Every time I turn a corner, whether it's off a major thoroughfare or a tiny alley, scenes straight out of postcards greet me - gondolas glide, their stripe-shirted captains directing them under a million beautiful bridges that arc delicately over the many canals. This city is full of fantasy, its impossible placement, floating overtop the green water serenely, still the Most Serene Republic even if its streets teem with tourists. Piazza San Marco is a majestic sight, populated with a multitude of winged lions and great flutter of grey pigeons, liable to land on unsuspecting tourists. I like to imagine that the lions all come alive at night, prowling in the shadows and perhaps picking off a few of those damn pigeons (at least the ones stupid enough to roost where lion paws can reach).
We spent today walking and visited the Academia (mostly religious art - I loved the gold-laden Byzantine paintings the most), followed by a complete change of pace at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (an American heiress who loved modern art and amassed an impressive collection that now hangs in her former home right on the Grand Canal). Peggy's collection included, among many works, a few Picassos, some Kandinskys and (my favourite) three shadow boxes by Joseph Cornell.
Possibly my favourite of the three, though this image doesn't do it justice.
Other than the art galleries, the day was spent getting lost in Venice's nonsensical streets - really, I have absolutely NO sense of direction here, but it doesn't matter because (a) everywhere I go is beautiful, and (b) our B&B is right by Piazza San Marco, so we just follow the signs back to there to get 'home'.
Uh oh, my time is running out on this computer. Internet is quite pricey here (€4 for half an hour...in Florence I paid €3 for an hour!), so there may not be another update until Nice.
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