Our big goal for the day was to take my knife and Ken’s scissors to be sharpened.  Since it was chilly out, we walked there fast enough to warm up.  The woman in the shop always likes to joke around, but the speed of her Italian increases with each word until I cannot follow at all.  I know it’s funny because she gives me the occasional wink and another customer in there is laughing.  

Wanting to go see some more collateral Biennale events, we stopped at Tiziano’s for coffee, then headed towards the Accademia Bridge.  We stopped at the top of the bridge, one of my favorite and most iconic Venice views, even though the light was totally flat, and it was starting to drizzle. Nevertheless, I had to take this shot, as I do whenever we are here:

We went back to the glorious Palazzo Franchetti to see what they had.  Interestingly, the “backyard”, right on the canal, which usually is home to a large piece of sculpture, now had cafe tables, chairs, and grass.  The Palazzo is a stunning building in its own right, irrespective of the exhibits that are being show. Always worth a visit. On the ground floor is a beautiful high-design restaurant.  Bad research on my part—only one of the 3 exhibits was open.  But we went up the beautiful staircase to the third floor for the Portuguese exhibit.  There were many separate rooms with jungle type plantings and some rooms with video and sound.  Overall it was interesting, but what really attracts me is the beauty of the grand palazzo.

In the afternoon, we strolled over to the Abbazia where we saw a show of very large paintings by Chinese painter Ho Yung.  These were mostly about the cycle of life.  Here is her birth painting:

Then we went a few doors down and saw another interesting show by Korean artist Lea Bae.  This artist has a focus on charcoal and paper.  You have to remove your shoes to walk on the white paper floor:

Finally, it was time to come back to the apartment for the big highlight of the day: the arrival of our Biennale buddy, accomplished artist, Donna  On the way back, I couldn’t resist this “real life Venice” shot of the delivery boat:

Donna’s plane was a little late so after a bunch of hugs and Elisa’s welcoming orientation, we left quickly for our dinner reservation at our neighborhood spot,  Ai Promessi Sposi.  I had a mixed seafood app and a salad. Ken and Donna each got the Frittura.  We all enjoyed the food and the glasses of wine, chosen by our server.  And, of course, we enjoyed the company.

We walked home, in a light rain and visited for a while in Donna’s place with some of Elisa’s special Tiramisu.  Delicious end to a delicious day.