Quelle belle idée que de nous emmener à Venise!!!

La sérénissime comme on la surnomme, s’est montrée à nous sous un ciel maussade mais la lumière s’est progressivement découverte au fur et à mesure que le Vaporetto nous y a conduit.

Du pont du célèbre architecte espagnol Calatrava au pont Rialto  jusqu’au pont des Académies, nous avons découvert le belle cité par les eaux.

Pied à terre et bien décidé à ne pas se perdre, nous avons avec Giovanna comme guide découvert en premier lieu le Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, ancienne résidence de Peggy Guggenheim.

La collection Peggy Guggenheim est l'un des musées les plus importants en Italie pour l'art européen et américain de la première moitié du 20e siècle. Il est situé dans l'ancienne maison de Peggy Guggenheim, sur le Grand Canal à Venise.  La collection Peggy Guggenheim est détenue et exploitée par la Fondation Solomon R. Guggenheim, père de Peggy,  qui exploite également le Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, le Musée Guggenheim de Bilbao, et le Deutsche Guggenheim de Berlin.

La collection Peggy Guggenheim est un ensemble d'œuvres d'art accumulées au cours de sa vie par la collectionneuse et mécène (1898–1979).Elle y vécut durant les trente dernières années de sa vie. Peggy fit don de sa collection et de sa demeure à la Fondation Solomon R. Guggenheim au milieu des années 1970. Le musée a été inauguré en 1980 après sa mort en 1979, Peggy Guggenheim y est d'ailleurs enterrée.

On peut notamment y admirer des œuvres surréalistes ou abstraites. Le musée présente en particulier une salle consacrée à Jackson Pollock dont Peggy Guggenheim fut le principal soutien financier. On peut y voir des œuvres de Picasso, Braque, Duchamp, Léger, Kandinsky, Brancusi, Balla, Delaunay, Picabia, Mondrian, Miro, Giacometti, Klee, Ernst, Magritte, Dali, Pollock, Rothko...

Merci Giovanna pour cette belle découverte.

Sunday 12th June 2011

On Sunday morning  we went to see the Apennines. Cloudy day, moderately warm weather were ideal for walking. Our little group met on the hill at a parking place in Cerredolo Dei Coppi . Then we started hiking.

After the previous rains the ground was very wet and clay on the path was quite slippery.  But even still we managed to walk safely. And the landscape was very beautiful!

Professor Matheus told us very thoroughly about the geomorphology of the Apennines. His wife Elena was expert in botany and she gave names to extraordinary and also quite common plants we met during our  trip. For example Campanula medium, Quercus pubescens and different kind of Acer and orchids we saw. Many of the families exist also in northern Europe but most of the species were entirely different.

We walked through a small village which was very idyllic and then we started to descend. We ended up to a small river and very old mill Mulino di Cortogno. The owner of the place gave us an interesting guidance to the history of the mill and accompanying buildings. At the restaurant of the mill we ate a very delicious and rich lunch with many separate dishes. Paolo Curti had his guitar with him and he played and sang along with the others. What a special moment to remember! We returned to the hotel satisfied and happy.

In the afternoon we visited Mr. Pompili’s ceramic atelier. We painted our own ceramic plates with islamic models. Very creative work! And we got the most unique souvenirs…

The dinner was served at Carla’s home. It was very beautiful house. The atmosphere was as warm and cozy as you can think of. And food was enchanting. We had good company, we talked, sang and enjoyed totally. At midnight we were ready to fall asleep!  What a wonderful day!

Saturday, 11th June 2011, Milano

We arrived to the airport of Milano before midday. The climate was very comfortable and the first view to Italy very nice. Rosanna and her husband Carlo took extremely good care of us for the whole day. They had planned an interesting day with their daughter Lara for us. The day  in Milano was super. We saw:

• an old catholic University. The atmosphere there was charming and enthusiastic.
• Duomo of Milano. We don’t have enough words to describe the feeling we had, while we were standing there on the top of Duomo.  The craftmanship was breathtaking. It was extremely amazing.
• Leonardo da Vinci: the Last Supper. Dear Rosanna had arranged us a visit to this old monastery, where this painting lays. Special thanks to her. It was a visit we will remember forever. The painting was peaceful, beautiful and full of history.

In Milano we tasted Italian food for the first time during our project week. Rosanna and Carlo took us to a very pittoresque and ‘very Italian restaurant’, we think. Tortellini were tasty and first normal coffee of Italy ‘espresso’ strong and good. In the afternoon we ate also Italian ice cream.

When we were leaving Milano there was a hailstorm . We got a first touch to the surprising Italian weather, although it’s not so usual to have a rain like that even here, we heard.

Carlo and Rosanna took us very safely to Montecchio. There we were invited to have a dinner at Giovanna’s home. Food was perfect and we spent a wonderful evening with our Italian and Belgian friends. We were very happy, that we had arrived to Italy. 

Les élèves de l'école primaire "E. De Amicis" construisent de cloches: elles seront accrochées aux arbres dans le "Parc del Nocciolo" à Montecchio Emilia.