As we started getting ready for our day, I heard music and I immediately knew who it was. Elena Krasantowitch is an Estonian cello player who, apparently, makes her living playing on the streets in Venice.

Last time I was here I was really taken with her and here she was, playing her dreamy music in Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo—just out side our front door. We went down there and listened for a while and bought her CD. Bellisima. Then, on to coffee at La Trinchetta.
We took the vaporetto from Rialto to Salute and went into the grand Santa Maria Salute (health) church. This church is free but there are no guide materials. The big space is really well maintained and quite impressive. I particularly liked the big brass fixture with red candleholders hanging right in the middle of the church but my photo came out blurry. I did manage a good shot of the exterior.

From there we went next door to the contemporary art show called “Mapping the Studio” at the Punta della Doganna.

We really loved this show. The actual space is wonderful—set up perfectly for contemporary art. The works were extremely varied, including painting, sculpture and other things that defy description. What a fabulous way to spend the morning. On the audio guide, at the very end, they say they want you to be “transformed” after the show and I felt they succeeded! We came out of the show and began to walk around the actual point of the spit of land at the end of Dorsoduro and there was one last sculpture to make you smile.

We continued to walk along the Zattere all the way to the Riviera Restaurant where I’d had a great lunch last trip.

It didn’t disappoint. Ken and I shared—zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta and a little bit of anchovies, deep fried in a very delicate batter. These were perfection on the plate! Then we had tagliolini with artichokes and scallops and the Friturra—fried calamari and shrimp with a little fresh fennel and tomato salad. The meal was really the taste of Venice—with a little of the very good house white. The local Italian family across from us (how could I tell they were local? They waved and said “ciao” to passersby 3 or 4 times during lunch) ended their meal with a dark looking liquer. At first I thought it was grappa but it was such a dark brown, it couldn’t be. So, I asked the waiter and he brought us one to share. It’s called Averna—a bitter, but totally drinkable, herbal digestivo from Sicily. We lifted our glasses to the family and spoke to them a bit. The rain cloud were rolling in so we left and started to walk home, knowing we could get there faster by walking than by boat but the rain got harder and we jumped onto a vap at Zattere.
We stayed in and napped, relaxed the whole rest of the day.