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.

Away days

Grand cafes have long played an important role in the intelectual life of Northern Italy & many intelectuals has students have met & talked here at

Caffe Pedrocchi in Padova since 1831. It was the centre of the Risogimento movement to free Italy from the Austrians. It was a scene of uprising in 1848 for which several leaders were executed. it became famous thoughout Italy for never closing it's doors. Today it is still ameeting place for drinks or lunch. I ate here & there several groups talking & drinking. I ate tagliatelle au cafe Illy, the pasta had coffee inside it. & was served with a prawn sauce. The photos are of the outside of the cafe & the fruit decorations inside.

I am continuing my fruit theme with two photos from the market. I love the raddichio. I have roasted it, served it in salads and added it to pasta with mushrooms, tiny heads on a long, thin stalk. It is delicious. Some stalls just sell oranges & apples.

Bassano del Grappa. Just on the edge of the Dolomites with beautiful views of the mountains.

The wooden bridge, the Ponte degli Alpini is very famous, crossing the river from the new to the old town.

This is the main square , Piazza Garibaldi with the Torre Civica, the Palazzo Publico ( town hall) in front & the symbol of the Venetian Republic - the winged lion.

Frustration!

Saturday I went for the second time to the Cini Foundation on San Giorgio & it was closed again. It is supposed to be open Saturday & Sunday - but not when I go!!



Today I was out of the apartment at 06.45am to catch the train to Bassano del Grappa - the town was closed. I forgot much of Italy closes on a Monday. It looked a beautiful town & had lovely shops - all closed too. I would have like to have climbed the tower at the Palazzo Publico (Town Hall). Today would have been perfect the weather was wonderful. I shall have to try & get there again before I leave.



Then to finish all when I got back to Venice my news stand was closed so no Hello!!!



Off to get ready for the Circolo meeting. Padova tomorrow I think.

So little time left!

On Tuesday I wrote a list of of the places I wanted to visit & the things I want to see before I leave. I can hardly believe I leave here three weeks tomorrow. The weather has been wonderful this week & I have been out & about Wednesday & Thursday. Today was Yoga & I needed to clean the apartment before I left for my class, which I enjoyed. I sauntered home via the supermarket & the bar for a Spritz. Tonight I am meeting Neda & we are going to Harry's Bar for a Bellini.

The Ghetto campo

Yesterday I went to the Ghetto & toured the synagogues there & I had a private tour as I was the only person for the English tour. The Ghetto here in Venice was the first in the world, not a thing to be proud of. Ghetto means foundry in Italian & it was in this area they were made to live. The Jews couldn't say the soft G & so the hard G was used to make the word as it is today. The area was an island with two entrances & a gate was closed at night. At it's height five thousand people live on this tiny island. Today the Jews are scattered all over Venice and very few live here. Now the area is open to anyone.

There was a guard on duty all night to ensure no-one left & the Jews were made to pay for the guards! The photo here shows the entrance & you can see where the hinges were fixed.

Left is a photo of the Venetian "skyscrappers". As the Jews had nowhere to expand they buildings had to go upwards, this is eight stories & the height of the rooms is only 6 feet to make maximum use of space. This is just outside the original island, eventually they were given a little more land.

I also went around San Michele, the cemetery islands & visited two churches.

Earlier in the week Ilooked around the San Polo area & found Francesco da Mosta's Palazzo, a very grand one considering it is not on the Grand Canal & drawfs the neighbouring houses.

New haircut

I bit the bullit & made an appointment to get my hair cut, the first time in thirty two years by anyone but Ray!!! But as you can see she did a really good job.

The salon was just accross the grand Canal from the Rialto & had a lovely view. The day was sunny & the light on the water was magical.

Off to the Jazz Club tonight.

Trieste

Had a great time in Trieste. The weather was beautiful and it is a lovely town. My Hotel was on the main square, middle photograph the building on the far right. My room was behind the balustrade on the top floor & I had a small balcony. The swimming pool was wonderful, I swam four times, alone. Just how a pool should be! The buildings on the main square & vicinity are very Austrian & almost look like they should be on a wedding cake or in film.

The lovely pool with frescos & mosaics. It felt good to go into the hot tub, I hadn't realised how much I had missed mine!

Castello Miramare half an hour by bus along the cost. Beautiful castle in an amazing setting looking up & down the coast to Trieste. Groundfloor rooms like a ships interier - Maximillian was a captain who later went on to be the ill fated King of Mexico First floor rooms much more ornate, built for an Austiran Archduke.

The view here to Miramare & Trieste with a sign, including Croatia from the Castello Duino.

A much more lived in castle. I climbed to the top of the tower & went down into the bunker, built by the Germans during the 2nd World War.

Away weekend

This morning I booked in at what looks like a great hotel in Trieste from tomorrow for two nights so the blog maybe quite till Tuesday.

Connections. My Italian phone rang on my way to Yoga - it always takes me by surprise as it doesn't ring very often! The Coatian/American lady rang to see if i would like to meet her for lunch. Obviously not due to Yoga. After the class one of the ladies there asked if we could get together over the weekend - & I had just booked to go away! Always the case, but we have arranged to meet Tuesday.

Hope I will have lots of interesting information & photos about Trieste.

Another month has gone by!!!!

I can hardly believe I have been in Venice for over eight weeks now, how time has flown! Just the last week connections I have made with people are coming to fruition & I am getting invitations & I know some people well enough to ask them for a coffee or a drink.

Last Saturday I rang Jane. She & her husband have an apartment near to me & they come out alternate Fridays from London for a long weekend. I rang to see if she would like to have a coffee after Church the next day & she agreed that would be lovely. Jane then asked what I was doing – going over to San Giorgio to look around the Cini Foundation. O George has gone for the boat, we’ll give you a lift & drop you off.. It was a renovated 1950’s speedboat, seats were white leather trimmed with red, it was beautiful & how amazing to be sailing down the Grand Canal in a private boat! Jane joined me on San Giorgio but there was a conference going on so we went for a coffee & chat instead. We did also go out Sunday & then I went to look around their apartment. We have arranged to meet again next time they are here.

Monday night after the Circolo meeting a Croatian/American lady asked me to join her to look at a sculpture exhibition nearby & then we went out to dinner & exchanged telephone numbers. Tonight I am meeting another lady from Church at the stand up wine bar for a drink.

John-Henry & Marilyn (Vicar & wife) had a pancake party on Shrove Tuesday & I took Joyce & Jennifer along. They have a tiny, three story house & I am very envious they have a hang out of the window washing line! Perhaps it is as well I don’t have one I may fall out. I am always amazed at those over canals & wonder how much they loose!

Music and visitors have played a big part in my life this month. I have more than managed at least one concert per week and there has been a great variety. The Opera at the Palazzo of course & with Joyce & Jen we went again to La Traviata. The highlight of their visit was going to La Fenice Opera House to see Gonoud’s opera Romeo & Juliet.

I have been to the Venice Jazz Club several times, both with visitors & on my own & the people are very welcoming. Saturday night I went to a concert of 15th century Venetian music played on instruments of the time & there were also some poems set to music. I am afraid I found it rather repetitive. I have several more concerts lined up for March.

Aqua Alta photos

Aqua alta on my way to Church.

Where does the path end & the canal begin?

Aqua alta in St. Mark's Square

Only the chef sitting at an outside table!

From my apartment.

Two canals become one.

Looking down to the Calle from my kitchen window. There was 3ins of water in my vestibule.

No people, no boats

An empty St Mark's Square &
Grand Canal

I feel that the last month has been rather chaotic in my entries here. Due to visitors, having away days & just being busy I haven't kept you very well up to date. The next few may seem to be back tracking or out of sequence but who cares?

When I arrived in January the following day was a holiday for Epiphany & after then many of the bars & restaurants & some shops all closed for a month or so. The city was so quiet. Very few tourists, most of those were from SE Asia (the only ones taking gondola rides) & only a sprinkling of European & American ones. I found I was the only person looking around Churches & museums & all the concerts I went to were sparsely attended. It was so cold that the gondolieri were wearing woolly hats underneath their straw boaters! Around the last week of January bars were beginning to re-open, tables & chairs were being put out and it was as if a flower was starting to open. Unfortunately along with this came more people – well some of them were my visitors and the aqua alta (high water). One of the most wonderful experiences have been walking through St Mark’s Square with no-one else there, going through the Church with only a handful of people & being able to gaze at the Pala d’oro as long as I wanted undisturbed. So when Carnival began & all these hundreds of thousands of visitors arrived it was a dreadful shock. Who were all these people invading my city? It was all rather tacky and I am sure dreamt up by the local council to extract money out of tourists. Those Italians & English who live here all give the St Mark’s/Rialto area a wide berth.

Miss Garnet's Angel

Many of you will have read the book about Miss Garnet, I loved it & it was the inspiration for me to spend a period of time in Venice,

Here is a picture of the Church San Angelo Rafaele around which the book is based. The Church is not far from me & I can often see its two towers peeking above the other buildings.

Above the front door is a sculpture of the Angel Rafaele with Tobit, the fish and the dog. There is a series of paintings above the door on the inside that depict the story. The Church has a formidable guardian. He insists you sit and pray and then he will take you on a tour of his Church.

Miss Garnet spends time walking about Dorsudoro and I can recognise the street names and the places she talks about.

In the book an American academic tells Miss Garnet about the house of a merchant from the Levant whcih has a relief of a camel on the front. his fortunes prospered and he sent for his wife. Through a scribe she wrote But how shall I find you when I arrive in Venice? - I cannot read. Her husband wrote back to her; When you arrive in Venice ask for the camel - everyone will know it and therefore where our house is. Here are the pictures of the house with the camel!

Back on my own

This weeks' visiotrs left today & I need time to recover.
The highlight of our week was going to La Fenice Opera House for a performance of Gounod's opera Romeo & Juliet. It was a very modern setting, the stage was a giant record turntable. The arm was the balcony! The whole thing - stage, costumes & music was amazing. We had a central box in the second tier & we all agreed we had never had such a good seat anywhere.

Tuesday was the last day of carnival & we went to a "sensation" - senses being the theme this year. It was completly black & we were lead through by a blind person who used his voice to help guide us and point us in the direction of the various textures & objects to touch & identify.
At one point Jennifer had her hand in a guys pocket. But we really enjoyed the experience. We then walked through St Mark's Square which was packed & still people were posing in costume.

I am going to put this weeks photos on my computer & I am sure there will be more to add.

The soprano & tenor during the opening singing from La Traviata - one of my favourite operas.

The quartet with the soloists taking their final bow.

For the final musical segment of the evening we moved to the bedroom for Love Duets.

But it still wasn't time to go home as dessert & pudding were served. I had spent a wonderful evening enjoying three favourite things - people, music & food.

I left there about 12.40 & walked to San Marco for the vaporetto. Most people were going in the opposite direction but I didn't feel uncomfortable, everyone was just happy, no drunken louts. My local bar was still open so I called in for a glass of prosecco to finish off the evening. The place was busy with people returning from the music event in Campo San Margerita.

It was almost 2am when I returned home & needless to say I didn't make Church yesterday.

One of the floral arranements at the event.

Me with three ladies from Sussex.

Following The Barber there was another break for main course. Beside the three ladies I also chatted to a couple from Coventry & two couples from Portugal.

All were lovely people & admired my guts for coming to live in Venice alone for three months.

At the MusicaPalazzo Gala Opera & dinner event Saturday 21st February. There was canapes & champagne on arrival & we could move around the rooms on the piano nobile - most important floor.
The rooms were beautifully decorated, fabulous floral arrangments, candles, glitter & rose petals.

Suddenly the quartet began playing music from La Traviata & the lady in front of me stood up & began to sing, followed by the gentleman next to her. It was a wonderful effect. Then starters were served & again we mingled. Following this we moved into another room for excerpts from The Barber of Seville.

Carnevale pictures

People posing in Piazza San Marco

Sunday 15th February