A day in Dorsoduro

We are falling into a routine...just like in Paris...with breakfast at our local before heading off on our daily journey.  Our local café is Bar Ai Nomboli and we start the day with a marmellata croissant (a marmalade-filled croissant, usually still warm) and coffee.  My favourite time of the day!

We wandered over to Dorsoduro district.  Our intention was to visit a record store and the Peggy Guggenheim gallery - one of my favourites in Venice - and just soak up the atmosphere of the more residential sestiere of Dorsoduro.  The record store was due to open at 11am...but didn't.  This is something we have become accustomed to...time is a loose concept for record shop proprietors!

Not to worry...close by was the Palazzo Zenobia, which is one of the locations for the Armenian exhibition for the Arte Biennale.  The palazzo was built in the 17th century and is the former Armenian college.  The interior of the palazzo is aged, but still glorious - wooden and tessellated tile floors, soaring ceilings and grand doors.

The main exhibition was by Jean Boghossian and was a collection of, mostly, acrylics on burnt canvas and paper, or smoke and acrylics on canvas.  They were really beautiful, with groups of works representing constellations, or lagoons, or circles.  Other areas of the palazzo, such as the refectory or the garden, housed smaller collections of works by other artists.  We also loved the works by Miro Persolja using coloured crystals to create emotional response.

At 12.30 we checked back at the record store...still closed.  Shop hours are 11am-1pm, then re-opening at 3pm.  Many of the shops in the quieter areas of Venice close for the lunch period.  We stopped for lunch and then, one final sweep by the record store, he was open!  Who knows why today was different and opening time adjusted to 1.30pm...but who cares anyway!  The shop, called 'Living in the Past', sells vinyl, books, old postcards...and Brent picked up a few treasures.

We changed our mind re Peggy Guggenheim and headed instead to Fondaco dei Tedeschi.  The Fondaco building was built in 1228 and is located next to the Rialto Bridge.  In its past the building was used as a trading post for German merchants, a customs house under Napoleon and a post office under Mussolini.  In 2016, after renovation, the building re-opened as a luxury department store.

Now, the reason we headed there was not to shop at Fendi, Gucci and the like, but we had heard there is a fabulous rooftop deck with a view across the city.  I've got to say, though, I did love the deep red escalators, just like a moving red carpet!  The deck is accessed via a controlled entrance, with attendants letting a restricted number of people onto the deck at the one time.  They leave you in peace for 10 minutes or so, and then you are called in so that the next group can access the deck.  The system works really well.  The view was fabulous.  There were storm clouds moving across the city and the wind was a little wild, which made it all the more fun!

Tonight we are off to Lido to a midnight film session - Brawl in Cell Block 99, starring Vince Vaughn.  It's showing in the Sala Grande and maybe, just maybe Vince will be there.  He better be early...based on what I've read about the film, it's likely my eyes will be closed for most of the time!