2023 Venice Italy

Arrived in Venice at the Treviso  airport, not Marco Polo airport, which caused some confusion as our hosts had given  us  directions to get to Venice from Marco Polo. We did not realize that there were two airports, once again.

The airports are located on the mainland; a frequent bus service takes one into the city. The ride from Marco Polo is only about 20 minutes while the ride from Treviso is about 40 minutes.  If arriving at Marco Polo, you can choose to use water transport but those do take longer so check on the time before you make that decision. 

The bus ride went through some gritty industrial areas dotted with small family farms, and many old, shuttered mansions set in large ornamental gardens; I would love to know more about those as they looked as if they had once been very beautiful estates.  We  arrived on the main island at the Piazzale Roma bus station, a busy place as it also serves as the starting point for the vaporettos, which are the cheap water taxis that people use as buses in the city (which do not go to the airport,) not to be confused with the Water Taxis which are  small private boats which are very expensive. There is also the Alilaguna Airport Boats which leave from the main docks at Piazzale Roma as well, and which will take you to the airport. For a first timer the Bus Station is a mad confusion of pushing crowds and no English signage and needs some experience to navigate.

We were able to find our way and bring our luggage to the apartment which is only an 8-minute walk from the Piazzale Roma. The apartment was a big surprise and for once, the reality outdid the pictures. It is spacious, sunny and bright, two  very ample bedrooms and a  huge living room with dining area, full eat-in kitchen, two bathrooms and even a little balcony where one can sit and watch the life on the canal out front. We felt right at home immediately and have enjoyed our time here very much.

 View from our apartment balcony.

Moe views from the balcony: future paintings?

On our second day, we managed to take a ride on the vaporetto to the Jewish Ghetto, which was only two stops by boat but a good thirty minute walk from our apartment. When one reads, “walk” on Google maps, one has to take into account that there are many bridges over many canals to climb up and down, so if you are planning a trip to Venice get your thigh muscles in shape now!

Certainly, here on the main island, almost all the buildings are very old; with red tiled roofs, three and four stories with windows and sometimes small balconies, from which the residents hang their washing and often grow elaborate pot gardens. Here and there a previous city government approved concrete brutalist buildings which stand out now like sore thumbs.

Below are pictures of  the Jewish Ghetto; the houses there are five stories tall because the residents were limited by the space allotted to the community,  which was on a small island accessible by two bridges with gates that could be shut at  night.  The Ghetto, which means "foundry" in Italian, was so named becuase it was near a foundry and thus undesirable residential property. Ironically, today the real estate here is very desirable. The invention of the ghetto was an attempt by the city governemnt in 1516, to allow Jews to live in Venice under restrictions, as anti-semitic forces wished to expel them. In the 1600s, the Golden Age of Venice's Jews, there were 70 shops  and 5,000 Jews lived near the Camp or central plaza. In 1797, Napoleon ended the ghetto's isolation when he conquered Northern Italy and in the 1860's the Italian Republic granted the Jews full citizenship. There is a Holocaust memorial to the 200 Jews rounded up here b y the Nazis for deportation, of whom eight returned. Today only a handful of Jews remain in the area, and there are a few Kosher restaurants and art galleries and a school.There are also three synagogues but these can only be visited with pre-booked tickets with a tour company. 

Certainly, here on the main island, almost all the buildings are very old; with red tiled roofs, three and four stories with windows and sometimes small balconies, from which the residents hang their washing and often grow elaborate pot gardens. Here and there a previous city government approved concrete Brutalist buildings which stand out now like sore thumbs.

Typically, the lower floor, or ground floor, will not be used as residence, as it can flood, and the exterior plaster is applied every seven years only as far as the high tide. The rest of the walls will be exposed brick.  Most buildings appear to be crumbling, and many that at first glance would seem to be derelict are in fact inhabited despite various states of disrepair. There are no gardens or empty spaces between buildings except for very narrow dark alleys that create canyons though which can wind one’s way, and many small cobbled streets that let in sunlight and often have little piazzas and courtyards in them where there are small bars and restaurants where one can sit all day with a coffee or a glass of wine. As we found in France, waiters never bring a check unless asked and it is not expected to “eat and go.”

We arrived on a  Wednesday when the streets seemed fairly quiet but by Friday the crowds of Italian holiday makers and tourists had begun to throng the streets. Today, Saturday, saw masses of people making their way through the piazzas, streets and over the bridges. The piazzas were filled with families, dogs and kids all out enjoying the sunshine, eating gelato and nursing their wine or espressos. I stumbled across a small outdoor flea market minutes away on Campo Margareta, and picked up a couple of great necklaces for a song.  Wished I had more time to browse but then I would need to get a bigger suitcase!

On the subject of fashion, which we Americans traveling to Europe feel a little intimidated about, it is true that anything goes and no-one seems to dress up for dinner. However, it seems that Venetian women are quite fashion conscious and I have seen people wearing gorgeous shoes, bags, and colorful, artsy outfits. But the vast majority of women are in jeans and t-shirts, sneakers and backpacks. I have seen some tiny workshops selling very interesting contemporary jewelry. In the tourist areas are small shops selling leather goods which can be had for very little, if you poke about.

On our second day in town, we joined a tour which I hoped would hit the “high spots” that one would have on the bucket list for Venice. We began at 8.30 and ended after 3 pm, all walking and much up and down bridges and staircases. Our guide Marco was amazing and if you are  planning a trip contact me for details on this particular tour offering through Viator. We began at the Campo San Giacomo, which was once the “Wall Street” of the city due to its proximity to the Rialto Bridge where merchants would load and unload their wares. We walked through the Rialto Fish Market which was just opening up with dealers loading up the displays of brilliantly colored and textured bounty from the sea. My one regret is that I did not get back there to take pictures as the arrangements of fish, octopi, squid, calamari, prawns of all sizes and shapes, mussels, clams, whelks, oysters and more, are truly stunning.

We then crossed the Rialto Bridge from where one can see the typical scene of the grand Canal, with colorful gondolas, boats of all kinds,  and much activity. We made our way to St. Mark’s Square, which once again surpassed my expectations in terms of sheer size,  opulence and complexity. We took a gondola ride through the Grand Canal and into smaller, quiet canals where the gondolier cleared the low bridges with a hair’s breadth to spare. Each turn revealed so much beauty.

In the afternoon our tour group of fourteen gathered to visit Basilica di San Marco and the Doges Place. The Doges Palace included walking though the “Bridge of Sighs” where the prisoners would be taken to the stone cells. Our guide was a non-stop font of knowledge, much of it very sophisticated information that touched on history, art and politics. There is so much to see at St. Marks Square and so much awe-inspiring history, painting and architecture, that it is really difficult to  take it all in during a one day visit. In retrospect, I should have taken notes, at least of our guide’s great quips and personal observations which made it all come alive. It was exhausting and I came back and slept for several hours!

Below is St. Marks Square, showing the “old offices” built around 1500 in Renaissance style, which are to the left as you face the Basilica. To the right you can see the Clock Tower. The clock dial shows 24 hours, the signs of the zodiac and in the center, the phases of the moon, all practical information for a maritime city with a shallow lagoon.  You can also see the winged lion, the symbol of St. Mark and of the city, and at the top you can see the two giant figures which swing their clappers on the hour.

            The Clock Tower on St. Mark's Square                                         

On the far side from where I was standing, is the Basilica, an over-the-top mixture of the grandest and most elaborate architecture, a wild mix of East and West. The bones of St. Mark lie under the altar. Services are still held here today. 

We also toured the Doge's Palace, which was the seat of the Venetian government and home of it's ruling Duke, or Doge.The history of government and politics in Venice is fascinating. For more than 1,000 years, (from the 8th to the 18th centuiru) Venice was ruled by a Doge who was the symbol of the Ventian state. It was a form of democracy in that the ruler, or Doge, was elected by the ruling families of the time, isntead of having a monarch or ruler from one aristocratice house. Technically he was a ruler elected by other nobles to carry out thier laws and decisions, although at times some of them tried to extend thier powers. In 1797, the last Doge resigned when Napoleon conquered NOrthern Italy. 

The Palace is decorated with canvases by the great painters of the time, TItian, Tintoretto, and Veronese. The canvases are vast, and are stretched onto wooden frames which are fixed to the ceilings, which are often vaulted, which is amazing. The abundance of art, all of it narrative, is a lot to take in. There is also an interesting altarpeice painting which looks exactly like a Hieronymus Bosch nightmare scene of Hell, but turns out to be painted by someone from the school of Bosch. Who knew?

     In the courtyard on the Peggy Guggenheim Museum

Today I took myself off the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, only a 15-minute walk away. I am fond of personal art collections which reflect the taste and personality of the collector, such as the Phillips Collection in Washington DC, the Barnes Museum in Philadelphia and the Wallace Collection in Manchester Square, London.

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection did not disappoint. The atmosphere of the elegant and yet simple palazza on the Grand Canal, where she lived from 1948 until her death in 1979 reflects her personality.  There is a magical small sculpture garden in the center where her ashes are buried beneath a simple black marble square. Next to her are the ashes of her many beloved Lhasa Apsos.

The terrace at  the entrance to the home on the Grand Canal, where guests must have arrived by boat, is small but contains a remarkable bronze by Marino Marini, which Rick Steves describes as “exuberant.” Suffice to say that there are many snickers to be heard as visitors round the sculpture to discover the highly aroused abstracted figure astride a horse. The entrance hall has a mobile by Calder in the center, a large Picasso, “The Beach,” on one wall (reputedly one of her favorites) and on the other wall a large Magritte painting. Her personal collection ran to surrealism, with works by her lover Yves Tanguy and her husband, Max Ernst as well as Salvador Dali ( I saw one by de Chirico, my favorite) and many famous and recognizable pieces from the Cubist era. I saw a Chagall, several works by Jean Dubuffet, Miro, and a lovely oval Delauney. There is also a large Joan Mitchell, and several powerful works by Jackson Pollock, whose work she supported and promoted.

As a painter, one reacts very critically to contemporary and modern art, I think.  One has worked through many of the ideas presented in their historical perspective, and with one's  own life journey as an artist one has come to discard, or assimilate,  much of it. It really makes one wonder how 20th and 21st century art that is considered iconic today, will be seen in another hundred years. For my personal taste, a lot of the collection seems less than inspiring, and one has to remind oneself how ground breaking  and auspicious most of it was at the time that it was made.  Clearly, Peggy had an eye and an instinct for art that would come to  represent the essence of the Modern movement.

One tip if you are planning to go and pay homage to this extraordinary American lady and her art collection which marks and celebrates a powerful time in the history of art, is to book tickets online. I got there 30 minutes ahead of time, only to have to wait another 20 minutes for all the online ticket holders to go in. There is a lovely café with indoor and outdoor seating, comfortable restrooms and all in all, I would recommend giving yourself a couple of hours to wander through the collection with breaks in-between. The home is just a few minutes away from the Accademia, which houses the most famous of all Venetian Renaissance paintings. The entrance to the Accademia is completely unassuming and I missed it a couple of times walking by. I did not go in, as our day at the Doges Palace at St. Marks did it for me for a while.

This is the view across the canal from Peggy's front door. Nice neighborhood!                                               

On our last day we stored our baggage near the bus to the airport, and took a vaporetto to the islands in the Lagoon. We both enjoy going to old cemeteries and so we got off at San Michele Island, just  few minutes from Venice,  which is also called "Cimitero" or the cemetry island. It is a beautiful and peaceful place of chapels, huge old trees, and many gardens where both Venetians and foreign VIPs lie buried. We found the graves of Igor and Vera Stravinsky, (his second wife) and of Sergei Diaghilev, the famous Russian impresario and owner of the Ballet Russe. Stravinsky wrote several ballets for Diaghilev, the most controversial one being Rite of Spring. Ballet lovers had left pairs of pink satin ballet shoes on the grave of Diaghilev. We saw the grave of Ezra Pound and his mistress, which has been well tended with lovely flowers and shrubs growing on it. The Russian American poet Joseph Brodsky is buried there too; although he died in New York, he was interned in Venice according to the wihses of his Italian wife Maria Sozzani. Althugh Jewish, he identified himself as a Christian and was regarded as a "Christian poet." We noticed some pebbles on the headstone, which suggest that other Jews had visited the grave and placed the stones in memory.

It has been a lovely stay, but Venice is a tough city to navigate and get around in if you are not in great shape. We found the vaporettos to be far more expensive than we expected, buying tickets very difficult, and of course since there are almost no roads in Venice, one cannot jump into a cab or onto a subway as one can do in Paris or London. It is entirely possible to walk to all the sights without taking vaporettos, but you may find yourself walking for thirty minutes including many bridges. We used Google Maps which were invaluable. Venice is unique, and its character is hard to describe if one has not visited for a few days. Despite the vast numbers of tourists each year, Venetians seemed cheerful and helpful and most spoke English. The population of the historical area of Venice, which is the islands, not the mainland, is only 55,000 but in 2021,  1.4 million international tourists visited, which gives one an idea of how crowded and hectic it can be. That number is down from the peak of 5.5  million international tourists in 2019!

If you are planning a trip, go in the Spring or Fall, and plan your routes and itinerary carefully.

   View of the Grand Canal.

Menton, France

April 28^th 2023

We drove to Menton from St. Tropez, an easy drive on excellent roads hugging the coast. Menton lies minutes from the border of Italy on the French Cote d’Azur. The Old Town lies nestled near the sandy beach that wraps around a small, very beautiful bay with steep, heavily wooded mountains soaring behind it. The cobbled streets, many cafes, boulangeries and plazas have an Italian feel and on our first night there we passed a couple of street entertainers singing wonderful arias from the opera. The tenor, a young  man wearing a fedora, began singing and was joined by a young woman who appeared to be pushing a stroller. Their voices were clear and powerful and well trained. People were wandering by with their dogs and kids, and many open-air cafes were thronged with the locals and visitors there for the May Day holiday.

Our hosts, old friends from my husband’s childhood in South Africa, took us to a seafront restaurant where the service was excellent and the food sublime. Neither of us have had seafood platters of that size or quality that we can remember. The portions were huge and very reasonably priced. My plate was the size of a basin, with huge prawns, different kinds of clams and mussels, whelks, calamari and squid in a simple yet subtle tomato-based broth. We were able to both eat a good dinner the next night from the leftovers!

The next day we drove  up the mountain to the village of St. Agnes, which is the highest coastal village in Europe, 800 meters above the Mediterranean. It is a tiny cluster of old houses lining narrow, winding cobbled streets dating from the 12^th century. The current population is about 1300 and they seem to have a large tourist trade with many restaurants and inns. It was a rainy day so we were literally up  in the clouds but could look over the valleys to the mountain tops beyond, the vineyards on the slopes, farmhouses, villages, and the incredible bridge spanning the valley.

The village is the site of the famous Fort de Ligne Maginot, part of a line of defensive bunkers built before WW2 to protect the eastern border of France. It is a vast complex of concrete bunkers, minefields, fortresses and gun batteries, stretching 280 miles along the German border. It is like an underground city,  with what were state of the art facilities like plumbing and heating and  hospitals. Larry took the tour of the fort at St Agnes, which lasted two hours. Unfortunately, the French strategy failed as the Germans broke through the gap in the line which was a wilderness area that the French assumed would be impenetrable, but they were unprepared for the new “blitzkrieg” strategy of armored vehicles that the Germans used. The term Maginot Line has since come to mean a strategy that inspires a false sense of security.

Our visit to this area was auspicious as the May Day (International Workers Day) observances are held this weekend. We attended a small ceremony to honor the French deportees and all those murdered in the German concentration camps in WW2. The Marseillaise, The French national anthem,  was played and flags lowered and many wreaths laid at the foot of the memorials in the old city center. It was very moving and painfully sad, remembering  how the Jews of France were rounded up by the Vichy Government and the French police, and how many hundreds of thousands of French Resistance workers and others were betrayed by collaborators and lost their lives. Of the approximately 350,000 Jews in France at the beginning of the war, 75,000 were sent to death camps. Only a handful survived.

The climate here is Mediterranean with verdant vegetation including orange trees and lychee trees laden with fruit, rubber trees, banyan trees, strelitzia, bottle brush and more. Our friends live quite high up the mountain, accessible only by steps or a very narrow, vertiginous road that snakes its way up. The apartment has a sweeping view of the coast and although small, is beautiful with lots of wonderful artifacts from their travels all over the world. We spent a great couple of days together. Today they took us to the tiny village of Ez where one can climb a path up  the mountain that is like a fairytale, each turn brings another amazing picture perfect view of ancient doors, worn steps, wisteria and geraniums, and views that were too high up for me to manage but I am assured they are breathtaking! We could see the mansions of Monte Carlo on the hillside opposite.