fly me to the moon

Or another galaxy.  Whichever.  

So, contrary to whatever impression I am giving on this blog, I am actually here for work.  Namely, I'm here to pack up this exhibit when it wraps up in another week:

Sadly, I cannot wrap up the marble busts surrounding it.  But I will be packing up this little number:

And this whopper of a beast (took my coworker and I half a day to put this thing together during a trail run - here's hoping that taking it down will be a lot easier!)

It's a grand exhibit being held in a gorgeous Palazzo.  Yeah, a palace.  Go NASA and ESA.

Me being me, I was pretty distracted by the shiny Murano chandeliers scattered throughout the rooms.  Proof that mankind's sources of light can be almost as gorgeous as the Lord's . . . 

Well, almost.  These are two of my favorite Hubble pictures, and they have them displayed right next to each other!  These are both areas where stars are born (which blows my mind).

And yes, I AM a dork.

 I really, really want to play with this thing.  Don't tell my boss.  Apparently the astronaut detaches.

 Love the juxtaposition of the old and new; a key theme of the entire exhibit.

 A collection of the tools that the astronauts used in space, on orbit (and the part I'm really, really, nervous to touch . . .)

Dorkaholic moment: the tool below is what the astronauts used to detach 117 teeny tool screws from an instrument cover in space without losing a single one (which would seriously mess up the telescope).   

Photo taken from the shuttle of Hubble drifting away after it was fixed.  I will admit, once and for all, that with my complete and utter love for collecting views from high places, being an astronaut sounds like the most incredibly amazing job in the world.  Just LOOK at that.  Didja know that in Low Earth Orbit, astronauts see the sunrise 16 times a day?  And that the atmosphere looks like a thin rim over the Earth during it - like you could peel it off the orb of our world?

But I digress.

So this is part of the solar array panel that the European Space Agency contributed to Hubble.  I like it because looks like a stained glass window when you see it in certain lights.  And yes, that is why I am artsy.  :)  It used to catch the sun's light, now it captures ray from Murano glass.  Not such a bad trade-off.

Lest these pictures suggest otherwise, I will blurrily prove that I was not the only person in the exhibit.  In fact was pretty packed every time I went through.  Pretty dang cool.

So, speaking of chandeliers.  Yes and please.  And I will take the ceiling too, while we're at it.

The Palazzo is lined with books and manuscripts from down the centuries.  Oh, and Murano glass that I wish I could slip into my suitcase.

So, after scoping out million dollar items that I could potentially drop next week, I checked out the church next door, San Vidal.  It's deconsecrated and used for concerts every night.  But for the moment, it was there for me to soak in.

After 2 years in baroque-in-your-FACE Rome, I have a deep, deep love for white churches.  I adored this one.  I just missed having Jesus in it. :(

So, this has to be said.  Artistic license my foot.


Dear Simeon,


Apparently, many artistic renditions of St. Joseph have made you believe that baby Jesus can miraculously levitate himself while fumbling human hands barely support his holy little body.


I would like to take this opportunity to point out that in real life, baby Jesus would drop to the floor.


Do you really want people to worry about baby Jesus while you're manning the ship?  Do you really want to drop baby Jesus?


I mean, he's only the creator of the Universe.


Just a friendly note.


Love,
Adrienne

So, I went back to the grind and walked across the street to the conference. This is where we have our coffee breaks and lunches when the weather is nice.

And here below is part of the facade of San Moses.  Ahuh.  The Venetians decided to make him a saint.  They also decided to make camels that resemble the tontons or whatever-the-heck-they-are from the second Star Wars movie.  


Look - I'm sorry.


No freakin' animal looks like that.


And praise the Lord for it.


The church is known as the fugliest facade in Venice.  Yeah, I can understand why.  It looks like the artist sneezed flowers, fruit, and disfigured animals over a perfectly nice plain church front.  Che managia.

Here's an equally odd (think ransack art) but much prettier facade: San Marco's.  Hmm, either the wine was getting to me or the piazza was sloped when I took this picture.  Most likely the latter.  The water is literally seeping up through the bottom of the piazza in certain spots, and the Lilliputians could use it for a rollercoaster in certain areas.  The city is sinking fo sho.

 But the columns are still delightful.

This plaque on the corner commemorates how Venice took over Rome's prominence once the Huns kind of ruined the rest of Italy.  Thanks, Huns. 

 I love lacey stonework.  Love, love, love it.

 This lamppost gives a new meaning to rose-colored glasses.

 Love how the faces look out over the city.

 And oh, what a sight was there to see.

 This makes me think of a collection of keys lined one by one.

Although you'd have to be OCD to do that.  Here is the Bridge of Sighs, being repaired.  I did not take a picture of the ginormous making-out couple on the right side of the bridge. Oh, Italian posters.  How I have not missed you.

So this represents a milestone for me, for: When I get home, I'm going to upload my picture from 6 years ago from this same spot.  It was a sea of umbrellas back then.  And I was a different girl.

This is kind of disgusting.  I'm only at mid-afternoon from yesterday, and there are still ions left to cover!  Too much in two days!