Step outside our palazzo in Venice and this is what you see!

First, we’ll be spending 11 days touring, sketching, and painting in Venice, but we’re dropping the day trips to Padua and Vincenza and instead taking students for two nights to Verona as we move from Venice to Florence. In Verona, we’ll see the Roman ruins and travel to Sirmione by Lake Garda to visit and sketch at Scagliar Castle. Students can go take a look at Juliet’s balcony during their free time in Verona, too.

Second, we’ll be incorporating a more active blogging component to the class, both in-class and on-trip. Students will be writing more and posting more examples of their work here.

Third, we’re making some small assignment adjustments; for example, we’re dropping the research paper but requiring a midterm and final, and we’ll be building in more basic Italian language lessons. Although last time we included some Italian at the beginning of each class, students told us after the trip that they wished they’d spent more time learning it. As a result, we’ll make sure the next set goes to Italy with a bit more comfort with the conversational and information-seeking basics.

If you’re a CLU student interested in taking the course in Spring 2013, keep an eye open for posters going up in Fall 2012 and be sure to attend the Study Abroad sessions when they’re announced! In the meantime, you can always look for me or Professor Spehar-Fahey on campus to ask us about specifics.

San Giorgio Maggiore

Now that I have visited Venice and returned, I can say that it met many of my expectations.  The words written by its previous visitors took life while I was there.  None more so than the words of Henry James, who said that “Though there are some disagreeable things in Venice there is nothing so disagreeable as the visitors.”

As a visitor myself, I am sad to say that this is true.  Hoards of tourists visit Venice daily.  They crowd the streets, bump into you, block your path, and make getting around the city incredibly frustrating.  They make Venice feel like a cross between Disneyland and Las Vegas, rather than a real city of history and atmosphere.

St. Mark's Square

It took more than a couple days to get over my frustration with the tourists.  I am glad I got to stay in Venice as long as I did because if I had not, I might have missed it.  I would have missed the beauty.  I might have let my frustration with the tourists blind me to the light that glimmered off the water, blind me to the age and history of its buildings.  I might not have had the time to get lost in the outskirts of the city, where I encountered the nicest people and got to see the city that lay beneath the tourists.

“This was Venice, the flattering and suspect beauty this city, half fairy tale and half tourist trap, in whose insalubrious air the arts once rankly and voluptuously blossomed, where composers have been inspired to lulling tones of somniferous eroticism.”
Thomas Mann,  Death in Venice

Sunset on the canals

I found this island to be sad and almost lonely. Every grave had fake flowers and was very plain. I was saddened that either family never came and visited or were unable to. I did not think I could find anything happy or joyful. I then stumbled upon this grave. I am not sure what to say about it, other than it is unique.

I hope you find a bit of joy in this bedazzled grave too.

We ate lunch at beautiful Burano and then broke apart to pursue individual artistic pursuits. A number of the students gravitated to a park to enjoy the greenery — a rare site in Venice — and some shady respite from the 80-degree weather.

Then we were off to the final stop, Torcello, which we talked about in class as the first Venetian settlement and oldest Venetian church. Several students sketched the church before heading out to look around this green, rural island. The photo here shows some of them sitting on Ponte di Diavolo, or the bridge of the devil, which can be found on the walkway between the vaporetto stop and the church.

This morning we all got up early to paint San Giorgio Maggiore from the Molo (next to Piazza San Marco) in the gorgeously clear dawn sunlight. After that, everyone was free until 11, when we agreed to meet up at the Frari Church. Several of our students raced in to attend Mass at the Frari, while the others split up to hunt down groceries for tonight’s home-cooked Sunday dinner or to do a little more painting. Here are our painters, sitting by the edge of the canal gazing at the Frari as they work.

All of the painting has attracted a lot of tourist attention! It’s surprising how fascinated people are by the sight of somebody painting and sketching. I imagine some of this class are going to find photos of themselves online someday, in a complete stranger’s Venice photo-blog….

Unfortunately, masses at the Frari didn’t get out until 1, instead of 11, as we’d thought, so we weren’t able to go in (except those who’d attended Mass). We’ll get there later, though.