Power outage, photo exhibition and Doctor, Doctor!

The Wednesday was the first truly gray day, it even drizzled a little in the morning, and the electricity was set to be turned off at 7:30 a.m. for 7 hours. So the alarm was set for 6:45, and I rushed to breakfast right at 7. Of course, it only started to get dark in the room around 8.

The entire neighborhood was without electricity, so what to do in bad weather? Venice in the rain is dismal, and even the locals immediately get in a bad mood. Life mostly happens outside, even in winter, but 'piove' is simply always hated.

At the moment, there are no interesting exhibitions in the large art museums in Venice; it is truly the off-season, nothing going on. The Biennale doesn’t start until May. But on a poster in the city, I saw an advertisement for a photo exhibition. The Italian master photographer Gianni Berengo Gardin, who passed away last year, will be exhibiting his black-and-white images of Venice from the 50s and 60s at the Fondazione di Venezia near the train station. The place is somewhat hard to find, right behind a church, but Google Maps, which works much better this time than in previous years, can locate it.

The exhibition is absolutely wonderful and brings back many old childhood memories. I can vividly remember this Venice in the pictures and feel almost soul-connected with this photographer, who also focuses on details and loves to capture candid scenes. In black and white, the city is also particularly impressive. I often converted and printed my own pictures of Venice in black and white as well.

Passing by one of my favorite shops, a store where an ancient man crafts new things from scrap metal and found objects, which is unfortunately closed due to the power outage, I at least want to take a ride on the traghetto across the Grand Canal. If you don't want to get into a gondola, this is the next best option: In some places, you can be transported across the canal in a quasi-gondola during daylight with two helmsmen for 2€. The true Venetians consider it beneath their dignity to sit down and stand in the middle of the boat, while the tourists sit on the edges. I only tried to stand once, but that was not such a good idea...

On my way to the next exhibition, which unfortunately is also closed, I visit a gallery with modern Italian sculptures, only to finally end up, after another detour to the swimming pool in Giudecca, hungry at a nice-looking restaurant with friendly service and really very good food, where the owner enthusiastically admires my Italian (which really doesn’t go far beyond ordering food) and out of sheer excitement treats me to a limoncello for dessert, which almost tips me over the edge after the half-liter of wine with the meal. In the corner of the restaurant, a Christmas tree is still brightly blinking.

On the way home, I encounter many large groups of young people, some with a sort of laurel wreath on their heads and huge bouquets in their arms, while others sing loudly: 'doctor, doctor!'. It seems to be graduation day at the university.