Yesterday after I left San Giorgio Maggiore church I did some wandering and found (on this nearly empty island) Le Stanze Del Vetro – The Rooms of Glass.  This is a huge exhibition/workshop space devoted solely to the study & appreciation of glass works.

I don’t know if it’s always free, but I think it is.

These pieces are all by Carlo Scarpa – mostly from the 30’s and 40’s.

They glow with an inner light.  Captivating.

Until early January this particular exhibit of Scarpa’s will be on display.  Then no doubt something equally fabulous will replace it.  A nice sidetrip if you find yourself at San Giorgio Maggiore.  Wander around you’ll find it.

venice.  it is a charming cocktail of light, shadow, water, reflections, mist, bridges and gondolas.  all coming together to form this lovely star.  and today i walked through it.

a ramble through new parts – today castello, one of the six sestieri and the largest.  i was on my way to a bookstore one of you told me about.  where there are cats!  but i decided to return when it isn’t raining so i don’t have to fumble with the umbrella and camera at the same time.  i’m very interested in some of their crumbling old books and i need my hands free.

san marco in the rain.  clusters of umbrellas huddled in small groups.  no lines.  i walked right into the basillica.  sat for a long time to absorb the storied walls and floors and air.

the floors did put me in a bit of a trance.  i snuck a photo.

there were plenty of people milling about, but it wasn’t crowded.

and after a spell i went to Lavena an old (1750) coffee house on the square.  climbed upstairs for a little table overlooking the first floor.

marveled at the immense Murano chandelier, the paneled wood walls, and old mirrors.

then i proceeded to order a snack built for 2.  and when it arrived i smiled graciously.  then devoured.  

wrote in my journal. lingered.

then hit the streets again.  took lots of video.  have i mentioned how much i enjoy editing these videos of venice?  such a creative pleasure.

walked through some particularly serpentine passages today.  admiring the doors.

and facades of buildings falling into beautiful ruin.

tomorrow or the next day i am heading to burano & torcello for a walkabout.   was thinking to catch a train to verona.  i’ve heard winter is a perfect time to see what is usually a place very much on the tourist circuits.  but it’s only a thought.  and i have many of those.  but no committments.  we’ll see where the wind blows me.

I visited Frari church today at Campo dei Frari.  If you only go to 1 church your entire time in Venice GO HERE.  It is heartbreakingly beautiful.  You could easily spend a couple of hours in here studying everything.  Well worth the 3 euro admission.  Titian’s tomb is here along with 2 of his paintings!  Truly a magnificent place with enormous paintings AND a wooden choir stall that will leave you thunderstruck.  Really.  A completely over the top Italian gothic church built by the Franciscans a zillion years ago.  Or so.

I ended up at the paper store and the Frari church because I walked just a tiny bit too far looking for the Scuola di Rocco.  I wanted to see “Tintoretto’s Sistine Chapel” as it’s called.  Full of Tintorettos covering every inch of the walls and ceilings.  There are large wood framed mirrors you can carry around so you don’t have to strain your neck looking up so much.  Fun!

Sorry no photos allowed.  Okay who am I kidding?  I snuck a few:

the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari

more interior of the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari

my last day in Venice.  i walked and walked.  just as my first day here, my last was sparkling and clear.  sun sun sun.  i stuck to the dorsoduro neighborhood that i have come to love.

left my camera back at the apartment.  i wanted to have a day with just my eyes for taking pictures, so these photos are from days past.  i walked to the top of the Accademia bridge and looked out at that splendid grand canal.  mmmm what a view!

then i wound around little side passages.  watched families coming home from church.  ladies in fur coats and sturdy shoes.

found a lone bench in a campo in the sunshine.  sat there and watched people leaving the church.  some came into the campo but more walked around the other side where i couldn’t see.  my curiosity led my feet to a wide walkway along the open lagoon.

to a little cafe looking out onto that blazing aqua water of the wide giudecca canal that looks like the open sea.  sat at the one table left and was prepared to order a cafe latte, but i saw everyone else ordering prosecco and spritzes so i did what they did.  ordered 2 proseccos one after the other.  sipped slowly with my face tilting up to the sun.  ate potato chips in a little basket on my little table.

watched the churchgoers and thought they have the right idea to have a pub/cafe next door.  sunday spritzes and proseccos after church!   greeting one another, talking, smiling.  side by side with the tourists.  because let’s face it.  you go NOWHERE in Venice where there aren’t tourists.  sure there are fewer in neighborhoods like mine, but they are still there.  that’s okay.  we’re all in this together.

the lookers, the readers, the lost, the map holders, the writers, the poets, the picture takers, the artists, the workers, the old ladies in fur coats, the waiters, the sun worshippers, the gondoliers, the tourists.  ALL of us.  on the Zattere Fundamenta in Venice, Italy.  all looking out at that water, drinking our drinks, and thinking the exact same thing.  ain’t life grand?

~

See you back home!

I have more 1 or 2 more Venice videos coming down the pipeline.

And of course more journaling videos when I get home.

If you’ve enjoyed the class so far, I’d be mighty obliged if you’d leave a little review over HERE in the comments section.