and, boy, did we see a lot of wonderful things. We had our regular breakfast in the hotel and in a way it's a good thing we're almost ready to leave because I haven't liked them very much since the first one and each day I seem to like them a little less. So one more morning and then we're done.
Today was another water bus day which meant getting to the "but stop" which meant going up and down over I think 3 bridges. We went first to the Santa Maria della Salute church which was pretty wonderful. The ride itself was a pleasure because it's on the Grand Canal with all the beautiful old palazzos lining it. So, several pictures of that first...
Waiting on the dock....
and off we go! (that's the railing of our boat...)
Almost there.
And, we're here.
Took this while waiting for Chris to take his pictures. Lots of seaweed - you can see it growing under the water.
I tried to get at least half the floor in a picture so I could say double this and that's how big it is - really big.
This shows the huge floor with the chandelier hanging dead center above it from a chain that goes way, way up. That's the high altar in the distance. The pillars were all wrapped in red so it was very different looking than the normal marble or stone pillars. Chris thought probably it was for some special occasion.
This is a papal chair. I've noticed several churches having one - when a pope comes to visit, he has a chair waiting for him with his name and the date.
A really long tapestry and I cannot remember what part of the church it was in, nor can I identify the scene. But it's here mostly for my needle working friends. :)
The high altar up close and look at the beautiful fabric on those pillars. The red fabric and candle cups really lit up the basically whitish interior of the sanctuary. Of course the gleaming gold helped too.
The very plain dome way up high where you can see the chain starting its trip down to the chandelier.
Leaving San Salute, we've arrived at Ca' Rezzonico Museum which is a combination of art gallery and "authentic" rooms. I really enjoyed this visit. The art was wonderful and the rooms were very nice too and full of interesting furniture. The picture below is from the water bus dock.
This first painting I know nothing about but I loved it. Her dress is so unusual and so very pretty. I don't know if she's supposed to be Mary or not. We wondered about the little people at the bottom picture and the only thing I could come up with was that she could be ascending to heaven leaving the others behind. But I doubt very seriously if that's what it's portraying.
A life-size or larger painting of a doge - I thought the pose interesting ...
Now I'm into the authentic rooms and this was a bedroom with this delightful little cradle and the bed in the next picture with its surely one-of-a-kind headboard.
Just not real sure how well I'd sleep with all that hovering over me. The picture below is from a room filled with beautiful porcelain. I chose this one for a photograph because I love the 3-D blue flowers sprinkled all over the pieces.
And below, we have a very long harpsichord on very big legs. The information card said that the legs were from something else and they look like it - they'd look better on a concert grand than a spindly little harpsichord.
A beautiful painted chest for which they are collecting donations to restore the drawers!
A delightful little stand of Murano glass. There were so many massive Murano chandeliers in most every building we visited and I was a little ashamed to admit I didn't care for them very much. But this piece is just so whimsical and doesn't seem to have any real purpose except to make you happy.
Another beautiful ceiling...This house had lots of them but the rest of the ceiling was usually plainly painted with fairly subdued moldings which was a nice change from the very busy gold ones. I like them both - just hadn't seen much of this kind before.
I'm not sure what this is but we're thinking it might have been an artist's model of a proposed altar with the empty space between the angels holding an icon or painting.
The two pictures below are of a writing desk and then a close-up of the top. All the inlay work is ivory which is pretty unbelievable.
Either another papal chair (although the others have been in churches) or a doge's chair.
A stand carved out of wood specifically for these pieces of porcelain. I don't understand how it could have been done because there's no way I could see that they could now be taken out.
This was a stone inlay decoration in the middle of a large floor.
A very beautiful chandelier...
And a gorgeous door. This door was obtained by the family and added to what I think was probably an open doorway because from the side you can see where they built a wooden framework to which they attached the door. What a treat to the eyes it would be to live with.
We left Ca' Rezzonico and I think walked to San Giorgio Maggiore another church with a bell tower that has an elevator (hallelujah!) Below is a portion of what might be the choir seating? Not sure.
But it's beautiful and here you see it wrapping around behind whatever that is in the center. Couldn't get close enough to really see it. So then we climbed the bell tower and the view was fantastic. Below, you're looking at Santa Maria della Salute (our first stop of the day)
And looking out another direction, you see the tower of St. Mark's with the big light rectangle building beside it being the Doges' Palace.
Seen from the tower. I assume this is glass but it may not be, particularly if it is a special bienniale installation.
Looking up the tower to a couple of the bells. You can't see it in the picture but they are beautifully decorated with bas relief.
I can't remember where this wonderful wood carving of the winged lion was - had to be something to do with the church though because below is my final picture of the day.
It is the altar and I think is the only one I've ever seen that is black metal. Attractive though when seen "in the real".
Since this is my last picture I'm going to post this even though there's a bit more to write about. I'll add it Saturday's post which is short. And I apologize for any typos but I need to get to sleep!
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