We meet for breakfast around 9AM and find out that Sarah has hardly slept at all. So much for my confident prediction that we are over jet lag. The fact that there is a dead gnat floating on the milk pitcher and some mold on the bread only darkens the mood. I try to rein in my usual cheerful morning chatter to try not to get on everyone’s nerves.
We have a big day planned today – a visit to the Accademia art museum followed by visits to three large churches. I am excited to go to the museum. It houses a lot of early Renaissance works. Everyone perks up as we enter the first room. It is aglow with paintings set in their usual gold backgrounds from the 13th and 14th centuries. Some are very static with bold black outlining and vacant expressions others show the first glimmers of molded forms and expressive faces.
John gets the audio tour. Sarah and I scurry from one painting to the next with our sheets of Saints and their attributes. Is that St. Dominic? There’s St. John the Baptist in his hair shirt and Mary Magdalene with her long golden hair and jar of ointment! Time goes by quickly and we are not done by lunch time. After a consultation with the staff, they sign our tickets and tell us to come back after lunch.
Lunch!
We continue after lunch but my knee is a problem again. I am hobbling up and down the steps of the museum even using my walking stick. John and Sarah go on to the churches of San Paolo and the Frari with its marvelous Bellini Madonna but I return to the hotel for more ice and elevation. I have to get the swelling down. They have a wonderful time together which makes me happy.
We meet for a glass of wine. Sarah opts out of dinner because her lack of sleep last night and all the activities of the day have caught up with her. John and I split a sandwich and call it a night.