Venice got the blues...

With this post, we'll say arrivederci to the three primary colors:
ROSSO, GIALLO and BLU! 

Literally within minutes, the weather in Venice can go from sunny and clear, to whipping wind, lightning and horizontal hail. 

To the right,  the church of Santa Maria della Salute (health), to the left, the church of Santa Crociera del Svago (cruise of leisure).

The beautiful Fondamenta Zattere as seen from the bow of a vaporetto.

When not out on the water, in the middle of a large campo (square), or sipping a spritz on your rooftop terrace, this is a typical blue sky view.

A roofscape, framed by a window in the palazzo of the Fortuny Museum.

The canals, as polluted as they are claimed to be, still glow this exquisite clear, blue-green.

A brooding sky over the Basilica di San Marco.

The Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs) was built in 1602 and connects the prison to the interrogation rooms of the Doge's Palace.  The view from the Bridge of Sighs was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment.

This statue, on a geographically prominent point, is situated at what once was Venice's Sea Customs Post.  Now the building displays modern art from the collection of Francois Pinault, a wealthy French entrepreneur.  In 2008, when the building was turned into gallery space, the designer was the famous architect, Tadao Ando.  Across the Canal Grande, you can see the bell tower on Piazza San Marco.

When not in use, the gondolas are covered in blue canvas.

A group of us took a private tour of the showroom of the renowned historic Rubelli fabric company, located in a palazzo on the Grand Canal.  Here are exhibited two chairs from the 1930's, upholstered in Rubelli fabric from that era.

As interesting as the historic fabrics at the Rubelli showroom were, the architecture of the palazzo itself was equally stunning.  I looked up and saw this blue and gold ceiling...

...and this ornamented and gilded ceiling...

...and this door!  I jump at every opportunity to see the insides of these exquisite palazzos.

Next week I am going to visit the Orsoni mosaic tile factory.  These glass tile manufacturers have the only glass kiln still active in Venice city proper (the other glassmakers all work on the island of Murano). In 1888, the Orsoni family revived the Byzantine art of mosaics and the techniques for making pure glass enamels that had been developed on Murano during the Renaissance period.  The company has over 3,000 different shades of mosaics in their sample library.

The word "graffiti" is from the Italian word graffiato, which means "scratched".  The Italian term graffiti refers to the inscriptions, figure drawings, etc., found on ancient ruins such as the Catacombs of Rome, or at Pompeii.  Here is 21st century graffiti, but I will soon post some examples of ancient graffiti.

You could spend a lifetime just observing the many different patterns of Venice's ironwork.

This is my trusty map of Venice after only two weeks here.  You should see it now.

Venice is a city of reflections.  It seems I'm always peering in or out of windows.  We're peeking into the oldest intact storefront in the city - a pharmacy with original wood fixtures and old apothecary bottles.  Because of Venice's access to ingredients from the far east, the city was a forerunner in the design and production of medicinals and curative potions.

A blue sketch I did when I first arrived at the Scuola di Grafica.

Look closely, and you'll see the UPS boat (it's more blue than brown!).  Shortly before seeing this, I spied a FedEx boat zooming down the Grand Canal.

And finally, I promised  you a blue pigeon.  This fellow was with a huge flock of ordinary-colored pigeons on Piazza San Marco.  Lorenzo, the director of the Scuola di Grafica, says it's a miracolo, and I would agree, because a few minutes later, I saw a bright orange one.

Arrivederci!  I'm off in search of secondary colors.  I think I'll start with ARANCIONE.