I had been having a toothache that was getting progressively worse. Through a friend of a friend (Thank you N!) I had an appointment with Dr. Pra Wednesday morning. He had a little English, we learned some new words in Italian, we managed. Some x-rays, poking, scraping and disinfecting later, I walked out with a prescription for antibiotics, painkillers, and a x-ray as a souvenir.
We took the Vaporetto over to the Ponta dela Dogana, a contemporary art museum in Dorsoduro. Larry walked back home to get our forgotton Biennale tickets and fill my prescriptions. I loaded up on ibuprofen and went to the Damien Hirst exhibit “Treasures of the Unbelievable.” He had imagined a story about an escaped slave who got rich, and sailed with a boatload of art and trade goods. The ship sunk, and the “found” artifacts are spread out through the exhibition space. It’s really wild–tons of sculpture, some encrusted with coral and sea life, gold pieces for ancient cultures, pots and ceramics, jewelry, enormous figures, fantastical objects. It took years to create, and just when you think you’ve seen enough, there’s another surprise around the corner.
Larry met up with me and we continued on to the Biennale at the Giardini. First we stopped for a light (and easy to chew!) lunch at El Rofolo on via Garibaldi. We didn’t spend too much time there, but got to the American, Japanese, Canadian, and Australian pavilions.
Mark Bradford in the USA pavilion had huge canvases and forms, richly layerd with paint, fabric and paper. I thought the canvases were lovely, there was so muh color, texture, and shapes harmoniously placed on each piece.
Mysterious series of staged photographs of an Aboriginal woman. Australia Pavilion. I think this was one of my favorite national exhibits.
Rooms filled with enormous structures you walk around, through and under. Great Britain
Fountain surrounding sculptures of figures man-made and from nature. Canada
We took the vaporetto the long way home, enjoying our last sights of Venice. And to pack, sigh. For our last dinner, we made a reservation at Vini al Gigio a few minutes walk away in Canareggio. Excellent meal. We shared antipasti of scallops, then repeated some Venice favorites, Larry with frito misto and I with fegato. We split a chocolate-hazelnut semifreddo for dessert, and walked back home.
Because of my knee and tooth issues we didn’t do nearly as much wandering as I would have liked to, but taking it slow and spending time just sitting on our hidden deck on the rio made for an enjoyable and relaxing time. We know we’ll be back. Next stop, Friuli!
Destination Anywhere 