Primavera a Venezia: Lunedi e oggi c'è uno sciopero per i vaporetti!

Today may be our day of rest.......Monday, not Sunday. There is a 24 hour sciopero (strike) which has reduced the vaporetto service to a minimum. It is not fully closed, but the boats are much less frequent.

This morning we slept in until a little after 8:00. For breakfast we tried scrambled eggs with cheese in the microwave. It actually worked out fine........and delicious. We did a little work and painting and then headed out around 11:30 for a cappuccino at Café San Giorgio. It was wonderfully quiet on the island. A few people had ventured over to San Giorgio, but with less frequent boat service there was a noticeable difference. We were the only ones seated on the terrace at CSG. It was peaceful and quiet.......interrupted only by the halyards on the sailboat masts and chirping birds from the gardens. We felt like we could go back to sleep!

Instead we took on a couple of the biennale exhibitions on the island. The first was an installation in the main church of San Giorgio.......by Berlinde de Bruyckere (Belgium) called "The City of Refuge III." It was another of these rather metaphysical exhibits, but at least it was not in the pitch black dark! In general, her work deals with the vulnerability and fragility of the human (suffering) body. The overwhelming power of nature is a core motif, dealing with the fundamental human search for transformation, transcendence and reconciliation in the face of mortality. I wish these folks would lighten up a bit! Anyway, you can judge the images. The sculptures were quiet impressive in the scale of the church interior.

After that we shifted gears and went through an Alex Katz exhibit. Again, he is not one of our favorite contemporary painters, but it was at least a bit uplifting in color and light.

Finally, the best of the morning was the exhibit called "1912 - 1930 / Il Vetro di Murano e La Biennale di Venezia." This was the best thing we have seen on the entire trip. The exhibit was wonderfully curated with an extensive selection of glass objects and some wonderful period videos (we had never seen Josephine Baker dancing topless before!)

After that we walked next door again to the San Giorgio Café for lunch. While there were a few customers, there was clearly an impact due to the strike. We again sat at the front of the terrace and had a wonderful lunch. Now back in the apartment for a bit of work and a pisolino (nap).

NOW A RESPITE IN THE APARTMENT

Time to catch up on emails, painting and general down time!

Then out later for a walk thru the gardens

A few clouds came in late in the afternoon and we actually had a shower around 5:00......but by 7:00 it had stopped and the sun was breaking through briefly as it was setting. We took advantage of the change and went for a walk through the Cini gardens. We probably have not said enough about this landscape. It is not really a 'garden' environment, but rather a park. It is a bit rough around some of the edges, but nonetheless beautiful. They are doing a lot of major maintenance projects, including a restoration of the outdoor theatre.

The picture below give a nice overview of the island. Except for two small yacht clubs, the Cini Foundation manages the entire island and its buildings. There have also been monks in residence, but we have not seen them on this trip.......

You can see the large wooded area on the right side of the photo. One unique feature is that there are a series of 11 'Vatican Chapels' that were designed for the 2018 Architecture Biennale, each by a different international architect. There are carefully integrated into the landscape of the park. We had a chance to photograph some of them today.