A Day in Padova

Day 7 was all about modern art. I enjoyed looking at the marvelous paintings of the medieval through the Renaissance, but I was afraid to admit that modern art had never made any sense to me. It was always too abstract or random for me to interpret the motive the artists had. However, the lecture on modern art in the morning was enough to get me excited for the day. Modern artists experiment with new ways of seeing and interpreting, usually with the expressive use of color, non-traditional materials, and new techniques and mediums. What I liked about modern art is that each painting is created with a distinctive motif. The ambiguity is what makes it possible for the artists to express their feelings inside. Of course, an art piece could mean nothing but just simple lines and colors – for example, a piece of art done by Piet Mondrian we saw at Peggy Guggenheim. However, you would not realize how he wanted to express the individual consciousness in the relationship with the absolute, or the universe, in terms of the “mutual interaction of constructive elements and their inherent relations” (Mondrian) through the minimized gesture. It was exciting to be able to understand modern art pieces through learning about the philosophy that each artist holds.

Sadly, the day 7 was also the last day with group activities. Most of us were leaving for the US the following morning. However, the professors did not let us go without experiencing the most Venetian thing any tourists would think of: a gondola ride! This was a total surprise for all of us, and everyone was so excited to be on the gondola that we admired every time we saw other tourists on a gondola passing by. Being on a gondola, we could actually observe the buildings with gates open towards the canal for the direct entrance from the boats. We did not forget to smile at other tourists, who were taking pictures of us – well, actually gondola, but we were on it so… – and we were very satisfied with the whole experience. It was definitely one of the best moments I had throughout the whole trip!

 

After the gondola ride, we went to get our last supper in Venice as a group. While it was always hard for all 20 of us to dine in one restaurant because the restaurants in Venice are usually small and they prefer to serve a number of smaller groups of people than one giant group. The professors arranged this special dinner for us to experience the authentic Venetian seafood. Most of the food served we had were new to me, as I am not much of a seafood person, but I thoroughly enjoyed trying out the Venetian cuisine different from pasta and pizza we normally consider to be Italian cuisine.

Overall, I can say that day 7 was one of my favorite days in Venice. Being open-minded about modern art excited me for the opportunity to see more modern art pieces in the future, getting on the gondola is regardless to say, and the Venetian cuisine was truly authentic!