Last evening

I am virtually packed, but my sister law is certain i'll leave something.

Tonight I have been to a concert by a choir from Traverse City, Michigan. They were wonderful. I went down to Piazza San Marco for a final look & had a last prosecco at Florian's.
Then I met an English couple who took me out to dinner, a wonderful climax to my time here.

A few final thoughts.
What have I missed while here? Family & friends. An Indian takeaway. Roast beef & Yorkshire pudding. My hot tub.

What have I not missed. My car, traffic, meetings, louts hanging around

What will I miss when I get back home? Public transport. Sitting in a bar people watching. The safety walking alone late at night. The galleries & museums.

But I have an invitation to dinner in October at sone Italian friends. Several have asked when I will return & there is so much still I want to see & do & really try to get to grips with italian beauocracy.

Watch this space..............................

Last day

I had a wonderful day in Trieste last Wednesday. We were able to visit places not normally e visited two banks which were former Palazzi and contained wonderful paintings, sculputures and woodwork. We also visited three churches & saw a recently discovered fresco possibly by Giotto.

That evening I had two local friends over for dinner which was great & we had a very late night. Which was followed by an equally late one last night when I was at The Chapain's House to dinner. Marilyn had made stuffed Zzuccini flowers which I love.

Now it is Friday, my last day & I have to pack before going off to my last Yoga class.

Only three days left

Sunday was a terrible day, wind & torrential rain along with aqua alta.
I went to an organ recital & stayed for part of the verspers in St Mark's Basillica at 5pm. When I saw staff come into the church in waders I thought it was timee to make my way home. I was soaked when I got back, but I enjoyed the music.
I am still visiting museums & Churches, don't think I will just complete my list, but I have seen all twelve of the Chorus Churches.

Up at 6am tomorrow to go on a conducted walking tour of Treviso. Bible study at 6.45 & guests for dinner at 9pm. I think I will have a lie-in on Thursday.

Review

I have had a lovely week & am now on the countdown to return home.
Last Monday I had a lovely saunter around Murano before going to the Circolo meeting. One thing I have missed are daffodils & where I had a coffee there was a few in the garden area, I had to take a photograph!

The speaker at Circolo was from Save Venice Inc and the subject was a short history of the organization & what they have restored. I had visited many of the buildings & seen some of the paintings. Others were currently on display in Boston, going onto Paris before being returned here. It was fascinating the descriptions of hour paintings are restored & what they find underneath. With different methods of photography she showed photographs of the underpainting & drawing. She also showed us a restored painting on display at Scuola San Marco which is now part of the hospital. On Wednesday I went over there to pay my first aid bill. When I visited A&E with my corn (another long story) the doctor gave me a sheet of paper. I didn’t look at it till I got home & saw it said there was a charge of Euros 25. A discussion after the Yoga class told me that if you visit the hospital for a minor complaint there is a charge, but if you are very ill the service is free. Anyway I didn’t want to get to passport control on my way home & be stopped for owing money to the Italian government (hospital had taken a copy of my passport & had my home address).

When I had paid the Euros I found where to get into the Scuola, now a medical museum. The paintings & the ceiling were wonderful. Not sure I would have wanted a doctor to use some of those early instruments on me.
Tuesday I had three friends for dinner, Zoe an English lady doing research for her PHD, Marilyn the vicar’s wife & Gaspare a young Italian man who attends the Anglican Church. A group of a very wide age range but we had a great evening. The food was simple, steak & salad & gateaux from a specialised bakery. Also guess what Gaspare was wearing……..ORANGE TROUSERS!! I did tell him about my obsession with them; he didn’t think they were orange, more rust.

Gaspare & Myself, Tuesday

Then Annette & Glyn arrived. We have had a great two days & the weather has been warm & sunny when the forecast was heavy rain. Today we are going to the Islands & out for a meal this evening.

Clock Tower & San Marco

Here they are in relation to each other.

The square in front of the Basilica was very busy, but quieter at the other end.

Venice gets busier every day, more & more tourists.

I had friends arrive yesterday and enjoyed showing them "my" Venice and enjoyed showing them some of the traditional sights along with some less known ones.

Torre del Orologico

Chris said he wasn't sure where the tower was. It is on the left as you look at Basilico San Marco. Ogf the thousands of photos I have taken I can't find one that shoes it in the Piazza. I will rectify that soon.

Cini Foundation

Well I did get into see the building today finally. A beautifully proportioned Palladio cloister & a matching size rennaissance one.

Full day

I told you about climbing the clock tower, but that was only a small part of my day.
Once again I failed to get into the Cini Foundation - I'll try again tomorrow. But I did see the Church of San Zacharia, the Greek Orthodix Church & it's Museum of Icons, The Correr Museum - well the paintings - wonderful Bellini's & Mantegna's then the tower.

Then I walked to Campo SS Giovanni & Paolo had a very late lunch & looked around a flea market before going into the Church to listen to a choir from New York. They were wonderful & sang a mixture of religious classical, modern & gospel music. I hadn't been into that church before, it is HUGE & also has wonderful Bellini paintings. Eventually I got back to San trovaso & had a glass of Prosecco in a bar before returning home.

Later the phone rang & it was the vicars wife - would I do a little job for her at church? They were both wondering who they could ask that was reliable & both said my name. I was flattered they thought so well of me. John-Henry came on the phone too & said they did wish I was staying permanently. But one of the joys has been going & enjoying worship & other activities with no responsibilities. I suppose I shoulkd have known I coudn't keep that up as I enjoy being involved.

Another busy day tomorrow, the weather looks marvellous again. Sheer joy!

More wonderful surprises

Today I visited the Torre del Orologio, the clock tower in St Mark's Square.

What a wonderful view from the top of the Piazza, San Giorgio & the city itself. The amazing thing is that you can see no canals, it looks like any other city & could have roads.

The Magi used to go around every hour, but due to their age they were disintigrating. Now theu go around twice a year - Epiphany & Ascension Day. I didn't know about the first & it was my first full day here & I was so busy getting my vaporetto pass & internet access i missed them completlt. I shall have to come again.