A Free, Christmas E-book from Dream of Italy
Nov 21, 2009 Beyond Venice, Worth Noting
Just in time for the holidays, Kathy McCabe at Dream of Italy has put together Christmas in Italy: Traditions, Travel Tips and Recipes, an e-book free for the downloading. Says Kathy, “This 35-page guide… includes all of our back content on spending the holidays in Italy as well as plenty of new articles on how to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Italian-style, whether you are traveling or staying home.” She included an article I did for her on the holidays here in Venice, but there’s much more.
To receive your free, downloadable e-book, all she asks is that you subscribe to the Italian Dreams mailing list. Your download link will appear in your confirmation e-mail.
Buone Feste!
Bring on the O Foods…
Sep 14, 2009 Odds 'n ends, Worth Noting
…and help fight Ovarian Cancer.
O Foods Contest for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and for the second year in a row, Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso are hosting the O Foods Contest to raise awareness of this important health issue.
Get all the details for entering and prizes HERE.
The Contest has ended, and the Awards Announced!
Check the following links for the Roundup, and the Winners:
Tags: contest, o foods, ovarian cancer, recipes
Venice Island Concerts, Aug-Sept 2009
Aug 8, 2009 Events & Offerings, Worth Noting
A Little Night Music, from
The Municipalità Lido-Pellestrina
FESTIVAL INTERNAZIONALE della MUSICA
12th EDIZIONE • SUMMER CONCERTS 2009
ACCADEMIA MUSICALE ITALIANA
Direttore Artistico: M° Prof. Claudio Gasparoni
Entrance is €10 per person; concerts start at 8:30 p.m.
Here is the complete schedule; for additional information call 041 526 0399 or 348 20 3793.
For Donna Leon fans…
Aug 4, 2009 About Venice, Worth Noting
Most Venice afficianatos can’t decide who they like more, author Donna Leon or her famossimo Commissioner Guido Brunetti — whose popularity rivals that of the Piazza San Marco itself.
In any case, you’ll be able to hear a rebroadcast of Leon’s appearance last April on KQED’s City Arts and Lectures tonight, at 8 p.m. PST, and again at 2 a.m. the following morning. If the time difference makes it inconvenient to listen live, I hear there are ways to record streaming audio…
From the KQED site, just click on 
Listen Live.
Venice Wi-Fi Coverage…
Jun 11, 2009 Instructions for Use, Worth Noting
Just received a communication from the press office about the conference held at the Palazzo Labia this morning, outlining just how this whole Wi-Fi thing is going to work. I couldn’t attend, but should be receiving subsequent releases with more details. In the meantime, here’s the map of the projected coverage. Looks like the Grand Canal, major thoroughfares and all principal campi including the Piazza.
I expect that visitors who want to connect will be able to request wireless through veniceconnected.com where they’ll receive a PNR that they’ll then enter when they attempt access. But I will wait for the next release which should Explain It All For Us.
Lots of questions remain, but…this could be quite a coup should they pull it off.
More to come!
Frari Sacristy: Bellini Rediscovered
Apr 19, 2009 Instructions for Use, Worth Noting
Most people who arrive in Venice and make the time to get beyond Piazza San Marco also know to visit the Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, the magnificent basilica in San Polo filled with works of some of the city’s most famous masters. The soaring altarpiece of Titian’s Assumption is certainly one of them; there’s even a non-Venetian John the Baptist by Donatello. The scholarly to the mildly curious will appreciate many of the fine opere found within the Frari’s 13th century walls.
I hadn’t paid a personal visit in ages, but had the chance just the other evening when I attended a meeting of a 40xVenezia committee that organizes cultural excursions. Prior to the meeting, we were escorted on a partial but sumptuous tour of the basilica. Fra Nicola was gracious and informative, recounting how the Frari came to be, pointing out various works and the story behind them, even occasionally calling on one of the official guides that happened to be part of the group for a date or name that escaped him.
But once again, it was the Bellini in the Sacristy that got me. Again. Every time. I have been repeatedly over the years, and on each visit I never expect to be so…taken. And I always am. (That makes it a bit like the city itself, then.)
As Fra Nicola explained that evening, the Sacristy was originally the Pesaro family chapel. When these, the Frari’s most generous benefactors were in search of an artist to create a work for family member’s tomb and Titian wasn’t available, they had to “settle” for an aging master, Giovanni Bellini.
Poor them.
The result is a masterful, luminous, three-paneled Virgin and Child that takes my breath away each time I see it.
This painting’s presence is certainly no secret, but with the size of the basilica and the schedule some travelers attempt, it’s easy to abandon the Sacristy and thus the painting for the next “must see” on their list. Instead, if you can manage it, do spend a little time with Bellini’s Virgin. Even if you don’t find it as rewarding as I do, you won’t regret it. (If you do enjoy it, you may also want to visit a similar work of his in the church of San Zaccaria, and even the Bellini “family portrait” in the Querini Stampalia…).
(To get the most of it and the rest of the Frari story, look into taking a private guide along with you, or find a small group tour – see Friends and Favorites in the sidebar for some recommendations. And don’t forget: The Frari is part of the Chorus, a wide variety of superbly maintained museum churches sprinkled throughout the city. €8 gets you a pass and a map to all of them, and is available at any of them).
One last note: these are photos taken with with permission but unfortunately only with cell phone, so obviously their quality is, um, marginal. However, please remember never to use a flash when taking any photo, and also to make sure that whereever you are, that photos are allowed. The longevity of the artwork thanks you!
