Return To The Dolomites

Enough cities, museums, cathedrals, crowds, tour buses, admission fees...and 90 degree heat. The Dolomites are just an hour's drive from Venice, so we headed back there for relief. We visited the Dolomites just last summer, and loved what we saw. So it seemed a fitting time to see more, including some of the more principal sights. The Dolomites, for those of you who don't remember, are the third part of Italy's mountains: the Alps in the northwest, the Appennines, which run the length of the peninsula, and the Dolomites in the northeast. Though much lower than the Alps (Italy owns half of Mt. Blanc, the Matterhorn, and all of Monte Rosa, the three tallest in the Alps), the Dolomites are no less scenic and are far more approachable.

So after finishing Venice, we drove on up north and stopped

at a rest area just at the gateway to the Dolomites; after a quiet

evening we awoke to find ourselves surrounded by four

tour buses, all of them unloading strange people with alpine

hats and big feathers, setting up for breakfast, band playing,

singing; it was apparently Old Home Week (-end) for

Italians born in the Alpine regions; seriously

I kid you not; the group on the left are singing "O Solo

Mio" to accordion accompaniment; on the right they are

fixing a bread and sausage and wine breakfast, after which

I would be singing "O Solo Mio" too

Anyhow, thus enlightened, we drove on,

admiring the scenery

Thus

Wildflowers everywhere

And still some snow in the higher peaks

Lunch break

It is  a beautiful weekend and the motorcycles and sports

cars are out in force; we have just been passed by 4 Lotus 7s

Crebain from Dunland!

Hairpin turns: the price of great mountain scenery

We spent the night at Sella Pass, a tad over 7,000 ft., at the

foot of the Sasso Lungo group, which would figure in the next

couple days, and with views of Marmolada, highest of the

Dolomites; alas, we have been in warm weather sufficiently

long to have forgotten the perils of 7,000 feet in June...the

overnight low was 32 degrees--we had left most of our winter

gear back in the States--but nothing froze

Our neighbors were a young German couple who rock-

climbed in the morning and para-sailed in the afternoon

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Venice: The Frari

If you don't have time for museums and art in Venice, at least go see the Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari church. It is a vast and beautiful Gothic church, Venice's only Gothic, and it contains in a nutshell the best of Venetian art. It was our last stop and a fitting and positive end to our 3rd visit to the Wet City.

A huge old brick church in a square; no way to

see the whole thing

Looking up the nave, through the choir, to

Titian's great masterpiece

Titian's Assumption; I don't much care for this

stuff, nor for Venetian painting generally (too

over the top), but this one is pretty compelling

Titian's tomb

Detail

Bellini's great altarpiece; enlarge and look at the guy on the

right

Donatello's St. John

Canova's tomb, modeled supposedly on the

Piramide in Rome

The exquisitely carved choir

Venice: Museo Corrrer

We also visited the lesser known Correr Museum, mostly about Venice history, also in St. Mark's Square.

Canova's Deadalus and Icarus

Veronese's Two Ladies Waiting (or maybe it

was Tintoretto or Bellini, or Norman

Rockwell)

The outstanding piece, for us, was Breughel's Adoration of

the Magi; almost any Breughel for us is a treat; or Bosch; etc;

actually this piece should be called Winter Scene with a

Superfluous Reference to the Adoration of the Magi; which is

fine 



Fortunately, the Florian is nearby; I did enjoy

the Correr, especially its paintings of the naval

battle of Lepanto (The Naval); but it was too

dark for pix and the guards were hovering...



Venice: San Giorgio

So one day we took the slow vaporetti around the big island and down to San Giorgio, the scenic little island with the big Palladio church and campanile that is one of Venice's more prominent sights.

San Giorgio from the campanile in St Mark's Square

Another relatively austere church interior, but
this time with one of the strangest--no, the
strangest--item of religious art we have seen

yet; the basin at the bottom blows holy vapor
which rises to the suck-tube in the dome

The suck job in action; seems particularly

appropriate when you're relying on smoke and

mirrors anyway; besides, this "artistic"

installation has appeared already in South

America and Russia, which, I assume, makes

it OK, or at least ecumenical; seems to me it

would work for (Tibetan) Buddhism, Hinduism,

and others

Alas, the Tintoretto Penultimate Supper had moved on (no

explanation given); this is a strange church

But there was at least this fine statue of St.

Gabby, patron saint of hustlers, rustlers, and

tusslers; "you're dern tootin'"

And, on the same island, but closed when

we got there, was this interesting and

interestingly titled exhibit; we stop for

anything named "Penelope"; details at

http://www.cini.it/en/event/detail/1/544;
especially relevant for a child born on
Shakespeare's birthday

Venice: Murano

One of our excursions took us to the island of Murano, famous for its Venetian glass.

An entire symphony orchestra in glass

Murano centro, glass sculpture

In an artisan's shop (we bought a Christmas ornament)

In the Glass Museum; a table setting in Murano glass (evidently

for royalty)

More traditional Murano glass in the museum

We have seen every manner of chesst set: Greeks vs. Persians,

Athenians vs. Spartans, Romans vs. Carthaginians, Romans

vs. Whomever, Christians vs. Moors...but here is the one I

would want (if I played chess): angels and devils; I have not

played chess since c. 1968, when Mel Ulm performed fool's

mate on me three times in a row; remember that, Mel?

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Venice: Cruisin'

Some say Venice is best seen from the water. We did that, buying a 48 hour vaporetti (water bus) pass after wearing our legs out the first day. (Vaporetti = "your money vaporizes"; but just about anything in Venice is expensive). Here are some canal scenes.

A flotilla of gondoliers, one playing accordion, one singing; fortunately, we did 
that when it was much cheaper

The Palazzo Vendramin, where Wagner died in 1883; big plaque on the left

Grand Canal again

Venice ground zero

The Bridge of Huhs and beyond it, in the blue grotto, the Bridge of Sighs

Garbage truck; I will admit that it is nice to be in a place, however crowded, 
and not have to dodge cars, trucks, scooters, bicylces, and the like

In addition to the vaporetti and water taxis, there are also these traghetto, which 
simply cross the Grand Canal here and there for a mere half euro

We even rode out to boring Lido, using up our last few minutes...

Venice: Gallaerie dell'Academia (2)

[I accidentally deleted this post on January 9, 2021, but have recovered the pix, which are below. I'll add commentary in due course].

Venice has many art museums, of which the Galleries dell'Academia is perhaps most famous. Below are some of the works that most impressed us.

Venice: Campanile

We had never gone up in the Campanile, so we figured why not and it's only 8 euros. The views were spectacular. Plus there was an elevator.

St. Mark's Square

Panning around but avoiding ugly Mestre

San Giorgio island, where we'd go in another day or so

The little piazza off St. Mark's

Looking toward the duomo and beyond