We had a full schedule for the day so morning came and off we went.  

We had been to Palazzo Grimani, just off Santa Maria Formosa, twice before, but this was our most informative visit.

The first floor has a permanent collection of George Baselitz’s paintings which were made specifically to fit into the existing frames in the hall.  These frames use to be for portraits of the Grimanis, but they were eventually sold off.  We discovered for the first time that these are actually upside down skulls:

On the second floor there are more traditional works, including the showpiece room of Giovanni Grimani’s sculpture collection.

All of the floors and ceilings are worth a long stare, too:

We got a ton of historical information from Elizabetta, who works there.  I asked her one question and she stuck with us for a good 20 minutes giving us a passionate private tour.  It was quite illuminating, and gave us a deeper appreciation and understanding of the historical importance of the Palazzo and the art.

On the top floor is the contemporary work of Rick Lowe, a socially conscious  artist from Alabama who lives and works in Houston.

Most of his large collage work reminded me of maps.  The colors were beautiful.  

We walked from there to lunch at Oficina Ormesoni.  We were seated in a small crowded room in the back, but the food and service were really wonderful.  I had the best frittura yet and Ken had delicious tagliolini with fresh porcini and shrimp.

After a quick rest time, Elisa rung our bell at exactly the planned 2:55.  We went with her and an American friend to La Fenice for a piano competition concert.  Being totally unfamiliar with the music did not help me appreciate it, but being in that magnificent theater was thrill enough:

It took forever for them to make speeches and announce the winner.  Elisa totally disapproved of the music (the Prokofiev was too modern) and of the judges choice and that was humorous to me.

We had a nice long walk home through the Venice night.

We are living the dream.