{postcards from Italy-Venezia (the conference)}

Hello blogland!
I have so many photos from Venice that I'm going to have to do a few posts--hope you don't mind!
I thought I'd start with the conference, which is the reason I was there in the first place.
It was a fabulous conference--a chance to reacquaint with old friends and colleagues and a chance to make new friends and new connections. There were some inspiring papers and the setting was even more so! In addition, we were treated royally with free-flowing wine and lunches and dinners-all fantastic food in some lovely typically Venetian spots (I loved that our lunch venue had gondoliers dining at the nearby table!)
The conference was hosted by the Centro Tedesco di Studi Veneziani (or German centre for Venetian studies) in a stunning old palace right on the Grand Canal called the Palazzo Barbarigo della Terrazza. Its name references the fabulous big terrace where we enjoyed conversation and coffee (not to mention the fabulous views of boats of all sorts from traghetti to vaporetti to local service boats).
I could go on, but I think the pictures will give you a fairly good idea:

{the beginning of the conference (photo courtesy of the institute)}

{friends, old & new (photo courtesy of the institute)}

{spot me in the audience? (photo courtesy of the institute)}

{this is the stunning room where it all took place, where I gave my paper...}

When we weren't listening to papers we were enjoying lovely views of the Grand Canal from the extraordinary terrace:

 more interior shots:

{details on the ceiling!}

{love!}

 The room where coffee was served had a grand piano in it (I was dying to play it!) and two profile portraits of Gaspara Stampa and Vittoria Colonna- two women I studied long ago during my MA thesis on female frontispiece portraits. It was like encountering old friends!

{Gaspara Stampa}

 On the last day we shifted locations, to the Palazzo Franchetti. If you've ever walked over the Ponte Accademia and admired the views, you'll be familiar with the palace. It's the lovely large yellow one on the left--you might even have a picture of yourself in front of it:

{stunning!}

One marvellous thing about getting inside these palazzi is you can see how visitors would have originally entered them: through the exterior gates opening up onto docks onto the canal:

I have soooo many more pics to share, so watch this space for more soon!
xo
L