Venice the fifth

Stick a fork in this trip - it's done! I found Chipsters!

Chipsters were on sale in NZ in, like, 1991 and disappeared suddenly and I'm the only one who remembers them - and here they are in Italy! And they're the exact same little puffs of nothingy reconstituted potato that I remember. Oh, this is a great day for Amykind.

Today was largely a day of going to things where photography is forbidden. Firstly the Church of the Frari, where I was reluctant to be giving a €3.00 entry fee to God, but the ticket assured me it was going towards the upkeep of the church. They should keep it up, too, because it's pretty impressive. Whereas the English cathedrals are crammed with tombs, Italian ones are crammed with art. This one has the fairly recognisable Assumption of the Virgin by Titian, and a Donatello (so that's all the TMNTs knocked off my list already) - and tombs besides, including that of Antonio Canova, he of the swoon-inducing Cupid & Psyche sculpture in the Louvre.

Then La Scuola di San Rocco, which is full to bursting with melodramatic Tintorettos. My highlights included Three Children in the Furnace (well done), Jonah Emerges From The Whale (precious hamburgers?) and Multiplication of Bread and Fishes ("Bread times fish equals camel? That's can't be right.")

Then I failed at Venice by wandering in such a direction that I ended up in what must be new Venice (mmm, bland).

Then student Venice. Hee hee.

Then the far end of town where the grickle grass grows. And then beyond that, the bit with cars. Only I could be confronted with the amazingness of Venice and subconsciously want to find my way back to dry ugly land.

 

Random Venice. The last one is where I had lunch. The waiter asked where I was from and when I told him New Zealand he said "Hey, kiwi country!" The whole world thinks we've styled ourselves after fruit, right?

This is for your own protection, ma'am.

Criminals beware! Here comes the water magistrate!

In the afternoon I visited the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, which is all modern art (first half of the 20th Century). I thought I was one of those cynics who hates modern art (as opposed to the other kind of cynics, who make modern art) but it was really really awesome. And a nice change, you know. All the earlier big names were creating works because their patron had commissioned an Annunciation or a Pieta or whatever, but these later peeps had to think about what they wanted to create, as well as how they were going to do it.

Florence tomorrow!