Sunday 19th

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Bellini Bellini Bellini. Today is about the family Bellini … and the other Renaissance artists who inhabit the Academia Gallery Museum in Dorsodoro. We finished up our breakfast and arrived just as they opened at 8:15. Being let loose in the museum with all the fabulous works of Bellini (Jacopo, Giovanni and Gentile), Tintoretto, Georgione, and Veronese. Most are recognizable from art history books, but in person they are quite wonderful … and we had them all to ourselves for at least 45 minutes. Peggy returned to her year in Italy when she did a paper on Georgione’ Tempest while John climbed into the beauty of every Giovanni Bellini.

Happy and filled after what seemed like a few minutes but was hours, we slowly made our way toward the Rialto Bridge with the idea of finding a restaurant we had heard about. It seems that our experience of Venice is about the food – which is absolutely true – but we did get some culture as well. So we stopped and purchased some more gifts and then settled in around 12:30 for a long and satisfying lunch at Bistrot de Venise. Peggy had artichoke soup and seafood risotto and John had asparagus and scallops and then tagliatelle with lamb ragu. With a great Tuscan white (Gaia) and a local Amarone we sat for at least 90 minutes and enjoyed our last real meal in Venice.

After collapsing for a brief rest John took the opportunity to go for a long walk to the north side of Venice (facing Murano) while Peggy organized our travel bags. Then we made our way to the Fenice Theatre for a performance … which turned out to be at another theatre (also part of La Fenice) near the Rialto. We hustled over there and arrived as the performance was starting. John Axelrod was conducting Stravinsky’s Apollo and Scriabin’s Symphony No 2. It was very enjoyable and we had seats up on the third tier so we could see and hear perfectly. Afterwards we walked slowly back toward the hotel, stopping for a drink at the Bauer Hotel bar and then settling in for the night, our last in Venice.

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