Both of us having been declared healthy at last, we decided to go for a little adventure...a Venetian intermezzo of sort. Plus, Heiner was to celebrate his birthday at the end of May and Venice just sounded right!

We booked a hotel on Lido this time instead of on the main island: at the last minute, it was easier to find a hotel for 6 nights and we felt that it might be a relaxing alternative to staying in Venice. We bought a 7 days vaporetto pass and so, traveling from one island to another was a breeze.

We left from Montreal airport...with only cabin luggage. Traveling light!

Venice was sunny and as beautiful as always when we got there: it was Sunday.

We took our sweet time before getting to the hotel, having a beer outside and chatting with an Australian couple, enjoying the activity of water shuttles and passersby!

Venice was hosting the Art Biennale 2019: we had a taster in one of the park!

We were to wait another day before being able to visit the Biennale as the exhibition was closed on Monday, like most museums! Oh well, why not enjoy the city! Because we have been quite often in Venice, the pressure to see it all was not there: we just felt like enjoying Italy, food and vistas. 

From our hotel, it was only a short bus ride to the vaporetto station. On our program that day were two churches, one that we visited several years ago and that left a strong impression. San Pantalon, a 17th  century church with an astonishing large and beautiful ceiling depicting the life and death of this Christian physician who lived in the 4th century. The Martyrdom and Apotheosis of St Pantalon, is one of the world's largest painted canvas. It took Gian Antonio Fumiani 24 years to complete the work and then the poor soul fell to his death from the scaffolding! 

On our way to San Polo where we planned to visit an imposing gothic church referred to as "Frari", we could not resist stopping at a fast food place selling a Venetian pasta specialty called bigoli . These whole wheat pasta used to be eaten in the lean times as penitence dish (holy Friday, Ashes Wednesday, Christmas Eve). The pasta machine was impressive! And the taste...delicious!!!

After finishing our penitence dish, we continued our day in a Christian mood 😈 and we visited one of the most prominent church in Venice dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. Like most Franciscan churches, this exterior of this imposing brick building is rather plain, even the front façade. The interior, however, is full of large scale monuments dedicated to distinguished Venetians.

Here a masterwork of Bellini entitled Madonna and Child. While it may be difficult to see on that photo, we were amazed by the three dimensional effect in this painting. Indeed, Bellini used slow drying oil paints (vs. tempera) which allowed him to paint detailed shadings and thereby enabling him to create three dimensional depth in his paintings. His style had a profound effect on the Venetian school of painters, especially on his pupils, one of the most famous one being Titian.
























And now, this masterpiece of Titian: for sixty years, the undisputed master of Venetian painting. Upon entering the church, this painting invites one to come closer to the high altar.

The three tiered painting with its intense colours reinforce the action of Mary's assumption towards heaven! Quite stunning.

Monument to Doge Giovanni Pesaro. The 103rd Doge of Venice left a considerable amount for the erection of a monument to himself upon his death: in fact, he reigned only for one year (1657 to 1658).

Other gems of Frari include this pyramide shaped monument dedicated to the great sculptor Antonio Canova (1757-1822).  Canova had intended to build such monument to house the heart of Titian but it never happened...instead, Canova's students use the pyramid to honour Canova: it contains his heart. Canova's right hand is kept at the Accademia in Venice while the rest of his remains are kept in Possagno, his birth place.

The pyramid shape and other details are Masonic symbols, a nod to Canova’s Freemason membership.



In the centre of the church, a magnificent choir drew our attention. It was completed in 1468 by Francesco and Marco Cozzi of Vicenza., as specified in the Gothic inscription on the outside of the last stall. There are 124 stalls distributed in 3 rows. We can only imagine the Franciscans singing hymns in this choir! Absolutely splendid!

After spending about an hour in this vast church, the streets of Venice were calling. We wandered around looking for the best place to have a spritz! It was apero time!

Tuesday and Wednesday were dedicated to the Art Biennale.

Originally set up to present Italian art by the Venetian City Council in 1893, the bi-annual event became an international affair towards the beginning of the 20th century.  From 1907 on, several countries installed national pavilions at the exhibition, with the first being from Belgium. In 1910 the first internationally well-known artists were displayed - a room dedicated to Gustav Klimt, a one-man show for Renoir, a retrospective of Courbet.  A work by Picasso was removed from the Spanish salon in the central Palazzo because it was feared that its novelty might shock the public. By 1914 seven pavilions had been established: Belgium (1907), Hungary (1909), Germany (1909), Great Britain (1909), France (1912), and Russia (1914). (This info and much more is to be found on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice_Biennale). These pavilions still exist in the Giardinis; while some exhibits were also shown in the Arsenale, a major restauration of its shipyards, sheds and warehouses in 1999 has doubled its exhibition space!

The Entrance to the Arsenale by Canaletto 

While in Venice, we could not pass this major art event! To have the possibility to enter the grounds of the Arsenale was a great opportunity.  Its construction began in 1104 and soon occupied about 15% of the city. One ship a day…yes, with all its specialized workers and yards, that’s how fast the production of ship went. The wood came from a Navy owned forest located in the Montello hills, north of the city. We spent about 6 hours meandering through the exhibits and the grounds of the Arsenale.

These huge hands sculpture by Lorenzo Quinn is aptly entitled: Building bridges.

Quinn became famous in 2017 with its giants hands supporting buildings in the gran Canale entitled Support to bring attention to climate changes and its effect on the Mediterranean sea and land surrounding it.https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/giant-hands-of-venices-grand-canal
As for the Biennale exhibits, here are the one we found most intriguing...

Shilpa Gupta, For, In Your Tongue, I Can Not Fit — 100 Jailed Poets

Jean-Luc Moulène Pale Blue Eyes, Paris, 2019

Luxembourg - written by water by Marco Godinho

This was quite an impressive collection of blank notebooks that the artist temporarily submerged in the waters of the Mediterranean symbolizing the untold stories of anonymous migrants in the Mediterranean. 

Also in connection with the migrant movements, the wreck of a fishing boat in which between 700 and 1,100 people died on the night of 18 April 2015 stood as an exhibit. These men, women and children, who were desperately attempting to reach Europe from Libya, were trapped in the hold as the boat capsized. Only 28 survived. Is this art?

Rainy day and perfect day to pursue our contemporary art adventure. The art pavilions of the giardinis date back to the beginning of the 20th century. Major countries such as Japan, Italy, France, Switzerland, Canada, and USA showed their exhibits in their own pavilions.

Both Heiner and I felt that contemporary art was definitely not our preferred form of art…but we nevertheless were happy to have visited this world renowned art event!

Our day was tiring, marching form one exhibits to another under the rain! Ah! The pain of tourists! We went back to our island…and decided to have a delicious cappuccino at the local coffee bar!

IIt was fun not to be surrounded by tourists…living on Lido has some advantages! That evening, we also stayed “local” and had great Bar food at the Roxy restaurant. Nothing fancy: pizza and once more time, bigoli, this time in the original salsa of anchovies and onions: tipico venezziana!!!

Next day, the sun was back: we decided to have a traveling day! First to the “cemetery island” of  San Michele and then to Burano, just a bit further from Murano which we visited in 2014. We used our vaporetto pass quite well and could not imagine our stay in Venice without it!

San Michele: during the French occupation, burying bodies in the city of Venice was declared unsanitary (understandably!) and so, special funeral gondolas transported the bodies to this island. We visited many cemeteries during our travels: in France, in Spain. in Italy, in Cuba, in the US…we were taken back by San Michele state of neglect (weeds growing wildly) and by its low key gravestones. No large funeral monuments may be due to a lack of space…

We nevertheless found the gravestone of Serge Diaghelev, a renowned Russian ballet impresario who founded The Ballets Russes and made them know throughout the world. Diaghelev died in Venice, more precisely at the Grand Hotel des Bains (!) in Lido in 1929.

After San Michele, we took another vaporetto to continue on to Burano. We liked the "cruise" among the Venitian waters: abandoned buildings, marshes, calm waters...

Burano, like Murano, has also become a highly prised touristic attraction. With less than 3000 people, the island is however the most densely populated island of the Venitian lagoon.  Despite hundreds of tourists invading its street every day it is still possible, however, to find quiet places. One feels almost sorry for the locals who protect their private sphere by putting a drape over their entrance door (to keep nosy tourists from taking picture in front of that cute little red house, type of thing…). The village is charming, however, and one can imagine the slow pace of life in the old times, with men gone fishing and women making lace in front of their homes.

In the course of our final exploration before reaching the vaporetto, we discovered a picturesque wine estate with adjacent restaurant and sculptures by the Italian artist, Stefano Bombardieri entitled  Il peso del tempo sospendo (The weigh of time suspended).

What a nice way to conclude this visit of Burano: in Venice but immersed in nature! Venissa Wine estates, it was called…just in case we, or our readers, might be interested in the future!
To end this wonderful day, we spent part of the evening on Campo Margherita which was alive with a great small band and enthusiastic public: after all, it was Heiner’s birthday and worth a party!


On our last day in Venice, we decided to travel to another village on the Lido island: our host at hotel Sorrizo had suggested two excellent fish restaurants and one of them was in Malamocco. The Lido island is a protective barrier of the Venetian lagoon against the water of the Adriatic. There are inlets – open to the water of the Adriatic for boats to pass through – and Malamocco was one of them.

We were there in just 10 minutes with the bus…a tiny village, with a couple of restaurants and a nice trattoria where we might go next time to eat fresh seafood. But the quality of restaurants changes often and it is best to inquire during one's stay who’s best at seafood! An expensive treat…also in Italy. Lido has some tourists, mostly couples and family, no mass tourism and mostly European. Summertime – August especially – must be extremely popular because of the beach on the Adria.

Ah! La piaggia!

Italians rent beach houses and absolutely love basking in the sun.

We had fun walking on the beach, imagining these places full of tourists, especially while walking by these Grand hotels: le Grand Hotel Des Bains for example, which served as the set for films such as Death in Venice and The English Patient!

Unfortunately this lovely hotel will  soon be destroyed: the project to transform it in luxury condos seem to have failed.

Another luxury hotel seems more successful with American families …The Hotel Exelsior.  Beautiful buildings and with boats to drive you into Venice!!!

Our last afternoon in Venice was spent drinking prosecco and meandering through the Serenissima's passages a last time. It was Friday afternoon and cruise ships were arriving in the lagoon. Note in the back the huge ship and how it overwhelms the street scape!

And this is where gondolas are being repaired:

and just the other side of the canal, a bacaro (small informal restaurant) that gets absolutely full at aperitivo time!!!!!  We were lucky to get in and grab the flavourful bites (cinchettis) which we enjoyed standing looking over the canal! Here we have prosecco, of course, red cabbage, mascarpone and walnut, anchovies and onions, and sardines and red pepper. The best way to discover regional cuisine!

That last evening, we enjoyed the area around our hotel and strolled along the canal, admiring the Venitian lagoon at sunset.