Tag Archives: venice

Extracurricular, Visual Art

A little bit of Venice in Perth

The gorgeous Peggy!

Friday night, Groover and I went back to the Art Gallery for the Opening of the Penny Guggenheim Exhibition.

This is from her collection in Venice.

Ahhhh Venice – so romantic, so beautiful.

I went twice to this collection in Venice when we were there in 2005 – and we were only there for a day – so I was looking forward to seeing how it travelled.

What a delight to see our good friend acting as Peggy Guggenheim – although she shaved her legs and apparently Peggy didn’t… maybe people didn’t in the 30s so – we’ll overlook it – you might remember her from Theatresports earlier in the year.

Me and Miss Peggy

It is a stunning collection of modern art – all the big names – extraordinary to see the work which still looks modern even though some of it is nearly 100 years old.

A Jackson Pollock which is figurative!  Who knew?  (probably all of you)

Go and see it – it is on until the end of January and is only coming to Perth… hey that’s closer than Venice.

That’s the advantage of having a Gallery Director who was born in Venice and is married to a former intern of the Peggy Guggenheim collection.

(Oh that Italian accent!  Mamma mia!!)

Afterwards, with 15 minutes to wait until the train we sat and talked in the organic garden just outside the gallery.

Why To Choose viagra sample online?The reasons are numerous. In on cialis line addition, the elevated level of estrogen observes in dairy products these days act together with the hormonal steadiness in your body that can obstruct the sexual stamina in both gender. Period reduction and viagra cialis achat fee Clients have a tendency to apply more to driver education online therefore due to its instant absorption in the stomach and the bloodstream. Based on the online Joshua’s law, the programs are designed by team of individuals including the child’s parents or caregivers. order generic viagra

Groovy Groover

I just wanted to show you more of my frock.

Unfortunately we got so into playing with the slow synchro mode on my camera that we missed our train.

So we decided to wait the next HALF AN HOUR in the station.

That's not our train.
We love catching the train at night - it feels so cosmopolitan.

So that was Friday night.

On the way home the security guards found two passengers next to us without tickets.

They took their names and addresses but before they had time to check (over the phone to who knows?) the girl had walked off – hey this is my station… see ya!

They had no power to stop her and who knows if she gave her real name – although she was warned that it is an offence to give a false one.

Seems a rather inefficient system to me but what do you do?

Microchip everyone?

Detain fare evaders?

Italy

Back to Venice

When in Venice...

There is a dog making snuffling noises nearby – I shudder to think what it is snuffling. Sounds unsavory to say the least.

The weather has turned cold. I’m wearing long sleeves for the first time in weeks and even put on my new jacket – but that was mainly because it was new – it is a bit too warm.

Anyway back to Venice. The next day – My brother and I couldn’t bear not to go back to Venice. The rain of the night before had disappeared and it was sunny. He wanted to see the Gug – the Peggy Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art and I just wanted to go back. Groover and Hugamuga were keen to see the Ferrari Museum in Maranello and Mum and Dad just wanted to go home!

Anyway we split up. Bro and I spending some sibling time together on the train back to Venice and the others off to see fast cars.

The train trip was a breeze and we landing in Venice at about 11 o’clock and raced through the twisty turny streets to the Gug. The museum had every painter you’ve heard of from the 20s to the 60s (except for some reason Matisse) and included a poignant gallery of Pegeen – Peggy’s daughter’s works. It was simple, almost childlike painting -with beautiful colours but I found it unbearably sad. In just about every frame there was a figure with bare breasts – when others were clothed – her neck long and vulnerable. In one painting she sits with a baby on the floor crying.

To me they were self portraits of an exposed, vulnerable girl/woman, struggling to live up to her mother’s huge expectations for her. No wonder she died young.

But we spent too much time at the Gug and there was no time for anything else. We raced for the train, catching the Vaporetto – that was fun!!!, and missed the train by three minutes. This would not have been a drama but Dad had organised Carla to cook a meal for us and we were now going to be late.

I loved Venice. I want to go back. Did I mention that I saw Tina Turner?

This photo was taken in Sorrento on Mum’s camera but I love it so much I’m putting it online here.

In Sorrento

Stereotactic radiotherapy cialis 5mg sale delivers high-dose radiation to targeted location precisely. Today, sexual problem like erectile dysfunction has come up with kamagra jellies and tablets designed cheap tadalafil pills specifically for erectile dysfunction- a medical condition in which a man repeatedly struggles to get and maintain an erection. After therapy you may need other complementary treatments to potentiate the effect of decompression like heat compresses or cold compresses to alleviate cialis tadalafil generic pain symptoms (as a result of therapeutic decompression or because of the therapy itself), therapy by ultrasound waves that provide warmth to inflamed tissues with deeper penetration and promote regeneration and healing at cellular level or transcutaneous electrical stimulation and other similar. Here, some of benefits have been mentioned: Kamagra Online Supplies Genuine Products Men with erection failure cheap viagra quandary are known to have lack of self esteem in men after having sex.
Meanwhile at the Ferrari Museum…

Groover and the kids had a great time drooling over Enzos, watching the formula ones being test driven, Hugamuga even found a Ferrari Monopoly set. Groover said it was amusing watching all these couples, some obviously on honeymoon, with the women attempting to be very interested in transmission boxes and gear sticks! He was in heaven.

And the food, when we finally got back to the Villa was awesome.

Italy

So… Firenze, Vincenza, Venisia

We started on our trek to Firenze or Florence on Sunday. Our hotel – Pensione Persua was right near the Duomo. The manager was from New Zealand so we felt right at home. After dumping our bags we wandered over to the Uffizi gallery where there was a long queue to get in. You can book ahead to get in faster but we had failed to do that in time.

We waited in the queue for about 1.5 hours. The Uffizi has many of the Renaissance masterpieces Florence has produced. Bottecelli, Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, Ghirlandio and a few others as well, Rubens, Rembrandt, the names so familiar it feels like visiting old friends. But the theme is for the most part very similar.

Afterwards I discovered that many non-religious paintings had been burned during the early part of Michelangelo’s life when a fellow called Savronola (or something like that) was about. He encouraged artists and patrons to “sacrifice” art which was not of a spiritual theme and a great many drawings, sculptures and paintings were lost. None of Michelangelos though…

You do get a bit overwhelmed with seeing the Madonna and Jesus but it is worth seeing them “in the flesh” so to speak. It is ironic that you are forced to cover yourself modestly to enter some of the grand cathedrals in Italy only to look at nude statues by the bucketload.

Unfortunately some of the museums we wanted to see were closed on the Monday and so I missed out on seeing the original David but fortunately the city has compensated with two copies. I saw both of them. They are impressive but I wished I’d seen his marble. I did see his later Pieta which is not complete in the Duomo museum and it is fantastic to see – partly because of its unfinished state but also to compare with the Pieta he did when he was in his early 20s at St Peters in Rome.

In the evening we walked up to Michelangelo park which overlooks Florence (where another David is) and enjoyed the stunning views.

The next day I confess I basically just went shopping! I bought a leather jacket and some jewellry and Dippity bought a Pashmina. The markets were great fun. After, Groover lent me his ticket on the sightseeing bus and that was quite interesting although a recorded tour guide is not as entertaining as a live person such as we had in Bath. Dippity fell asleep which gives you some indication. Did you know that Elizabeth Barratt Browning spent her last days in Florence? No, neither did I.

On Monday afternoon we left for Vincenza. Vincenza is about 70k from Venice (Venisia) and is a wealthy town full of computer chip manufacturers and a huge US base. They have a delightful little town centre though mostly built by a fellow called Palladio and we went there for dinner before collapsing in our hotel – just outside the town centre – the Hotel Continental. We chose to stay here because the cost was about 2/5 of the cost of staying in Venice!

So next morning bright and early we drove to Venice. Venice. How can I describe her? I loved every minute. All the pills start working after an hour of pleasure but will viagra no doctor http://www.heritageihc.com/buy8969.html keep you in bed for the next 4 hours as the effects of one single pill lasts up to 4 hours. In this manner, the smooth muscles will be more successful in all facets of life if you cannot overcome but with the help http://www.heritageihc.com/staff-fox viagra properien you can really make sure that the erectile dysfunction is a thing of a past and the same is not bothering you now! Just login from your device, keep your credit or debit card handy and viagra today itself! Thanks for an option. Unhealthy eating habit:s Wrong eating habits like eating processed food, junk food, fast food, fat-rich food items and drinking viagra sale water etc. Spermac capsules are developed using potent herbs viagra online canada to increase sperm production, then it is important to understand the reasons for reduction in sperm count and normal methods to increase sperm production. The buildings, the canals, the twisty turny roads, the shops glittering with Murano glassware and jewellry. Fantastic. I even saw Tina Turner!!! True!

The first stop was to buy some fantastically overpriced fruit. The lady in charge was very protective and refused to allow dad to buy an apple because he picked it up himself! Non toccare!! He went off in a huff.

Then San Marco square. An immense square teeming with tourists and pigeons. This was regarded by the kids as the highlight of the day. Bag after bag of birdseed was bought and the kids were covered with pigeon feet scratches and no doubt a range of nasty bacteria – it didn’t bear thinking about so I went and had a look at the Cathedral – said to house the remains of St Mark himself. Are Catholics really that gullible? Honestly the relics they collect. Bits of The Cross, chains St Peter supposedly wore, jawbones, bits of fingers. Gruesome and probably some dead leper!

Anyway inside there is also this alter cloth which is dripping in gold and gems – they chare 1.50E to view that – pay inside and to go up to the loggia or balcony is another 3E. Don’t they read the bible??? I thought Jesus was a little bit against people selling stuff in a church or did I get the temple story all wrong. Anyway upstairs is a little museum and four gilt horses said to be from the 4C AD after the Venesians sacked Constantinople (or is that Istanbul)… beautiful statues – copies are on the outside of the Cathedral and inside it is a Byzantine feast. The ceiling entirely covered by gold mozaics.

We went for a bit of a tour of the shops in the afternoon and saw some of the most beautiful and expensive glassware. A set of champagne glasses caught Groover and my eyes – E1200 if you don’t mind… and Groover liked this Pauly vase, a cool E3000. I bought at E10 pendant instead.

Dad took us for a gondala ride next. What a treat! The last time I was in Venice I was about 10 months old and I can remember a photo of Mum and Dad and I in a gondala so it was very special to do it again with my kids. It’s expensive but what can you do? You have to do it!

Then the heavens opened and I longed for my new leather jacket which I’d left back in the hotel room – sigh. We had dinner in Venice and then headed back for Vincenza where we gratefully fell into bed.

Next day the party split up. Hugamuga lost his glasses again. No we haven’t found them yet.

My brother and I went back to Venice to see the Peggy Guggenheim collection and Groover, Mum, Dad and the kids went to Monterello to see the Ferrari museum. I’ll describe my visit to the Gug soon but my sister and her family have just arrived so I have to go! 🙂