The early morning view from our room. That's the foundry on the other end of the garden.I never fail to get lost. Took the vaporetto to the Academia this morning. The museum was a disappointment -- more gold leaf, more sacred art, and a little earlier in the development of Italian art than interests me. So I decided to walk to the Ca’Rezzonico Museum (i8th century), very nearby. How could I get lost, just staying along the edge of the Grand Canal for a few blocks? Don’t know how, but I did. I discovered a new area of Dorsodouro. A wonderful flea market, another fish market, and a produce market in Campo Margerhita. Far more interesting than another museum would have been. But then I couldn’t find my way to the vaporetto stop, so ended up walking all the way back to the Domus Orsoni to meet the group for the “field trip” to see the mosaics at the San Marco Basilica.
I almost didn’t go with the group because I’d gone at the beginning of the week, but this was an escorted tour with the teacher as docent. I was impressed by my first visit, but this was really amazing. She narrated the history and the technique, and I learned a bit about Byzantine mosaics. (Never know when that might come in handy.) The group went back to the studio, dying to get back to their projects. Some are finished, others are nearly so, but poor Charlie is just plugging away, maybe halfway done. His project is way bigger and more nuanced, and there’s no way he can finish it here. He’s hoping they’ll give him the tiles to take home to finish it. Amazingly, he’s not discouraged, and is still having a good time with it.
Anyway, they left me and I proceeded to get lost again. Wanted to go to areas beyond Piazza San Marco since I’d seen almost all the area between our place and the square. So I did. But I somehow managed to double back without being aware of it. Again, I couldn’t find a vaporetto stop and ended up walking back. But not without a gelato to fortify me. Everyone gets lost here. But I get totally disoriented, so I don’t even have a sense of the general direction I’m going. It’s really ruining my reputation as a navigator. It’s lucky we’re not too far from the train station, so I can follow signs toward that until I recognize my neighborhood and know my way.
Charlie and I went to dinner alone, because he didn’t want to take a long break and socializing with others stretches the meal. So we went alone to a new (to us) neighborhood place and managed to take two hours anyway! It’s the Italian way, and he’s going with the flow better than I’d expected. Now he’s back in the studio and I’m at our little netbook.
17,115 (mostly lost) steps
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