We now have only two days left in Venice. We are torn between making the most of this time, and using the last two days to maintain a calm and collected pace.......enjoying the atmosphere of Isola San Giorgio and Giudecca in order to remember more clearly what it has meant to live here for three weeks. As usual, I think we split the difference. We moved slowly in the morning, but managed to get out around 10:00 and headed for La Chiesa di San Sebastiano in Dorsoduro.....taking the vaporetto this time to San Basilio, which is further west than normal for us. The walk from there was only a few minutes to the church.
ON THE WAY
We put the pictures of San Sebastiano and Veronese's work at the end, so that we didn't 'clog up' the middle of today's blog with tons of fresco and oil painting images.......so hang on, they are coming.....lots of them! But make sure you go to the end of the blog......it was a lot of fun! In hindsight, this has created a bit of an 'out of sequence' documentation of our day......so bear with us, as confusion is part of the fun!
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After San Sebastiano, we wandered over to San Basilio to look at a Leonardo DaVinci exhibit of machines.......but sat down at a cafe for a cappucino and never got the energy to go into the exhibit! We hung out in the gift shop for a while instead!
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We then wandered again......it was really great because we were totally unfamiliar with this part of Venice and everything was new to us. It was a great exploration. We finally navigated back to the Zattere, where we had a light lunch out on one of the floating restaurants.......very pleasant.
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Then back to the apartment for a rest, some painting, and another rest! Around 5:30 we got our energy back and headed over to the 'City' for a fun evening. The plan was to compare the bars at both the Gritti Palace Hotel and the St. Regis. They are only a hundred yards apart, both facing the grand canal with amazing outdoor decks and terraces. Admittedly, they are crazy overpriced, but we decided if we were here, we might as well splurge a bit and check out the two bars. More to come later in the blog.
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Finally, we ended up eating dinner at the St. Regis and made it back to the apartment around 9:00. What started at a slow pace remained at a slow pace.......it just got extended way beyond our initial ambitions.......another 10,000 (+) step day!
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SAN SEBASTIANO AND VERONESE
San Sebastiano is quite extraordinary, particularly if you are interested in Veronese.
The church of San Sebastiano is a monument to the art of Paolo Veronese (1528–1588), one of the great trio of painters — with Titian and Tintoretto — of the golden age of Venetian Renaissance painting. Beginning in 1555 when he was twenty-seven years old, and over the course of the next decade, the young painter from Verona gradually transformed the church into a brilliant demonstration of his art. Painting in a variety of techniques and surfaces, in oil on canvas and wood, and on plaster in fresco and tempera, his brush filled the space of the church with historical narratives, iconic images, and inventive decorative motifs.
The church of San Sebastiano was designed by architect Antonio Abbondi, known as Scarpagnino, and was constructed between 1506 and 1548.
In addition to Paolo Veronese’s decorative cycle, the church also features artworks by Titian, Andrea Schiavone, Palma il Giovane, Jacopo Sansovino, and Alessandro Vittoria.
BAR HOPPING ON THE GRAND CANAL
This was somewhat a spur of the moment decision. We had talked about checking out these hotels, an particularly the bar at the Gritti........infamous as one of Ernest Hemingway's hangouts. It was a beautiful evening, as we walked 30 minutes from the San Zaccharia stop to the Gritti Palace. The water in Piazza San Marco had receeded and with it went the huge crowds. It was now just pleasantly busy, as it was truly meant to be.
THE GRITTI PALACE
THE ST. REGIS
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