Venice - Day 3

Posted by Anura Samara, 8 September 2013

Leonardo exhibition

In the morning, we headed over to Galleria dell’Academia to see an exhibition of works by Leonardo da Vinci. We really weren’t interested in the rest of the museum so just headed straight into the section dedicated to Leonardo.

To start off with, there were a lot of works by students of Leonardo. Clearly, these guys worked in teams and had apprentices who copied a lot of the master’s work. And then we were in the rooms showcasing Leonardo himself. The funny thing is that a lot of the works were what we could call doodles – endless drawings of the dimensions of the human skull, a horses foreleg, armaments etc.

The main thing to see of course was Vetruvian Man. It’s an amazing feeling to see the real drawing. The image is so iconic that we are used to seeing it everywhere, not just in relation to Leonardo but also in advertising, on TV shows and even in space – it’s one of those designs we will recognise everywhere, even if we don’t know what it’s called or who drew it. Standing in front of it, the real thing, I had a feeling of both wonder and anticlimax. I remember a similar feeling when I saw the Mona Lisa in The Louvre.

Lido

After the museum, we headed across to Lido for the afternoon. Talk about a huge difference from the rest of Venice. To start off with, there are roads with cars and buses and scooters and trucks – a bit of a shock after spending so much time around water traffic.

It’s also (comparatively) huge for Venice. We walked across to one of the beaches, and then walked in the ocean to the north. Going to the beach is a very structured activity. There are marked areas, lots of deck chairs and umbrellas out and lots of small beach huts. As always in Europe, we were struck by how much people exposed themselves to the sun. Lots of bare bodies asleep in full sun, and lots of leathery older people baring it all as well – it might be a good look when you’re young but not so good when you are older, wrinklier and everything is heading south.

By late afternoon, we were hungry and thirsty so stopped for the inevitable beer and pizza before heading back to Venice.

Venice

It was dark by the time we reached Venice, so we explored a different part of the city – the southern edge where the big cruise ships come in. We walked along the Fondamenta Zattere Ai Ponte Lungo, Fondamenta Zattere Ai Gesuati and Fondamenta Zattere Ai Saloni and back to Santa Maria della Saluta.

We then hopped across to San Marco for a drink in a bar and a chat with some American tourists before calling it a nigh.

Walked along the main part of the canal where cruise ships come in as far as the church on the point. Back to San Marco for gelato and drink.

Categories: Italy

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