It was still raining when we woke up so we all decided to head to Palazzo Bembo, only a 15 minute walk instead of the Biennale, which would have been about 40.

After just a bit we, Donna Vicki and I, not Ken,  surrendered to the plastic poncho crowd and joined them.  Lots of laughs in the little tabaccheria.

We stopped in San Marco at Bar Tiziano for coffee.

Palazzo Bembo has two large floors full of all kinds of art. I am not an expert, but I have absorbed some of Donna’s cynicism/discerning eye. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed some of these pieces.

This California artist, Liddie John Dill, is described as a “flourescent provocatuer”and did these particular works with airplane aluminum.  I loved how they change and the light reflects differently while the viewer moves.  

Here’s a typical Biennale sculpture made of pasta:

My favorite room in the show included about ten large photographs of dead people at a funeral home in Harlem. Elizabeth Heyert took these in 2003-04 and I loved looking at their fancy garb and satisfied expressions. Here is just one:

Of course, we were all hungry by then, so we stopped into Bar Torino on Campo San Luca and all had sandwiches before pressing on to the next show at Palazzo Pisani Revedin.  Donna had some connection to this show.  It was much smaller and very enjoyable.  We all spent a good while watching a video of side by side images, one the real one and one created by AI with a couple of lines of instruction.

I got a kick out of these tongue in cheek wanted posters. (for Yvonne)

We came out and the rain had finally stopped.  Yay!  It was still very overcast and I was taken with the flat light and color on these buildings:

Benneton was our next destination.  Ken and I left for a fast walk home after just a few minutes, while Donna and Vicki stayed to shop.

Algiubagio is the closest restaurant to us, just over the Ponte Dona.  It is a bit fancy and we were all happy to relax into the restaurant experience.  We had some drinks and dinner.  They served an extensive amuse bouche with 4 different bites.  Ken and I shared an app of duck breast and peaches with some duck confit made to look like a small popsicle.  I had the frittura for my main course.  It was so pretty on the fish plate, but not the best ever.

We stayed longer and deferred dessert for a bottle of sweet wine and some cookies.  I was really glad we had only a short walk home.

What a full (belly, heart, and mind) day!