Finding ourselves in the corner of an Art gallery.

After Coffee and Architecture the hunt for Art Galleries and tiny gardens was our motivation and route maker in Venice. The Peggy Guggenhein Collection was a fabulous destination because,not only did it have all  three targeted pleasure points, but the building itself it was also the subject of a book I had chosen as my holiday read.

A faacinating book because so many of the artists who were previously unknown to us, and many who are well known put in frequent appearances in the book. Palazzo Venier was the home to three unusual art and artist-loving women. Luisa Casati, Doris Castlerosse and Peggy Guggenheim.

The corners of this Palazzo hold so many secrets. I am not sure about defining interesting women by the amount or variety of sexual partners they have. But while living in this very peaceful and calm building these women lived quite the life. And goodness me this book tells the reader that this house has seen some action. Not just artistic types either. Churchill visited for R and R and happy endings when, given that he was a World Leader his mind should quite properly have been elsewhere.

The last owner before this home became a gallery is buried in the beautiful garden courtyard with her beloved dogs. Which answers, for her, the question below.

What are your favorite animals?

After an international life of great wealth and the friendship of some of the world’s most famous artists. Peggy Guggenheim chose to be buried beneath Venetian skies with her pet dogs.

It is easy to imagine how that decision was made. There is an astonishing sense of peace and calm under the blue skies of a November day in her last resting place.

My favourite painting from this particular collection of hers is also superbly peaceful. Which proves, I suppose that peace can be found anywhere if you look hard enough.

Do you trust your instincts?

I do trust my instincts to hunt for interesting images, but for accurate travelling I trust the App Citymapper far more. Our last few days in Rome and the daily 20,000 step count has got us to exactly where we have needed to be, thanks to Citymapper. Once we have delivered ourselves to the right location it is time to trust instinct to fine tune the hunt for the unusual. Rome was extraordinarily full of texture, history and Faith.

There is an awful lot of bling involved in Catholicism, not my thing at all. But I found a simple iron cross, some   Sgraffito and some votive candles in a tiny back street. I layered the three together to get a much more humble image of  the textures of Christianity than is normal for Rome.

Texture was definitely the defining experience of walking around Rome. Everything is beautiful and fascinating but the small unplanned details stopped us in our tracks.

Every excursion challenged our feet and minds. Pavements were poorly maintained but older cobbled areas maintained their integrity.

Gorgeous buildings were connected by slightly tatty walls but with so much more interest than a perfectly plastered finish

But history also found its way through perfect plastering.

And old doors told other stories.

New doors too get a bit of a tweak.

Even beige can be interesting in a new city.