Mamma e Sorella

On last Friday, my mom and sister came to Venice to meet with me and get a feel for the environment here in Italy. This was the first time in Italy for both of them. They met up with our German friend Frauke at the airport, and I met them at their hotel after I returned from Padova. We had an excellent dinner near Rialto and then we took a stroll through the streets, always less crowded at night.

On Saturday we actually “did things” (and I mean things other than just sitting at a restaurant and talking, which is actually one of my favorite things to do here). We started at the Ca' D'oro, which is a 15^th palazzo on the Grand Canal. Its Veneto-Gothic architectural style is unforgettable. Inside, there is now an art gallery that displays some of the early Renaissance art of Italy, like the 14^th century. The loggias, or balconies, were a great place to watch the action on the Grand Canal.

After that, and a few photos with the sis in Piazza San Marco, we headed down to Dorsoduro, where the Collezione Peggy Guggenheim is located. A lot of modern art. Actually my friends had been to see the collection just a week before and they really liked it. I don’t remember much about Peggy Guggenheim except that she was an eccentric American who bought a palazzo on the grand canal and hung out with artsy people like Pollock and Picasso. I guess artsy is an understatement. Masters of modern art. The collection was incredible – I was also surprised by the Italian futurist paintings at the end of the gallery. My sister was especially excited because she has studied many of the artists whose works were featured in the gallery, Rene Magritte, for example. She couldn’t wait to tell her Studio Art teacher.

I also took Frauke, Mom and Margaret to San Servolo – they wanted to see the island where I live (after a gelato, of course). So we took the Number 20 vaporetto to “Alcatraz di Venezia” and I showed them around. They like the green grass and plants, which aren’t amazingly present in Venice (like at all). But I stayed home to do some homework (ie major presentation for my Islam class) and so Margaret, Mom and Frauke went back to Venice, where I met them again for dinner.

I really should be spending the most time talking about our dinners in Venice, as those took up more time than the other things we did. But that wouldn’t really make for a great story. Also, I can’t believe I’m over a week behind on the blog! The only time I really have to update is early in the morning before class (I was in Switzerland this weekend!) So I’ll give more updates as soon as possible: Bologna, other stuff I did last week, and most recently, Switzerland.

Ciao,

Andrew