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I am so glad that I decided on spending four days here in Venice. There is just so much to see!
My first stop would be the Peggy Gugenheim Museum. Peggy Gugenheim came from a wealthy family (her father perished during the sinking of the Titanic) and she was a vervent art collector. An American, she eventually bought a home in Venice. This home was donated (as well as her vast collection of art pieces) so that a museum could be created. Her ashes are actually buried in the garden of the home as her dogs. There is a sign that says "here lies my beloved babies" which include Cappucino, Emily and Baby. There are photos of Peggy Gugenheim in her home surrounded by the artworks that are now displayed in the museum. There are original Picassos, a Marc Chagall and a room dedicated to Pegeen Vail. Pegeen is actually Peggy's daughter and an artist in her own right. The works are colourful and lively and yet ironically Pegeen battled with bouts of depression throughout her life and died of an overdose of medication. The garden is also filled with sculptures. My favorite though is the olive wish tree which
was a gift to Peggy from Yoko Ono.
I then walked around the small streets and made my way to the Chiesa di Santa Maria della Salute. It is an enormous church in the Dorsoduro area of Venice and which provides an impressive entrance to the Grand Canal. On my way there, I saw a young guy drawing what was around and I asked him if I could take his photo. I have gotten into the habit of doing that after having been yelled at by a certain someone who did not want me to take photo of the ginseng she was selling ... long story. That lead to a long conversation about art and tourists with this young guy who was from Slovenia.
I then took the vaporetto to the Rialto stop, walked around some more of the side streets to eventually make it to the Fondamente Nove pier. Before doing anything further, I had to have lunch and I finally had my first taste gnocchi. It is actually something that I had never tasted before and it was so delicious. I am also giving myself the challenge of trying to make these once I come back.
How hard can it be!
So after a lovely lunch, I made my way to the Isola di San Michele. This is actually where the cemetery is located. It is always fascinating to see cemeteries in different countries because they are distinctly different from ours. Here, the tombstones were all adorned with flowers, plants and other sentimental things. There were a lot of photos on the tombstones as well. There was a military section with old crosses, faded photos and forgotten tombs. My heart broke when I reached a section for children; some of them less than a day old.
My visit would include another vaporetto ride, this time to Murano. This island is home to many glass blowers. I was hoping to see a demonstration but it was not meant to be. I did visit the Museum of Glass which has glass pieces dating back from the 1st century. A small museum but definitely interesting.
And then it was back on the vaporetto for the lovely ride back to my hotel to spend the evening. I've had quite a bit of luck with internet so I have been able to chat with my mom almost every
day. And I have also been able to catch up on my 48 Hours Mystery ... not a lot of shows stream in Europe but this one works so I've been catching up!!
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Francine
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I have made gnocchi a few times...store bought of course. I still have a recipe from Nigella:) She serves them with pork, in a kinda mustard sauce...delish:)