Wednesday (Venice)…

When you’re in a magical place, retracing your steps…some fond repetition…is not such a bad thing. So we began another walking day with a stroll to Santa Maria della Salute…its white marble brilliant in the morning light. (Still my favorite Salute factoid: this enormous structure is built on one million wood pilings!!)


For the first time in our multiple visits, we were able to walk around the end of the point that Salute is adjacent to. Recently re-furnished, the point juts right out into the lagoon across from Piazza San Marco. It was sunny and breezy and a perfect panorama of the well-lit city…as well as the zillion boats criss-crossing the choppy blue water: vapporettos, gondolas, taxis, laden delivery boats.


We set our sights on a new (for us) museum: the Museo di Palazzo Grimani. Wove our way across the Dorsoduro through the sun-lit arcades of San Marco, reaching the Castello neighborhood with few missteps. The palazzo has only been opened as a museum for a few years, and it highlights the architectural detail and ornate decorations of the dozen-plus rooms on the main floor. It’s really a beautiful building with rooms bathed in light from an interior courtyard. Marble, stucco, and wood are used to create visually distinctive rooms. The most interesting room was the cupola-topped tribune which was built as a mini-museum to showcase prized possessions. Jeff picked up a book on the extensive (and ongoing) restoration process.


After a warm panini and a Coca-Cola Light to re-build energy, we headed to our second museum for the day…the immensely popular Academia which houses some of the most important Venetian paintings. The paintings are mostly enormous, and yet the display is oddly intimate, since you can view these towering creations up close…providing a glimpse of tiny details in dark corners of the canvas. In addition to the spectacular collection, the building itself shines, with several ornate wooden ceilings painted with fantastic detail. Unlike its paintings, the museum is not overwhelmingly large and we were able to soak it all in in a couple of hours and still get out to enjoy more of the late afternoon light.


With cameras in tow, we again rounded the Punta (point) near Salute in reverse of this morning to capture the same scenes in even better lighting. The setting sun makes all Italian building paint hues glow.


Dinner was a return to Impronta, frankly because I wanted to get the carbonara dish Jeff had the other night. It was fantastic. Once again, the place was packed. Tonight, Jeff tried the pesto (yum) and we shared a chicken cutlet with wonderful roasted potatoes. The waitress wisely recommended a decadent chocolate cake with a molten center and a creamy, roasted banana to accompany…such a fantastic blend of texture and flavor. More yummy mojitos to tie the meal together.


Finished the evening much as it had began at midnight…casually wandering…looking for new streets to explore. The tide was quite high…And we found occasional wet patches when heavy boats caused wake. Gondolas covered tightly in deep blue canvas bobbed in the chop. The Rialto rose hauntingly over the Grand Canal. The moon–nearing full–lit up a quiet campo.


We well into bed with tired legs.