although i'd copied this zodiac from photographs before, i'd failed to notice the face on the scorpion's back

 

jeff koons nine foot high balloon dog

 

peggy guggenheim

the photo was taken by david seymour of magnum

there are some fantastically good things in her museum

 

peggy's giacommetti ... possibly his best

 

peggy had all these glass figurines made in imitation of figures created by picasso

 

what's he so happy about ?

 

away from the steam bath of venice by train into the dolomites

 

stazione per l'alpago, an old station on the railway from venice to calazo de cadore

the terminus at calalzo de cadore

must be about seventy miles from venice ...

the journey takes two and a half hours but cost only fifteen euros

at the house where titian was born

while we were in this house, in pieve de cadore, about three miles up the hill from calalzo, a young red haired woman was speaking to her red-haired sons in gaelic

their father was a wood carver taking part in a carving festival at Auronzo de Cadore, farther up the valley beyond the railhead

he said it was a competition to see who could carve the best piece in five or six days

light and shade

 

in the window of a bar where divers meet

 

as poised as gondoliers

 

a distant view of salute from schiavoni

 

salute from an early waterbus

 

the interior of salute ... too grand to photograph adequately

 

white

 

black masks

 

even if it isn't the smartest hotel in town ...

 

... as long as the towels are comfy ...

 

... and our room has a brilliant view ...

... and the window ledge fits my bum very nicely

 

the fishmonger's balcony

 

the gate to the arsenale

there's a bar/restaurant by the gate and this is the view from the corner table

they do a lemon sorbet in the shell of a lemon with a lump of dark chocolate on the top ... but don't tell anyone i told you !

 

an early arrival in the bascino