Markets in Venice

This was a few days after the conference. I decided I needed to get to grips with my new camera all on my own so no one would get annoyed at me standing and taking 10 photos of a doorway with different apertures and shutter speeds! I let my feet take me on the natural route from Cannareggio towards San Marco and then decided to pop across the Rialto bridge and go to the vegetable market to take photos of food.

The Rialto Bridge with a strange beam of sunlight hitting the underside.

Hello little dog! Little white dogs always make me think of the Venetian painter Carpaccio, little white dogs abounded in his paintings. For example here is one in one of the paintings from his series Miracles of the True Cross in the Accademia, I took a sneaky picture because he reminded me of Hamish the Wonder Dog.

Always have your boat well carpeted.

Radicchio.

Asparagus, I love how the vegetables are beautifully wrapped. 

Beautiful oranges, I wanted to buy some just for the wrappers.

Nom nom tomatoes, by this stage I was starting to feel sad about not being able to cook anything.

Carciofi!

Next to the vegetable market was a second hand/antique market. The prices were kind of insane, basically think of the most expensive price they might charge and then double it, so I just took photos. 

 Sorry the head is cut off, I was sort of 'shooting from the hip' as the stallholder was looking askance at my camera. 

Murano glass mirror anyone? I would love this didn't even dare to ask the price.

Ugly paintings and brass plates abounded.

Glass pencils, ugly pink and gold bowl? I meant to take photos of all the ugliest glass concoctions but somehow I didn't quite get the pictures. This is nothing compared to the 1 metre high glass golliwogs for sale in Piazza San Marco, ugly and racist. Actually if the bowl had been under 20 euro I probably would have bought it.

 This one I loved.

I LOVED this bling table, I was ready to buy stuff till another lady asked the prices and they basically started at 250 euro. Eeeek. It was mostly quite fancy and seemingly original vintage stuff but eeek nonetheless.

Some Venice

These are from my first few days. It was very gorgeous weather, cool but not really cold, sunny and the days were long.

Waiting at Rome airport, I thought this was our plane, but it wasn't. At least it gives you an idea of what a plane looks like.

On the ferry from the airport. this is the best way to arrive (well unless you are rich and can get a fancy pants water taxi). You can see Venice slowly appear from the lagoon, first the campanile (bell towers) then gradually the rest of the city. This man was clearly Venetian, while the rest of us eagerly looked out the windows he slept as though arriving in Venice was something perfectly yawn-worthy.

Drinks with friends, I got excited an forgot to take a photo of my campari till it was nearly finished.Even these silly photos of drinks look picturesque with little bridges, walls of palazzi and canals in the background. Oh Venice, you are such a cliche.
This was on the Fondamente Ormesini, one the best places to get a drink in Venice. It is much quieter and you can sit on the canal and have a drink for virtually nothing, I think my campari was about 3 euro.

Drinking Amarone in some bar/pub place. It was near Tintoretto's house. I didn't spend all of my first day in Venice drinking, just half of it.

This was the next morning and Venice was being all shiny and Canaletto-esque.

More photos soon.

x

Venice

View from the Ca'Rezzonico, can you tell what season it was?

I booked a ticket to Venice on Thursday, FUN. I am very excited.

I will be there for the Renaissance Society of America conference, not presenting (M is though so moral support). Alos found a few friends are presenting, which will be fun. I have been going through the program, which is insanely long about 550 pages! Lots of concurrent sessions but have managed to map out some kind of program for me, mainly garden stuff.

The well at Casa Goldoni.

I have spent all of today researching the villas I am finally going to get to visit. Actually I have already researched them in the sense of scholarly research but I haven't visited many of them as my previous trips to Italy have always been in winter when they are closed. I am also excited about spending about two weeks in Venice. I have been three times before but only ever for 2 nights. I will get to visit a lot of places I never have before and also just spend time wandering aimlessly without the pressure to dash between museums.

I am determined to be thesis free by the time I go. I think I should print these pictures out (I took them in 2005) as inspiration to work as hard as possible.

Reflections in the canal near Santa Maria dei Frari.

Old marble steps.