Venice - Day 2

Yes!  Vacation Recap Blogging is back! 

Our second day in Venice dawned bright and sunny.  Really, we had the most amazing weather the entire week.  It was great.  After breakfast and checking out of the Don Orione the three of us (Dad, C- and I) headed back to Piazza San Marco.  Since Dad and I missed the Basilica the previous evening we decided to try again.  We got in line and waited for the doors to open at 9:00.  I wasn't all the excited to see the Basilica - I'd been there before, after all - but I don't remember the place being that huge or that beautiful.  We skipped a couple of the side chapels but did pay the extra Euro to see the main alter.  Wow.  Just Wow!  I don't have pictures - Like many of the big tourist attractions in Venice there were signs everywhere prohibiting photography.  That didn't stop most people, some even using flash, which just irked me to no end. 

We also went up to the loggia and looked out over the Piazza.  The wind and tides were up so I could see water coming up in the square.  Venice didn't flood while we were there but we did have pools of water in the Piazza and water in the Basilica during high tide.  Look closely at the picture and you can see the pools of water.   

 

View of the lagoon from the Loggia:


After the Basilica we crossed the Piazza to the west side and went to the Correr Museum, included in the Museum pass we'd gotten the day before when we went to Palazzo Ducale.  The Correr Museum was nice but I will say that it isn't the best museum I've ever been to.  We didn't get to the Archaeological Museum, which was were I really wanted to go.  I did like the Neo-Classical collection at the Correr as well as the exhibits on the history of Venice.  Some of the old maps were huge!  I can't remember if the room with all the majolica plates and bowls was here or later in Udine (Dad probably remembers).  That was one of the high points for me among the museums we went to.  First, I love majolica.  Second, most of the themes were allegorical instead of religious so the classicist part of me was having a ball identifying the characters and myths from the iconography.  Yes, I am a geek. 

After the Correr we made out way once again through Piazza San Marco - now crowded with tourists and OMG what a nightmare.  I was never so happy to get out of the crush.  We made out way to a cafe near San Zaccaria and had pizza!  I had a lot of pizza this trip.  Om nom nom.  Then it was off to catch a vaporetto out to the Cimitero (cemetery) at San Michele.  This was one of the things on my list that I really wanted to see as I'd never been there before.  The place is beautiful and so peaceful.  I didn't get to spend much time wandering through the oldest part (where I was doing my best to translate the latin on the crypts) as we headed off in search of Ezra Pound's grave.  We followed the signs to the right area....and couldn't find it!  Dad and C- were looking everywhere, trying to remember the placement of the tomb from the map at the gate.  I was just kind of wandering around, not really knowing anything about Ezra Pound.  I was more interested in reading the tombstones.  It was while doing this that I ended up stumbling over Pound's tomb.  I'd taken it more for a plot of garden than a grave and it was only when I got up close to it that I saw the marker.  Someone had placed a note on the grave and held it in place with a blue feather.  Kind of cool. 

We also found Igor Stravinsky's grave.  Devotees had left mementos there as well.  Dad has pics - If he says it is OK I'll post them. 

After San Michele I was pretty much beat.  After getting off the vaporetto back at the San Zaccaria / San Marco stop and making out way up along the Grand Canal (I can't remember if this was a Riva or Fondamente - big wide street that runs along a large canal) in a vain effort to avoid the crowds of Piazza San Marco I was ready for a nap.  No such luck.  We wanted to get to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum before leaving Venice.  Luckily by this time all three of us pretty much knew our way around the part of Venice between Piazza San Marco and the Academia Museum so we made really good time.  Once over the bridge Dad spotted the way to the Guggenheim and then we were there.  C- went off to see the special exhibit while Dad and I went through the standing collection.  I wouldn't call myself a huge fan of modern art but I do have a soft spot for it, probably since I paint abstracts myself.  The Guggenheim collection is smaller than I thought it would be but man, what depth!  There are really some amazing works here including some Jackson Pollock pieces that are just amazing.  And the Sculpture Garden is definitely a must see.  Some really stunning work here.  

Again, no pictures.  Sorry.  Dad has some, I think, and I may post some of those later.  

Time for dinner then picking up our luggage from the hold room at the Don Orione.  A short vaporetto ride to the station and then a mad dash to catch the train (not my idea - I would have been happy waiting for the next one, thank you) and we were on our way back to Santa Lucia.  The train ride back was kind of quiet.  I think we were all tired.  And I was kind of cranky after feeling rushed all day so I was keeping my mouth shut so I didn't take it out on anyone.   

Next: Gargazzo, Polcenigo and Mosquito Bites! Oh My!