Wednesday 31 December 2014

2014: Venice

For my birthday this year I took a trip to Venice with my mother and aunt. Before going I watched A Room with a View (in Florence not Venice) and Katherine Hepburn visiting Venice in Summertime. The one song I kept playing throughout my trip was O Mio Babbino Caro that plays in the opening of A Room with a View.
https://soundcloud.com/sony-classical/puccini-o-mio-babbino-caro

I also looked at art and design in Renaissance Italy, it's golden age where most of the old palazzos were built. But none of this research came close to describing the real thing. Despite the crowds of people the city remains timeless.








Things I will always remember about Venice:

-The sun washed look of the faded buildings
-The songbirds that live in cages on the sides of buildings
-The prevailing smell of honeysuckle and jasmine that are in all the gardens, including the airbnb place, Casa della Sposa where we stayed. 
-The whistling shorthand that the gondoliers used.
-The cleanliness of the streets, due to street sweepers in the morning and barges, which I found out while painting one morning.
-The very serious doorbells, very decorative and with inscribed plates. 
-Having to pay for the live band in the main square at the cafe, so I asked them to play Tea for Two
-The strange juxtaposition of resting gondolier and ipad.
-The serious colour coordination between painted house, curtains and flower boxes in Burano the lace-making island.
-The unexpected burst of bright green of a high up garden over faded walls
-The detail everywhere from grills in the walls to street signs
-The pink glass in the street lanterns on the main streets.
- The little dark side streets I always wanted to go off and explore, it was never ending.. reminded me of the old computer game Mist for some reason..
But the most abiding memory was the faded quality Venice had. The peeling paint and exposed brick, like the city was sleeping or under a spell. 

Casa della Sposa: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/747693 (a lovely place to stay!)

all photos by Chloe Cornell

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