In the morning of the actual last day for me to stay the whole day in the old city, I went to see the S. Marco. As the exterior of the beautiful Basilica is under the construction, I gave up painting the facade of Saint Marks this time. Instead, I decided to go inside and to see the view from its balcony.
The inside of the Basilica is really ... huge!, of course, and its stunning golden ceiling, walls and alter were nothing but breathtaking!! It is not hard to imagine how rich and powerful the city of Venice was in the Middle age.
It is free of charge to get inside of the church, however, you need to pay 2 euro each to get closer & go around the golden alter and to go up balcony to see the grand view of Piazza S. Marco.
Why not? I tried both and felt that it's more than worth enough to pay. When I finally got the other side of the golden alter -- decorated with golden glass tiles and gem stones -- I could hardly move for a while. I just stayed there and stared at the shinning alter, probably for 10 minutes or so.
Then finally, I went up to the balcony of the S. Marco to overlook the grand view of the square from there. The view was juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust great. Yet I gave up opening my sketch book here again, as the view was too huge to paint. I decided to brand the scene on one's mind, instead. Thank you Venice to let me share this beautiful view!!
In the afternoon, I did some shopping for my friends and family and went back the Dorsoduro district. I stopped by the restaurant I found two days ago to say 'Hi' to the waiters. The owner of the restaurant bought me a glass of beer and I painted a small canal view from the table. How nice of him!
Then I took a vaporetto to cross the grand canal toward the Piazza S. Marco again. As I wanted to paint the last piece here in Venice at the time of sunset, I looked for the best vista point from there. However, I couldn't find any better spot than the sunset view from the hotel bar where I stay. So, I took the best table facing the canal and the Bailica di S. Maria della Salute about 1 hour before the sunset and ordered a glass of Bellini.
While I was panting, a German father and his son came up to me. Actually, I have recognized the German boy who often tried to get a covert glance of my work, but he ran back when I looked at him.
"Excuse me, but can we get a closer look of your watercolor? My son says he is a great fan of your painting, but he is too shy to say so."
"Sure, my pleasure. I haven't finished this piece yet, but please!"
The boy finally came to right next to me and looked at my painting, and he said in English,
"Very nice!"
"Thank you very much!"
I could hear that the boy was practicing this short but beautiful English words with his father before they came up to me. So sweet!
And just before the sunset, I could finish this last piece and started having dinner, the last meal in my favorite city, there, too.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
On the following day, I took a vaporetto from the hotel to Tronchetto, where bus terminal & parking buildings are located. As the Dorsoduro restaurant owner gave me a ride from the Tronchetto to the Marco Polo Airport, it took only 15 minutes or 50 minutes in total. (And I could save more than 200 euro this time!! It would cost 5 euro by shuttle bus and about 50 euro by taxi to the airport.)
Grazie, Venice! Arrivederci, Venice!
Tornerò di nuovo qui!!
It is free of charge to get inside of the church, however, you need to pay 2 euro each to get closer & go around the golden alter and to go up balcony to see the grand view of Piazza S. Marco.
Then finally, I went up to the balcony of the S. Marco to overlook the grand view of the square from there. The view was juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust great. Yet I gave up opening my sketch book here again, as the view was too huge to paint. I decided to brand the scene on one's mind, instead. Thank you Venice to let me share this beautiful view!!
Then I took a vaporetto to cross the grand canal toward the Piazza S. Marco again. As I wanted to paint the last piece here in Venice at the time of sunset, I looked for the best vista point from there. However, I couldn't find any better spot than the sunset view from the hotel bar where I stay. So, I took the best table facing the canal and the Bailica di S. Maria della Salute about 1 hour before the sunset and ordered a glass of Bellini.
"Excuse me, but can we get a closer look of your watercolor? My son says he is a great fan of your painting, but he is too shy to say so."
"Sure, my pleasure. I haven't finished this piece yet, but please!"
The boy finally came to right next to me and looked at my painting, and he said in English,
"Very nice!"
"Thank you very much!"
And just before the sunset, I could finish this last piece and started having dinner, the last meal in my favorite city, there, too.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
On the following day, I took a vaporetto from the hotel to Tronchetto, where bus terminal & parking buildings are located. As the Dorsoduro restaurant owner gave me a ride from the Tronchetto to the Marco Polo Airport, it took only 15 minutes or 50 minutes in total. (And I could save more than 200 euro this time!! It would cost 5 euro by shuttle bus and about 50 euro by taxi to the airport.)
Grazie, Venice! Arrivederci, Venice!
Tornerò di nuovo qui!!
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