Art Old and New, Fishy Lunch, Vap to Nowhere

Time to make use of those Venezia Unica museum passes. Friday morning we headed over to the Museo Correr, at the opposite end of San Marco from the Basilica. The hordes were already milling around, standing in lines. Upstairs in the Correr were just a few people. We wandered through the Imperial rooms, marveling at the garish wallpaper, fleshy nymphs on ceilings, and gilded furniture. I did love the little sitting room for Elizabeth, with garlands of cornflowers and lily of the valley.

From there we spent time going through the Venetian Culture rooms. I especially enjoyed the 17th century globes, historical paintings, and crafts from the 16-18th centuries. We decided to skip the painting galleries, figuring we’d get back there if we want at some later time.

        

From there, we landed at ‘Ca Pesaro, the contemporary museum housed in yet another old palazzo on the Grand Canal. I appreciated how carefully curated the collection is, with rooms devoted to specific periods and influences of late 19th and 20th century art. Everything from Rodin to a rather puzzling though beautifully glistening frozen ladder. Enjoyable.

                                                                      

Wandered through the narrow streets nearby in search of lunch, and landed at Al Nono Risorto. Our expectations weren’t high, but we were pleasantly surprised by our lunch on the shady patio. We shared an antipasto of sarde in saor (marinated sardines), spaghetti with mussels and clams, and a frito misto. All fresh, simply and competently prepared.

       

The heat and humidity were building. We figured we’d go for a long vap ride, and ended up taking the 4.1 all around the exterior of Venice–down the Giudecca Canal, to Lido, then up the Lagoon through Cannereggio, the Cannerregio canal, and finally back to P. Roma an home. Not as breathtakingly beautiful as taking the 1 or 2 up the Grand Canal, more the workaday Venice, with views of the Giudecca,  the backsides of Dorsoduro and Cannereggio, warehouses and boat yards, and more of the lagoon. It took about 1 1/2 hours, and was lovely to grab seats outside at the back to enjoy the breeze and views.

Home for a rest and some air conditioning. And between Sebastiano’s new router and Larry’s laying on of hands, the internet service has stopped dropping every five minutes, yay.

Walked over to La Bitta for dinner at 9. Tiny place, obviously well known to tourists. In a bit of Travel Chowder Headness, I hadn’t noted that it’s a cash-only restaurant. We had some cash, no ATM card with us and weren’t terribly hungry, and so kept things simple with two secondi and a “pay what you pour” bottle of house red. I adored my fegato alla Venezia with white polenta (liver, Venetian style) which even Larry who had been traumatized as a child by his mother’s liver enjoyed. Larry’s stewed veal was also excellent, as was the house wine. The people 2 inches away from us who were loudly discussing the financial differences among their children and how to unequally divide up assets in their wills were distracting and annoying as Hell, so we didn’t linger. Gelato on the way home through the buzzing Campo S. Margherita. Pistachio for me, chocolate with peperoncino for Larry.