Trip Report- yk's rainy Venetian honeymoon (with a daytrip to Padova, Vicneza & Verona)
Oct 31st, 2005, 08:48 AM
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Trip Report- yk's rainy Venetian honeymoon (with a daytrip to Padova, Vicneza & Verona)
Hi all-
I got married a little over 2 weeks ago, and my husband and I went to Venice for 6 days for our honeymoon. Here is a recap of our trip.
Some of you may recall my previous trips this year, and that I like to cram as much as possible into my trips. I did take some advice this time and slowed down our pace (to a small degree).
I planned the entire trip, as I have been to Venice twice before (last time was 5 years ago), and DH has never been. We didn't do too much preparation before the trip as we were both too busy with wedding planning. I purchased a DVD series on Italian Renaissance Artists (from Teaching Company), and we watched 10 lectures which are the ones that focused on Venetian Renaissance artists.
The guidebooks we brought: DK Eyewitness (Venice and the Veneto), and TimeOut Venice (borrowed from local library), Streetwise Venice map, and a few xeroxed copies from Michelin Venice.
<b>Day 0 - Day 1</b>
We flew AA from DFW-LGW, and connect to LGW-VCE. No, there are no direct flights from Dallas to Venice. As a result, it was an extremely long trip. I did "casually" mentioned to the AA agents that we are on our honeymoon, and <b>no</b>, we did not get upgraded.
The transatlantic flight was on a 767, and no longer "More Room Through Coach." Fortunately, we have 3 seats to ourselves and I got to lie down and stretch out.
We had a little under 3 hours at LGW. We looked at the shops for a while, and I saw several lounge chairs which one can lie almost flat on. I rushed over and claimed one, and napped for about an hour while DH read the guidebooks.
We arrived at VCE just before 4pm local time. We found the ticket office in the airport that sells Allilaguna tickets, and we bought them (€ 10 each). I knew there was a boat at 4:10pm, and the next was at 5:10pm. Unfortunately, we could not make the 4:10pm. When I bought the tickets, the lady at the desk told us there is a boat at 4:40pm (and she assured me it goes to Zattere), so we proceeded to the ferry stop.
It is quite a far walk from the terminal to the Allilaguna stop - about 7-10 minutes. We saw the 4:40pm boat and got in line, but the boat was full before it was our turn. Anyway, I later found out that the 4:40pm boat was a different route and did not stop at Zattere! I was glad that we didn't actually get on that boat.
We finally got on the 5:10pm boat. I dozed off during most of the trip. It was a beautiful day and we watched the sun setting behind Santa Maria Da Salute (I think) on the boat. It was magical.
By the time we arrived to Zattere, it was around 6:20pm. We found our hotel without much difficulty (Hotel American).
As it was late already and we had traveled for over 18+ hours, we decided to go out for dinner and called it a day.
<b>Dinner</b>
One of our wedding guests recommended La Bitta, so we headed there. It was about a 8 minute walk from our hotel. Unfortunately, it was full when we arrived. We proceeded down the street and picked a small restaurant. There were only a total of 5-6 tables in that restaurant, and none of the diners appear to be tourists (at least not Americans).
Between the 2 of us, we ordered:
Shark Carpaccio
Baccala (Stockfish) with polenta
Grilled Mushroom (freshly picked)
Zabaglione with biscotti for dessert
The food was decent, but certainly not a wow. The above plus water & wine came out to € 52.
Osteria S. Barnaba
Dorsoduro, 2736 (Calle Lunga S. Barnaba)
041 52 12 754
I got married a little over 2 weeks ago, and my husband and I went to Venice for 6 days for our honeymoon. Here is a recap of our trip.
Some of you may recall my previous trips this year, and that I like to cram as much as possible into my trips. I did take some advice this time and slowed down our pace (to a small degree).
I planned the entire trip, as I have been to Venice twice before (last time was 5 years ago), and DH has never been. We didn't do too much preparation before the trip as we were both too busy with wedding planning. I purchased a DVD series on Italian Renaissance Artists (from Teaching Company), and we watched 10 lectures which are the ones that focused on Venetian Renaissance artists.
The guidebooks we brought: DK Eyewitness (Venice and the Veneto), and TimeOut Venice (borrowed from local library), Streetwise Venice map, and a few xeroxed copies from Michelin Venice.
<b>Day 0 - Day 1</b>
We flew AA from DFW-LGW, and connect to LGW-VCE. No, there are no direct flights from Dallas to Venice. As a result, it was an extremely long trip. I did "casually" mentioned to the AA agents that we are on our honeymoon, and <b>no</b>, we did not get upgraded.
The transatlantic flight was on a 767, and no longer "More Room Through Coach." Fortunately, we have 3 seats to ourselves and I got to lie down and stretch out.
We had a little under 3 hours at LGW. We looked at the shops for a while, and I saw several lounge chairs which one can lie almost flat on. I rushed over and claimed one, and napped for about an hour while DH read the guidebooks.
We arrived at VCE just before 4pm local time. We found the ticket office in the airport that sells Allilaguna tickets, and we bought them (€ 10 each). I knew there was a boat at 4:10pm, and the next was at 5:10pm. Unfortunately, we could not make the 4:10pm. When I bought the tickets, the lady at the desk told us there is a boat at 4:40pm (and she assured me it goes to Zattere), so we proceeded to the ferry stop.
It is quite a far walk from the terminal to the Allilaguna stop - about 7-10 minutes. We saw the 4:40pm boat and got in line, but the boat was full before it was our turn. Anyway, I later found out that the 4:40pm boat was a different route and did not stop at Zattere! I was glad that we didn't actually get on that boat.
We finally got on the 5:10pm boat. I dozed off during most of the trip. It was a beautiful day and we watched the sun setting behind Santa Maria Da Salute (I think) on the boat. It was magical.
By the time we arrived to Zattere, it was around 6:20pm. We found our hotel without much difficulty (Hotel American).
As it was late already and we had traveled for over 18+ hours, we decided to go out for dinner and called it a day.
<b>Dinner</b>
One of our wedding guests recommended La Bitta, so we headed there. It was about a 8 minute walk from our hotel. Unfortunately, it was full when we arrived. We proceeded down the street and picked a small restaurant. There were only a total of 5-6 tables in that restaurant, and none of the diners appear to be tourists (at least not Americans).
Between the 2 of us, we ordered:
Shark Carpaccio
Baccala (Stockfish) with polenta
Grilled Mushroom (freshly picked)
Zabaglione with biscotti for dessert
The food was decent, but certainly not a wow. The above plus water & wine came out to € 52.
Osteria S. Barnaba
Dorsoduro, 2736 (Calle Lunga S. Barnaba)
041 52 12 754
Oct 31st, 2005, 11:06 AM
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<b>Day 2, Part I</b>
We have reservations for the guided tour at La Fenice at 11:20am. (I called the morning of our departure.)
We woke up to cloudy skies. The beautiful weather we had the day before had departed, and the weather forcast on TV predicted clouds and rain every day. We had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel (included in room rate), and I had planned on visiting Santa Maria della Salute before heading to La Fenice. Unfortuately, we were a little short on time (I thought), and the hotel concierge told us the traghetto at Salute was on strike. If we went, we may not have enough time to walk back to Accamdemia bridge to cross the Grand Canal. We ended up just wandering around the area around La Fenice. It turned out that we probably would have made it to Salute (Venice isn't that big after all).
We did check out 3 churches on the way: San Vidal, Santo Stefano, and San Moise. We also followed signs to Palazzo Contrarini del Bovolo and checked out its famous "snail shell" stairway.
<b>Guided tour at La Fenice</b>
Tickets are € 7. We picked up our tickets, and overheard several tourists who wanted to take the tour, but it was sold out. I was glad I made our reservations 2 days earlier.
The tour was very entertaining and informative. The venue is a lot smaller than I had imagined (only seats 1076). We learned about interesting facts about the "Royal" box which was constructed and de-construted multiple times when Venice's ownership was passed from 1 monarcy to another. We also learned about Verdi's La Traviata debut - he wrote it with a happy ending! (And that version was performed at last year's re-opening - a version that had not been performed ever since it's initial debut). The tour lasted 50 minutes.
The tour was much better than I had anticipated, and much better than the backstage tour I took at Covent Garden in London back in May.
We then took the traghetto at S. Toma to cross the Grand Canal. This was my first time taking the traghetto, even though I had visited Venice before. I told DH this would be our "gondola ride."
We then headed to Scoula Grande San Rocco for the Tintoretto cycle. € 5,50 entrance fee. Audioguides are free. It was a feast for the eyes, but my neck hurt after a while as we cranked our necks staring at the ceiling. There are mirrors provided, but we didn't use them.
<b>Lunch</b>
We made a quick stop at a small shop near Frari, sat down and had sandwiches & pizza.
Next stop was Frari church. € 2,50 admission. We took our time in there. Titian's <i>Assumption</i> was as impressive as we had seen on the DVD series, but I found Bellini's Triptych just as great.
After Frari, we needed to head to the train station to buy tickets for the following day. It had started to rain lightly. DH really enjoyed wandering the maze-like alleys in Venice.
We got our train tickets, and decided to take Vaporetto #1 down the Grand Canal for some canal views. We got off at Accademia stop.
Day 2, Part II to follow...
We have reservations for the guided tour at La Fenice at 11:20am. (I called the morning of our departure.)
We woke up to cloudy skies. The beautiful weather we had the day before had departed, and the weather forcast on TV predicted clouds and rain every day. We had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel (included in room rate), and I had planned on visiting Santa Maria della Salute before heading to La Fenice. Unfortuately, we were a little short on time (I thought), and the hotel concierge told us the traghetto at Salute was on strike. If we went, we may not have enough time to walk back to Accamdemia bridge to cross the Grand Canal. We ended up just wandering around the area around La Fenice. It turned out that we probably would have made it to Salute (Venice isn't that big after all).
We did check out 3 churches on the way: San Vidal, Santo Stefano, and San Moise. We also followed signs to Palazzo Contrarini del Bovolo and checked out its famous "snail shell" stairway.
<b>Guided tour at La Fenice</b>
Tickets are € 7. We picked up our tickets, and overheard several tourists who wanted to take the tour, but it was sold out. I was glad I made our reservations 2 days earlier.
The tour was very entertaining and informative. The venue is a lot smaller than I had imagined (only seats 1076). We learned about interesting facts about the "Royal" box which was constructed and de-construted multiple times when Venice's ownership was passed from 1 monarcy to another. We also learned about Verdi's La Traviata debut - he wrote it with a happy ending! (And that version was performed at last year's re-opening - a version that had not been performed ever since it's initial debut). The tour lasted 50 minutes.
The tour was much better than I had anticipated, and much better than the backstage tour I took at Covent Garden in London back in May.
We then took the traghetto at S. Toma to cross the Grand Canal. This was my first time taking the traghetto, even though I had visited Venice before. I told DH this would be our "gondola ride."
We then headed to Scoula Grande San Rocco for the Tintoretto cycle. € 5,50 entrance fee. Audioguides are free. It was a feast for the eyes, but my neck hurt after a while as we cranked our necks staring at the ceiling. There are mirrors provided, but we didn't use them.
<b>Lunch</b>
We made a quick stop at a small shop near Frari, sat down and had sandwiches & pizza.
Next stop was Frari church. € 2,50 admission. We took our time in there. Titian's <i>Assumption</i> was as impressive as we had seen on the DVD series, but I found Bellini's Triptych just as great.
After Frari, we needed to head to the train station to buy tickets for the following day. It had started to rain lightly. DH really enjoyed wandering the maze-like alleys in Venice.
We got our train tickets, and decided to take Vaporetto #1 down the Grand Canal for some canal views. We got off at Accademia stop.
Day 2, Part II to follow...
Oct 31st, 2005, 11:26 AM
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Did they also tell you that the world premiere of La Traviata at La Fenice was a disaster?
"It would almost seem that the hallmark of some of the most successful and well-loved operas is a less than favourable - even disastrous - reception of the premiere. This was the case also for 'La Traviata' when it was first performed at La Fenice. It was an unmitigated fiasco.
"The reasons for this were various, but a large part of the blame was attributed to the singers - the rather ample Salvini-Donatelli did not cut a believable figure as the consumptive courtesan, Graziani was going through a very difficult vocal period at the time, and Varesi was at the end of his career."
With my apologies to whomever I have just copied from...
"It would almost seem that the hallmark of some of the most successful and well-loved operas is a less than favourable - even disastrous - reception of the premiere. This was the case also for 'La Traviata' when it was first performed at La Fenice. It was an unmitigated fiasco.
"The reasons for this were various, but a large part of the blame was attributed to the singers - the rather ample Salvini-Donatelli did not cut a believable figure as the consumptive courtesan, Graziani was going through a very difficult vocal period at the time, and Varesi was at the end of his career."
With my apologies to whomever I have just copied from...
Oct 31st, 2005, 11:27 AM
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<b>Day 2, Part II</b>
We got off at Accademia, and went into the Gallerie dell'Accademia. The Gallery is open until 7:15pm. We didn't spend nearly as much time as I thought we would, for several reasons:
1. It was late in the day, and we were both tired from sightseeing all day
2. The Gallery interior is quite dark and unappealing.
3. Even though I tried my best, I just don't think Renaissance art is my cup of tea (with the exception of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel).
We looked at the must-sees, and I didn't find Giorgione's <i>The Tempest</i> that endearing. I did enjoy Carpaccio's St. Ursula Cycle.
We left after 90 minutes, and returned to the hotel a little after 6pm.
We had asked our concierge to call La Bitta (the place we wanted to go the night before) to make a reservation - he could only get us a 9pm reservation. I proceeded to take a much-needed nap.
<b>Dinner</b>
This was the best meal of the trip. Between the 2 of us, we ordered:
Beef Carpaccio
Gnocchi with pumkin and cheese
Braised Rabbit
Veal Cheek
Formaggio plate (5 cheeses)
Every dish was very good, with lots of polenta. (BTW, I love polenta. They serve white polenta, in contrast to yellow polenta here in the US.) The above plus beer and water came out to € 73.
End of Day 2.
I forgot to mention the exact dates we were in Venice. We left 10/17/05 and returned 10/23/05.
We got off at Accademia, and went into the Gallerie dell'Accademia. The Gallery is open until 7:15pm. We didn't spend nearly as much time as I thought we would, for several reasons:
1. It was late in the day, and we were both tired from sightseeing all day
2. The Gallery interior is quite dark and unappealing.
3. Even though I tried my best, I just don't think Renaissance art is my cup of tea (with the exception of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel).
We looked at the must-sees, and I didn't find Giorgione's <i>The Tempest</i> that endearing. I did enjoy Carpaccio's St. Ursula Cycle.
We left after 90 minutes, and returned to the hotel a little after 6pm.
We had asked our concierge to call La Bitta (the place we wanted to go the night before) to make a reservation - he could only get us a 9pm reservation. I proceeded to take a much-needed nap.
<b>Dinner</b>
This was the best meal of the trip. Between the 2 of us, we ordered:
Beef Carpaccio
Gnocchi with pumkin and cheese
Braised Rabbit
Veal Cheek
Formaggio plate (5 cheeses)
Every dish was very good, with lots of polenta. (BTW, I love polenta. They serve white polenta, in contrast to yellow polenta here in the US.) The above plus beer and water came out to € 73.
End of Day 2.
I forgot to mention the exact dates we were in Venice. We left 10/17/05 and returned 10/23/05.
Oct 31st, 2005, 11:28 AM
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Thanks so much for postng about your Fenice tour. It was still closed when I was last in Venice and I'm so sorry to have missed out!
City of Falling Angels, John Berendt's new book featuring, in his words, Venice and Venetians, gives a lot of Fenice rebuilding info & I'm reading it now. Next trip.....hope to do what you did!
City of Falling Angels, John Berendt's new book featuring, in his words, Venice and Venetians, gives a lot of Fenice rebuilding info & I'm reading it now. Next trip.....hope to do what you did!
Oct 31st, 2005, 11:53 AM
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Given how standard "Traviata" is now, I guess the disastrous premiere is a little bit of a surprise.
But, on the other hand, some of Verdi's operas didn't really have such warm receptions. I'm guessing that Un Ballo in Maschera and Don Carlo/Don Carlos must have had fairly lukewarm receptions. The first, after all, had to be rewritten to avoid references to the King of Sweden. The second has at least two performing versions, one in French and one in Italian (I can never remember which version has the "s" in the title).
But, on the other hand, some of Verdi's operas didn't really have such warm receptions. I'm guessing that Un Ballo in Maschera and Don Carlo/Don Carlos must have had fairly lukewarm receptions. The first, after all, had to be rewritten to avoid references to the King of Sweden. The second has at least two performing versions, one in French and one in Italian (I can never remember which version has the "s" in the title).
Oct 31st, 2005, 12:18 PM
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<b>Day 3, Part I</b>
DH indulged me by agreeing to go on a crazy daytrip with me. I wanted to visit Padova, Vicenza, and Verona all in one day.
I had done some research beforehand. I wrote down the train schedules connecting the 3 cities, and had called Scrovegni Chapel in Padova (day of departure from US) to make reservations (along with the Padova card). I also found out that Verona's sights open until 7:30pm, so it would make sense to make Verona the last stop.
We set our alarm for 6am. Our train to Padova leaves at 8am. As breakfast is served from 7:30am onward, we had to skip the hotel breakfast that day. DH gets grumpy when he doesn't get breakfast, so luckily, we arrived at the train station with 20 minutes to spare, so we had breakfast at the cafe inside the train station.
2 coffees and 2 croissants came out to € 3,20 (€ 0,80 each). What a deal!
The weather was absolutely horrible. It was foggy, chilly, and drizzles were coming down. I couldn't have picked a worse day for daytrip.
<b>Padova</b>
Our 8:02am Regional train got us into Padova at 8:34am (tickets € 2,50pp). It was an easy walk from the train station to Scrovegni Chapel. Our reservation is for 10am, but one has to arrive 1 hour early to pick up the tickets.
We got to the ticket office just before 9am (I was warned it can be difficult to find, and yes, it was difficult). We picked up our tickets and our Padova card. With an hour to spare, we decided to tour the Eremitani Museum. Before we went in, we were told that there is a multi-media room and movie on Scrovegni Chapel down the hall.
I had actually confused that multi-media room and movie with the 15-minute movie one is shown at the Scrovegni Chapel. I thought they were the same thing, but turned out not. We did see the movie in the multi-media room, but we didn't have enough time to check out the rest of the exhibits.
The Eremitani Museum most famous piece is Giotto's Crucifixion - which was orginally hung inside the Chapel.
As we were the only visitors at the museum, one of the guards (maybe a guide also?) pointed out the Carrara family chapel - which was reconstruted with beautiful frescoes of angels and such.
We arrived at the Scrovegni Chapel just before 10am. (BTW, it was not easy to find the entrance. Signs were not available.) The Chapel limits each visit to 25 visitors, and only 15 minutes at a time. Our group had only 10 people.
We sat in the "decontamination room" for 15 minutes while watching the movie, then we were led into the Chapel. Even though we had already seen a lot of the footage of the frescoes in the movies, it was still quite an experience. The blue sky of the chapel ceiling was just so beautiful. I really wish I had brought my binoculars along for closer looks.
Before long, 15 minutes went by and we were asked to leave.
We stopped by the Eremitani Church next door. That is the church that was hit by WWII bombing and majority of Mantenga's frescoes were lost forever.
The Padova card includes public bus fares, so we hopped on the bus and headed out to Basilica di Sant'Antonio. Before heading in, we stopped and admired Donatello's Gattamelata statue - the very first equestrian statue made since Roman times.
Inside Sant'Antonio, a mass was ongoing. Sant'Antonio is quite a famous pilgrim's church. We followed the crowd of pilgrims to St. Anthony's tomb, then to the "relics" section to see his jaw bone, tongue, and vocal cords.
We couldn't really see the Donatello's sculptures on the altar as we can't get close.
Next, we headed to Orto Botanico (the oldest botanical garden in Europe, and an UNESCO site). It is covered by the Padova card. Nothing was really blooming by late October, by my mission was to find the Goethe palm - planted in 1585 and named such as in 1786 the german writer drew inspiration from it for a theory on metamorphosis of plants.
We were quite hungry then, so we found a cafe near Sant'Antonio and bought some expensive sandwiches (€ 1 per piece, but extremely thin with almost no fillings).
We took the bus back towards the old town area. We passed by Caffe Pedrocchi but didn't go in. We arrived at the Duomo. The Duomo was closed for siesta, but the Baptistry stayed open. It is also covered by the Padova Card. Inside the Baptistry, we admired frescoes by Menabuoi.
Time was running out, so we caught a bus back to the train station. We bought our tickets to Vicenza (EC train, € 4,44pp) and had 20 minutes to spare. As we were still hungry, we had more pizza/sandwiches at the station cafe.
Day 3, Part II to follow...
DH indulged me by agreeing to go on a crazy daytrip with me. I wanted to visit Padova, Vicenza, and Verona all in one day.
I had done some research beforehand. I wrote down the train schedules connecting the 3 cities, and had called Scrovegni Chapel in Padova (day of departure from US) to make reservations (along with the Padova card). I also found out that Verona's sights open until 7:30pm, so it would make sense to make Verona the last stop.
We set our alarm for 6am. Our train to Padova leaves at 8am. As breakfast is served from 7:30am onward, we had to skip the hotel breakfast that day. DH gets grumpy when he doesn't get breakfast, so luckily, we arrived at the train station with 20 minutes to spare, so we had breakfast at the cafe inside the train station.
2 coffees and 2 croissants came out to € 3,20 (€ 0,80 each). What a deal!
The weather was absolutely horrible. It was foggy, chilly, and drizzles were coming down. I couldn't have picked a worse day for daytrip.
<b>Padova</b>
Our 8:02am Regional train got us into Padova at 8:34am (tickets € 2,50pp). It was an easy walk from the train station to Scrovegni Chapel. Our reservation is for 10am, but one has to arrive 1 hour early to pick up the tickets.
We got to the ticket office just before 9am (I was warned it can be difficult to find, and yes, it was difficult). We picked up our tickets and our Padova card. With an hour to spare, we decided to tour the Eremitani Museum. Before we went in, we were told that there is a multi-media room and movie on Scrovegni Chapel down the hall.
I had actually confused that multi-media room and movie with the 15-minute movie one is shown at the Scrovegni Chapel. I thought they were the same thing, but turned out not. We did see the movie in the multi-media room, but we didn't have enough time to check out the rest of the exhibits.
The Eremitani Museum most famous piece is Giotto's Crucifixion - which was orginally hung inside the Chapel.
As we were the only visitors at the museum, one of the guards (maybe a guide also?) pointed out the Carrara family chapel - which was reconstruted with beautiful frescoes of angels and such.
We arrived at the Scrovegni Chapel just before 10am. (BTW, it was not easy to find the entrance. Signs were not available.) The Chapel limits each visit to 25 visitors, and only 15 minutes at a time. Our group had only 10 people.
We sat in the "decontamination room" for 15 minutes while watching the movie, then we were led into the Chapel. Even though we had already seen a lot of the footage of the frescoes in the movies, it was still quite an experience. The blue sky of the chapel ceiling was just so beautiful. I really wish I had brought my binoculars along for closer looks.
Before long, 15 minutes went by and we were asked to leave.
We stopped by the Eremitani Church next door. That is the church that was hit by WWII bombing and majority of Mantenga's frescoes were lost forever.
The Padova card includes public bus fares, so we hopped on the bus and headed out to Basilica di Sant'Antonio. Before heading in, we stopped and admired Donatello's Gattamelata statue - the very first equestrian statue made since Roman times.
Inside Sant'Antonio, a mass was ongoing. Sant'Antonio is quite a famous pilgrim's church. We followed the crowd of pilgrims to St. Anthony's tomb, then to the "relics" section to see his jaw bone, tongue, and vocal cords.
We couldn't really see the Donatello's sculptures on the altar as we can't get close.
Next, we headed to Orto Botanico (the oldest botanical garden in Europe, and an UNESCO site). It is covered by the Padova card. Nothing was really blooming by late October, by my mission was to find the Goethe palm - planted in 1585 and named such as in 1786 the german writer drew inspiration from it for a theory on metamorphosis of plants.
We were quite hungry then, so we found a cafe near Sant'Antonio and bought some expensive sandwiches (€ 1 per piece, but extremely thin with almost no fillings).
We took the bus back towards the old town area. We passed by Caffe Pedrocchi but didn't go in. We arrived at the Duomo. The Duomo was closed for siesta, but the Baptistry stayed open. It is also covered by the Padova Card. Inside the Baptistry, we admired frescoes by Menabuoi.
Time was running out, so we caught a bus back to the train station. We bought our tickets to Vicenza (EC train, € 4,44pp) and had 20 minutes to spare. As we were still hungry, we had more pizza/sandwiches at the station cafe.
Day 3, Part II to follow...
Oct 31st, 2005, 12:26 PM
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When did you leave for Vicenza?
I guess I'll find out soon whether you saw the Memling portrait in Vicenza (I guess it's indeed by Memling, since the catalogue for the Frick exhibition lists it).
I guess I'll find out soon whether you saw the Memling portrait in Vicenza (I guess it's indeed by Memling, since the catalogue for the Frick exhibition lists it).
Oct 31st, 2005, 12:27 PM
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A few things I forgot to mention (I wish Fodors has an EDIT button so that I can edit a post at a later date).
One of the highlight and surprise at Gallerie dell'Accademia was the display of Giorgione's Castelfranco Madonna altarpiece. It normally resides in Castelfranco, and I couldn't figure out why it's in Venice right now.
Also, address and info for restaurant La Bitta:
Dorsoduro 2753/a - S. Barnaba
041 523 05 31
111op & Eloise-
Yes, I knew about La Traviata's debut being a disaster, but not sure why. Verdi was quite devastated by it, and shelved the opera for a few years before rewriting parts of it and changing the ending. How did the "happy ending" end? Violetta didn't die and they lived happily ever after!
eliztrav-
Yes, I definitely want to read Berendt's book next (which, to me, means another year or so).
One of the highlight and surprise at Gallerie dell'Accademia was the display of Giorgione's Castelfranco Madonna altarpiece. It normally resides in Castelfranco, and I couldn't figure out why it's in Venice right now.
Also, address and info for restaurant La Bitta:
Dorsoduro 2753/a - S. Barnaba
041 523 05 31
111op & Eloise-
Yes, I knew about La Traviata's debut being a disaster, but not sure why. Verdi was quite devastated by it, and shelved the opera for a few years before rewriting parts of it and changing the ending. How did the "happy ending" end? Violetta didn't die and they lived happily ever after!
eliztrav-
Yes, I definitely want to read Berendt's book next (which, to me, means another year or so).
Oct 31st, 2005, 12:34 PM
#13
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"Giorgione's Castelfranco Madonna altarpiece"
This is vaguely familiar. Wasn't there something about an organ? I seem to recall reading something about the loan in the gallery (on the free exposition cards that ar supplied?).
I can't seem to remember what Bellini's Triptych at Frari looks like. But I think that I did see it.
Well, if I can't wait, I can call the Frick Collection to see if the Vicenza Memling is on display. Presumably if it's here, it couldn't have been in Vicenza.
(The exhibition started in NYC on Oct. 12 or thereabouts.)
This is vaguely familiar. Wasn't there something about an organ? I seem to recall reading something about the loan in the gallery (on the free exposition cards that ar supplied?).
I can't seem to remember what Bellini's Triptych at Frari looks like. But I think that I did see it.
Well, if I can't wait, I can call the Frick Collection to see if the Vicenza Memling is on display. Presumably if it's here, it couldn't have been in Vicenza.
(The exhibition started in NYC on Oct. 12 or thereabouts.)
Oct 31st, 2005, 12:51 PM
#14
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<b>Day 3, Part II</b>
<b>Vicenza</b>
BTW, sorry for the typo in the thread title. I do know how to spell Vicenza.
We took the 1:24pm EC train from Padova to Vicenza, arriving at 1:40pm. Initially, I had thought of walking down Corso Palladio to look at the grand palaces designed by Palladio. However, the weather remained awful, and we were quite short on time, so we skipped. We bought 2 bus tickets from the tabacchi and took the bus to Teatro Olimpico. It wasn't quite clear to us where to get off, but a local kindly informed us.
There is a combined ticket for Teatro Olimpico and the Museo Civico across the street. However, one cannot buy tickets from the Museum - one has to tour the Teatro first before touring the museum. Tickets are € 8.
Again, even though I knew what to expect inside Teatro Olimpico, I was still blown away. The set of Oedipus Rex, was so ingeniously designed. We lingered for quite a while inside, before we head over to Museo Civico.
Inside Museo Civico, we saw more works by the Renaissance artists, but secretly, my aim was to find the Memling. 111op and I had a discussion prior - whether the Memling was really in Vicenza. And the answer is - YES! It was the central panel of a Crucifixion triptych.
We took the bus back to the train station and waited for the next train to Verona.
Day 3, Part III to follow...
<b>Vicenza</b>
BTW, sorry for the typo in the thread title. I do know how to spell Vicenza.
We took the 1:24pm EC train from Padova to Vicenza, arriving at 1:40pm. Initially, I had thought of walking down Corso Palladio to look at the grand palaces designed by Palladio. However, the weather remained awful, and we were quite short on time, so we skipped. We bought 2 bus tickets from the tabacchi and took the bus to Teatro Olimpico. It wasn't quite clear to us where to get off, but a local kindly informed us.
There is a combined ticket for Teatro Olimpico and the Museo Civico across the street. However, one cannot buy tickets from the Museum - one has to tour the Teatro first before touring the museum. Tickets are € 8.
Again, even though I knew what to expect inside Teatro Olimpico, I was still blown away. The set of Oedipus Rex, was so ingeniously designed. We lingered for quite a while inside, before we head over to Museo Civico.
Inside Museo Civico, we saw more works by the Renaissance artists, but secretly, my aim was to find the Memling. 111op and I had a discussion prior - whether the Memling was really in Vicenza. And the answer is - YES! It was the central panel of a Crucifixion triptych.
We took the bus back to the train station and waited for the next train to Verona.
Day 3, Part III to follow...
Oct 31st, 2005, 12:55 PM
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111op-
Don't know anything about organ and the castelfranco altarpiece. I knew about it from the DVD series.
The Bellini triptych has the illusion of a curved dome above the Maddnna.
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/b/bel.../134frar1.html
BTW, I think I saw the Memling at Accademia also.
Don't know anything about organ and the castelfranco altarpiece. I knew about it from the DVD series.
The Bellini triptych has the illusion of a curved dome above the Maddnna.
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/b/bel.../134frar1.html
BTW, I think I saw the Memling at Accademia also.
Oct 31st, 2005, 01:06 PM
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Hi yk,
>DH indulged me by agreeing to go on a crazy daytrip with me. I wanted to visit Padova, Vicenza, and Verona all in one day.<
You're lucky.
No matter how many times I have suggested to my Lady Wife that
We open in Venice/
We then do Verona/
Then on to Cremona (lots of sights in Cremona)/
Our next stop is Parma (that itty bitty menace)/
Then Mantua/
Then Padua/
Then [back] to Venice
she absolutely refuses.
>DH indulged me by agreeing to go on a crazy daytrip with me. I wanted to visit Padova, Vicenza, and Verona all in one day.<
You're lucky.
No matter how many times I have suggested to my Lady Wife that
We open in Venice/
We then do Verona/
Then on to Cremona (lots of sights in Cremona)/
Our next stop is Parma (that itty bitty menace)/
Then Mantua/
Then Padua/
Then [back] to Venice
she absolutely refuses.
Oct 31st, 2005, 01:07 PM
#17
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Isn't Teatro Olimpico the oldest indoors theatre or something like that?
The Frari altarpiece is in the style of the San Giobbe altarpiece:
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/b/bel...80-89/1giobbe/
(Pretty early Bellini. I think that I did see it.)
The style evolved by the time he got to the San Zaccaria altarpiece.
Is there another Memling in Vicenza? I get the impression that there's a portrait (I did look up the Memling you mentioned). I'll check my Memling catalogue when I get home.
Actually I think that I did see the Memling at Accademia. It's in the same room with all the Bellinis. However, for some reason, the Memling from Venice in my catalogue for the Frick Exhibition looks unfamiliar.
I'll have to take a more careful look at the Frick exhibition.
The Frari altarpiece is in the style of the San Giobbe altarpiece:
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/b/bel...80-89/1giobbe/
(Pretty early Bellini. I think that I did see it.)
The style evolved by the time he got to the San Zaccaria altarpiece.
Is there another Memling in Vicenza? I get the impression that there's a portrait (I did look up the Memling you mentioned). I'll check my Memling catalogue when I get home.
Actually I think that I did see the Memling at Accademia. It's in the same room with all the Bellinis. However, for some reason, the Memling from Venice in my catalogue for the Frick Exhibition looks unfamiliar.
I'll have to take a more careful look at the Frick exhibition.
Oct 31st, 2005, 01:11 PM
#18
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Sorry -- the thing about the organ could have something to do with Sebastiano del Piombo.
http://www.veniceinperil.org/project...bartolomeo.htm
I did scribble some stuff down for my Accademia visit, but I don't know if I threw the notes away.
As you may know, Giorgione died young, and Giorgione attributions are frequently uncertain. Early Titian, Sebastiano del Piombo and Giorgione are frequently confused.
http://www.veniceinperil.org/project...bartolomeo.htm
I did scribble some stuff down for my Accademia visit, but I don't know if I threw the notes away.
As you may know, Giorgione died young, and Giorgione attributions are frequently uncertain. Early Titian, Sebastiano del Piombo and Giorgione are frequently confused.
