My visit to Venice

For many years I've been wanting to visit Venice in Italy. After having read  the history of  this wonderful unusual city, viewing a few movies photographed in it,  and reading a few books having to do with Venice, I decided it was high time for me to go and see for myself.

I therefore joined a group of people whose common interest was art in Venice, and travelled there. We arrived at Milano and on the way to Venice had visited Mantova where we viewed the palaces of the Gonzaga family. Then we drove on to Venice.

 The excited emotions I felt when approaching the city on the long bridge the "Via de Liberta" connecting  between the mainland and the city,  are beyond compare to any other I felt when arriving at a large and famous place.

The Ponte della Libertà, was designed in 1932 by Eugenio Miozzi and opened by Benito Mussolini in 1933. It is 4 km long and the only way one can arrive at Venice by car or bus. There is also a railroad which was constructed in 1846. Before this, one could get to Venice by boat only..... 

When the bus could not go any further, we took a boat to our hotel in the Giudecca Island in the Venetian lagoon and as it was late in the evening we started touring the city the following morning.

This postcard shows an ancient map of Venice from 1565.

As there is a lot of information in Google concerning Venice, I will only say in short, that there is the venetian lagoon and There are about 177 canals, 354 bridges and 118 islands connecting to one another in it . 

After a long walk through the streets of the Piazza San Marco, a visit to the Academia gallery, the Peggy Guggenheim museum, the Scuola di san rocco, the church of Santa Maria dei Frari (The Frari Basilica) and  churches with some of the most beautiful and amazing famous art pieces, (OK - not all in one day!!!) My friend Rina and I decided to sit in one of the many restaurants and cafes there and enjoy a nice cup of coffee.

I guess the waiters took a quick look at us, and rightfully assumed we were too tired to change our minds about sitting there, and had us spend some 63.00 Euro together on two cups of coffee,  apple pie with cream, a little music, a tip, and the visit of a cute pidgeon who wanted to share with us....Well as this was a once (or twice)  in a lifetime  experience we did not take it too much to heart).

I cannot show all the 200  photographs of Venice I took there, but here are a few of my favorites:

View across our hotel

Portrait of an old woman in the Academia Gallery in Venice by Veronese

Enlarged detail of a base of one of the pedestals in Piazza San Marco

Spiral house belonged to the rich family Cantini in 1499

We were luckily  permitted to enter the the Grand Teatro La Fenice in Venice. I've been to a few grand theatres before, but this is one of the most impressive:

This is just a small sample. One should see the place.
It drew quite a few "WOWs" from us when we entered.

An excerpt from a  column in the Doges's palace in Piazza San Marco

One of my favorite writers, Henry James, who enjoyed long stays in Venice  where he had written the novels "The Aspern Papers" and  "The Wings of the Dove" (which takes place in Venice, and which was  filmed and  nominated for an Academy Award) and  also completed there the writing of the novel "Portrait of a  Lady", wrote with regard to the statue seen hereunder in front of the church of Saint John and Paul:

Bronze statue of Bartolommeo Colleoni, the condottiere By Verrocchio (1435-1488)
Height of the statue is 395cm without the base.

One of my favorite writers, Henry James, who enjoyed long stays in Venice  where he had written the novels "The Aspern Papers" , finished writing "Portrait of a Lady" and  "The Wings of the Dove" (which takes place in Venice, and which was  filmed and  nominated for an Academy Award) wrote about the statue by Verrochio seen hereunder in front of the church of Saint John and Paul:

"The statue is incomparable, the finest of all mounted figures, unless that of Marcus Aurelius, who rides benignant before the Roman Capitol, be finer......he continued to look far over my head, at the red immersion of another day- he had seen so many go down into the lagoon through the centuries - and if he were thinking of battles and stratagems they were of a different quality from any I had to tell him of.He could not direct me what to do, gaze up at him as I might..." 

********

Many thanks to our guide Dr. Efi Ziv, who saw to it that we do not miss a single art piece of the great painters Tizian,Tintoretto,Veronese, statues of Donatello and more, and took care of every detail in our little trip.

Thanks to my dear friend Rina Karmoush who helped me remember a few almost forgotten details.  

I could write more about Venice and the genius grand art we saw and learned to appreciate there,  but this is only a post in my blog. I can only tell you  that it has not been my last visit to Venice, and I itend to go there again sometime in the future, as you can spend many days there and never lose interest.

On our way back to Milano we had visited Ravenna,Padova,Verona...but I shall leave these unforgettable places for  another post...perhaps!