries.  Unfortunately this was the architecture year rather than the art year (they rotate) and it was pretty underwhelming. 

The US pavilion was OK.  It was on the problem of Everlasting Plastics.  The Norway pavilion was the most interesting--dry toilets.  Not the most inspiring exhibits.  But the grounds were beautiful.

We took a vaporetto back toward our Venice hotel and ate at lunch at the same restaurant where we had our first meal in Venice.  The view from our table was outstanding.

Since we had a 6:30 AM flight to catch in the morning, we took a water taxi over to the airport and stayed at an airport hotel.

The airport hotel was flower-filled and nice--nothing like the airport hotels we usually stay at.

We caught their 4:30 AM shuttle to the airport. This visit to Italy was the trip of a lifetime. 

Day 36: San Marco Basilica and Burano Island

Today we wandered through San Marco Basilica.  More excesses of the Catholic Church, but still stunning.  The mosaic work here is astounding.

It still amazes me that there are so many animals, both real and mythical in these churches.

We went upstairs to the museum and saw the real horses that used to be on the outside of the basilica, but were brought inside to preserve them.

We were then able to walk outside on the roof to get close to the horses and see great views of Piazza San Marco.

In the afternoon we went out to Burano Island on a Vaporetto (water bus).  I had forgotten to mention earlier that the lagoon has been dredged only in certain places, so there are highways on the water.  You need to stay within certain pylons or you could run aground.

Burano is known for it's lace and painted buildings.  Really quaint and beautiful.

We had dinner in a garden restaurant by the Opera.  Nice ending to wonderful Venice.

 

Day 35: Murano Island and Chamber Music

Today I had booked a tour out to Murano Island where all the glass is made in Venice. When I booked, it said I was signing up for a private 3-hour tour which I didn't believe because it was less money than it would have taken us to book a water taxi out to the island and back. But it was private--we had a wonderful guide, Vittorio, who was knowledgable on Venetian history.  We learned a lot. It started with a walk across San Marco.

Then we got in a water taxi for a trip over to Murano.

We went to a glass factory. It was lots of fun watching the glass being made.  These guys are amazing.

Then we spent about an hour and half wandering Murano. Definitely a place we'd like to come back to and spend more time.

We had tickets to see The Unorthodox Quartet in the ballroom at the Venice Opera House.  This was a group with a flute, clarinet, bassoon, and cello. I had never seen this configuration of a quartet before.  We liked them a lot.  Here is they are. https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&tbm=vid&sxsrf=APwXEdfsHqnZdvzdTcsD-Sv1bRqW0FFMMA:1686122805150&q=the+unorthodox+quartet&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwifwuT20LD_AhX1X_EDHfPhAWQQ8ccDegQICxAH&biw=1550&bih=847&dpr=2#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:4eeff6c1,vid:EhFaUdMd_Ow

Before the performance we had dinner at a restaurant by the opera house that we had visited before.

Day 34: The Peggy Guggenheim Collection

Today was a great day.  We started by wandering across the Grand Canal on Academia Bridge. As with everywhere in Venice, the views are stunning.

Our hotel told us of a place to go where you can watch the building of gondolas from across a little canal.

We had tickets in the afternoon to visit the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, which I had visited years ago.  It's housed in her palazzo, where she lived for many years.  What a gorgeous home--and of course even more amazing--her art collection.

Here are a few of my favorites.  

Kandinsky

Leger

Picasso

Magritte

Pollock

We then spent quite a bit of time relaxing on her patio that faces the Grand Canal.

There was a huge exhibit in a structure behind on Guggenheim house on Bacci.  It was really extensive with paintings brought in from museums and private collections.

We made a bad pick for dinner tonight--really our only bad choice this trip.  This has nothing to do with our meal choosing capacities, but everything to do with how good the food is in Italy. To make up for our blunder, we went to Cafe Florian on San Marco Square for drinks and coffee.  Since we first arrived we had been staying away from the square during the day because of the hoards of tourists.  The first photo shows a shot I took from a boat of people pouring into the square a few days ago.

Here is the square at 8:00 PM.

And at 9:00 PM.

Even though it's touristy, sitting at Cafe Florian and listening to the orchestra was a lovely ending for the day.