The Arsenale Biennale D9

I had breakfast at the hotel for the first time. It was quite nice for a change to have yogurt and a nectarine! Then I walked over the strangely grand wooden bridge and watched a boy with the family fox terrier biting his shoe. Then I walked across the grand area of St Mark's and thought of the Place de Concord in Paris. The sun was already beating down and I took refuge in a small park area with a water fountain. 

I met Laurens and her tall knowledgable husband Pierre and we went to see the first two pavillions together - Chile and the experience of tunneling down into wetlands, and the strange ghostly world of Italy with the arrival of Charon. I also enjoyed the whale song, the huge hands, the fire and water of Malta, the strange dreams of Slovenia, the textiles of the Phillipines, the laughter of New Zealand, the sadness of Albania, the endless surprises of Latvia and so on.

Then in the hot sun I made my way to Bar Colleoni Di Vianello G. & C. S.A.S. for cicchetti and a beer, and bought some presents, raced a guy carrying big bags of designer clothes over Accademia bridge and I won! Not sure why we ended up in a race.