I’ll admit that upon arriving in Venice (the final leg of my spring break), I was feeling sick, and walking had become quite painful given my throbbing foot. In a city without cars, I wasn’t off to a good start. However, the magic of the canals that surrounded me (along with a daily dose of gelato), seemed to numb the pain.
I also thought that I couldn’t tolerate one more cathedral, one more tower with a panoramic view, or one more museum. But, the Basilica di San Marco proved me wrong. The view from the terrace was second to none, and the golden mosaics were quite captivating.
We made time for the must-see stops at I Frari (to marvel at Titian’s masterpiece), the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (with a sweet sculpture garden), the Gallerie dell’Accademia, and the Ponte de Suspiri. However, a few lesser-traveled landmarks stick out in my mind…
We took an Itinerari Segreti (Secret Passageways) tour of the Palazzo Ducale (home to Venice’s Doge) that exposed the hidden torture rooms, offices, and archives of the historic building. The tour was a much-desired change of pace from the occasionally gaudy, art-ridden palaces that I had seen thus far.
Filled to the brim with contemporary art, the Palazzo Grassi was one of my favorite European museums to date. A large installation (composed of a lit-up electric disco floor accompanied by hip-hop Ludacris jams and juxtaposed with a collage of Warhol-esque Nazi portraits to recall the human desire for mindless fun) occupied the front entrance way. On the second floor, an installation by Adel Abdessemed blew my mind. Titled Black Rain, the piece incorporated larger than life drill bits that rose from ground to signify the penetrating disruption caused by cultural violence in South Africa.
We caught a glimpse of some Murano glass-blowing in action at a showroom on the Piazza di San Marco. In less than 3 minutes, the master scultped a horse!
A Vivaldi Easter concert by the premier group, Interpreti Veneziani, sealed the week. Although all of the concertos were impressive, the final piece of the double-encore left me with my jaw drooping! From our third row seats, we could see the violinist’s pulsating forehead vein!
My various gelato samples sure did add up, but I’ll share a few of my favorite combinations: lemon & artichoke topped the list followed by a large mix of kiwi, straciatella, bacio, & banana, and lastly pink grapefruit & yogurt!
The trip was quite a success, and I returned to Madrid without a hitch (but with some leather goods in tow)!
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