Wednesday 14 October - Verona to Lago Maggiore

We got up before the flies, had breakfast, learned about the prison next door to the camp site (sounds like a lot better educational input than a UK prison - prisoners working with animals in a dog hotel and with horse riding).

We drove about 3 hours to a camp site in Lesa on the western shore of Lago Maggiore.

We had lunch, and after a suitable interval went for a swim in the lake as the day was starting to cool off at 17:00. The lake was about 19 Degrees, and very pleasant.

We walked to the supermarket for some urgent supplies (coffee), then had tea sitting outside - lovely with no sign of flies or mosquitoes.

We are staying at Camping Solcio, which is great, except for the continuin g use of power tools in the boat yard next door, which went on until about 17:30. Hopefully they will be doing something else tomorrow!

Tuesday 13 October - Verona

 We caught the bus in to Verona, overshooting the centre a bit, then walked back from the station through the old town.

We bought a hat in the market in the main square, Piazza Erbe.

We toured the Galleria d'Arte Modern Achille Forte

We took the lift up Torre di Lamberti and admired the town from above. We waited for the bells to ring on the hour, but they were disappointing as they used a small set out of sight.

We had a vey nice lunch at a restaurant in Piazza Erbe.

We visited Juliette's house and Shraddhabha stood on the Juliet balcony.

We eventually found a way to get in to the Arena di Verona just before closing time, and marvelled at its beauty. Shraddhabha remembered where she sat in the rain watching a performance of Aida some years ago.

We failed to get in to the Centro Internazionale di Fotografia Scavi Scaglieri  which had an exhibition of photos by Dorothea Lange (too late) and the Palazzo Mafei (ancient and modern art)(closed on Tuesdays)

We successfully caught a bus back and had a good night's sleep.

Monday 12 October - Vicenza to Verona

We survived the night in the park and ride, though the trains restarted at 5am.

We drove to Lago di Fimon, apparently the oldest natural lake in northern Italy. We walked around it - obviously a popular spot for an exercise walk. It's reserved as a bird sanctuary, with fishing and sailing.

We drove on to Verona by non-toll roads, and checked in at Camping Oro Verde Agri and Camp. We walked to the local supermarket and then ate in back at the van. Lots of flies drove us indoors.

Photos to follow

Sunday 11 October - Agricampeggio di Scarpa to Vicenza

 We packed up, said goodbye to Stefania, and drove to Vicenza. We parked in the City Park and Ride scheme. We are next to the railway, but the parking fee gets you a bus into town, which is where we went after lunch.

We visited the Olympic Theatre - the oldest covered theatre in the world.

Then the Basilica

Then the Gallerie d'Italia, which houses "the extraordinary sculpture depicting The Fall of the Rebel Angels, with over sixty figures carved from a single block of marble", as it says in the museum guide.

Saturday 10 October - more Biennale sites around the city

We traveled in in the usual way and then tried to visit a sonic installation in the Mystical Garden of the Carmelite Brotherhood, which features music by Brian Eno, Terry Riley and Meredith Monk among others, but were foiled when we found it was fully booked ahead. We had a tiring walk through very crowded Saturday streets to reach Palazzo Diedo, which had some weird electronic AI models at work, all very puzzling.

We also made it to Galleria Ravagnan, with exhibitions by Jenny Saville and Sanya Kantarovsky. We weren't familiar with Jenny Saville, but her massive portraits are great. A bit Lucian Freud but more cheerful and very brightly coloured.

Pictures to follow.

We were pretty tired after that but stopped off for a meal out at Lido on the way home.

Friday 9 October - rest day!!

 We did some laundry.

It rained heavily for a while. When it stopped we walked to the beach, where Andy had a swim and Shraddhabha came in briefly - there were waves.

Thursday 8 October - Venice Biennale, Arsenale

 Same routine getting into Venice.

It's a shorter walk to Arsenale than it is to the Giardini site. We had a deviation to a very helpful pharmacy on the way.

Photos to follow.

Wednesday 7 October - Venice Biennale - sites around the city.

 Same routine getting in to Venice.

We visited the Academie - beautiful large renaissance art, but an underwhelming  input from Marina Abrahamovic.

Gondolas everywhere 

The minerals in front are to celebrate Marina's birthday 

The only evidence of her presence here . The original  paintings however were large scale and simply stunning !

Then at Fondazione Prada we visited an exhibition by Richard Prince and Arthur Jaffa, of which The Guardian reviewer Eddy Frankel had this to say

This is room after room of punk thievery, of nicking images and twisting them into new forms in an angry exploration of America and its people. Racial hatred, sexual exploitation and a deep, cultural and spiritual malaise courses through this show. This is the true US pavilion.

It was shocking stuff. Mostly hard hitting video, but also photos and sculpture.

Some photos from.yesterday at the Giardinini In my mother's garden , embroidered piece from a Pakistani artiste in Lahore. My favourite exhibit

Tuesday 6 October - Venice Biennale - Giardini

Getting in to Venice involves a 25 minute walk to Punta Sabbioni, then a vaporetto ride across the Venice lagoon. This takes 40 minutes and lands you very close to San Marco.

We walked to the Giardini site of the Venice Biennale Art exhibition, and toured the main building and as many of the individual national pavilions as we could manage before the exhibition closed at 6. Vaporetto and walk to get home again, back at the camp site by 8.

Our destination 

We made it! 

3 day pass into Venice 

Ferry

This is the first thing that greeted us , a spectacular exhibit by a Jamaican artist 

I loved this one 

Monday 5 October - Lake Garda to Agricampeggio di Scarpa, Punta Sabbioni, Venice Lagoon

Drove to Agricampeggio di Scarpa, 130 miles on the autostrada. 

Motorway services refuse to sell LPG if it's not to run the engine. We use it for heating and cooking and the MH hasn't blown up in the 5 years we have had the system, but still!

Andy went for a swim in the glassy sea when we got there whilst Shraddhabha had a rest. 

It's pumpkin season on the farm. Stefania says they are too early this year - presumably Halloween is big here in Italy too.

Sunday 4 October - still at Lake Garda

 We decided to stay another night, so had a walk and a swim.

Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd October October Lake Garda

 Continued to recover from the journey. Andy shopped at Aldi's.( Saturday) . Went for a walk along the lake on Sunday morning , did the washing , cleaned and tidied the van ,  went for a swim. Lashings of suntan lotion . Vigorous rubbing down with a towel and shower afterwards prevented 'swimmers itch' Watched the sunset. The breeze off the lake reduced the amount of flies  Weather is due to cool down this week. Rain Thursday and Friday .

Setting off to Venezia tomorrow. 2.5 hours drive.

Can you see the egret? 

Friday 2 October Torino to Lake Garda

We made last use of the private shower at Camping Grinto, before we packed up to leave.

We thought about touring the amazing hunting 'lodge' Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi but contented ourselves with a quick look from the outside, before hitting the road NE to Garda. Long drive 192 miles, over 3 hours, but great motorway with smooth road surfaces all the way.

We had a look at the motorhome sosta at Delsenzano del Garda, but it didn't seem very attractive for a relaxing weekend - what we need after the busyness  of Torino - so we moved on to a campsite at Desenzano del Garda - San Francesco Camping Village. We had a swim in the lake - pretty warm - 21 degrees maybe - then had tea and collapsed.

Arrived at 4 pm. Huge campsite. Pool closed, water access off this jetty. Swim and drying off naturally led to uncomfortable 'swimmers itch 'for meAn anti histamine helped

Thursday 1 October Turin The Cinema museum

We were up early to try and get to the museum of cinema for 10.30, but our two bus route plan failed when the second bus didn't turn up, so when the next one arrived 20 minutes later it was rammed. We caught the Metro instead and walked 1 km north to the museum. Arriving late we went for sustenance at John Toast over the road  (recommended as no cafe in the museum)  and then back to the museum. It's a fantastic building, iconic of Torino. We did the lift up the tower trip first, which is amazing. The lift travels through the huge space in the centre of the building before ascending the tower which tops it. Views from the top were limited by haze, so no distant Alps, but a very fine view of the city.

The museum itself had a fascinating section of historical objects and machines that preceded the development of the projector, and a major exhibition about the career of Orson Wells.

We walked south again to meet up with Rosanna at the Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderne e Contemporanea. We had a quick tour as closing time was approaching then went for a snack and a drink before we said goodbye again. The Metro and bus journey worked well back to Camping Grinto, where Andy had a beer and we shared a pizza, and then collapsed into bed.

Colonnades everywhere , to ensure the King of Spain didn't get his feet wet when traversing the city. I had delicious frozen yoghurt with pine nuts pistachios and raspberries at one of the stalls near here.

View from.platform at top of the tower 

Optical illusions hands on exhibits at Cinema museum 

Going up in the lift🫪

Orson Welles produced an all black Macbeth when he was TWENTY, joyous celebration when staged in Harlem. 

The one we all remember

The top of that tower 😏

The interior of this amazing museum 

 

Meeting up with Rosanna after museum visits

Museum of Contemporary Art

Madness '

Handsome buildings in Turin