on Risotto and Gondola

Sunday, May 16, 2004
With any luck, when you see these pages you’ll see text with image, but it’s possible that you will not.

The process of getting my notes from desktop to internet is much more complicated than it was in Edinburgh. I’ve tried to have my notebook connected to the café network, copy files to PCMCIA card,a dn will now try burning CD’s. It’s not adding to the relaxing atmosphere I want to maintain, even if this nerdly activity is intriguing on some level. It’s all so many steps that I’m thinking that the Blog will end today, especially since I’ll be in Milano in 24 hours anyway.

This trip has gone very well - even when you include the hotel debacles. There go the noisy foreigners again. OK, I admit, the American’s in this hallway were also noisy, perhaps making the loudest noise of all. The Americans started out by being very excited about the absence of amenities here at the Al Sole. It was one of those neurotic moments when the woman of the traveling pair chased down the bellman complaining that there was no bathroom in her room. The bellman thought she meant the room only had a shower and that she wanted at tub, so he was off to go get her a room with a bath tub. (Not only is there a bathroom in her room, it also has a tub.)

But I was sure there was something up - my gut telling me that this person wasn’t satisfied with sleeping in a separate room from her traveling companion and that this was really the source of excitement. Low and behold 11:00 PM Friday the hotel management is traversing the hallway cursing. He’s trying his best to be a late night locksmith. “Why didn’t you tell me you had lost the key earlier?” Was one of his English language outbursts. Now mind you the key is attached to a big heavy piece of metal with 100 red tassels hanging off of it. You obviously don’t take it out the hotel. The American woman tried to speak quietly, but the manager was still so flustered with her he continued on in an unprofessional manner. How much do you want to bet that the woman was forcing her way into the companions hotel room?

Last night both the Germans and the French made multiple near mid-night arrivals. They all had the noise insensitivity volume of people who had been out drinking, but I have no evidence of this.

------------------------------------------

Food is expensive here - San Francisco dinning is very inexpensive in comparison. I’ve got to admit I have had some good meals though.

In the mornings I stop at the Brek cafeteria, and create a personalized yogurt bowl. The yogurt is a beautifully rich pure white think bumpy looking consistency pudding. I top the bowl of yogurt with chucks of freshly sliced kiwi and grapefruit. (The colors alone make the dish beautiful.) For lunch, on Saturday, I ate lunch in Piazza San Marco. The air was wonderful as the day was pleasingly breezy and sunny. A small restaurant band played music for the restaurant guests as we sat in the outdoors. Out in the plaza, the sky was alive with pigeons coming and going from the plaza, and the swallows looping around in the sky in their usual beautiful display. I noticed that a large number of pigeons were in pairs, one pigeon riding the air break of the pigeon before it, descending into the plaza by spiraling down from the heights, making for a very graceful scene indeed. (And I hate pigeons!)

Saturday dinner was consumed outdoors as well. I was stuffed on two servings of risotto (the minimum order), a head of grilled artichoke, and a platter of grilled eggplant slices. Topped off with a wonderful lemon tart-like thing that they swore was not lemoni, and kept referring to as “grandmother cake”. My waitress was a transplanted Albanian who was working days, and attending night school. I wanted to ask “isn’t this night right now?” but never got the chance to clarify exactly how many tasks she was juggling simultaneously. Oh to be young again.

Yesterday’s lunch was a brunch at Brek’s the usual enhanced with a lemon juice punctuated broccoli-carrot salad. I ate dinner at a Greek restaurant - they can’t say “Mediterranean” here as we already are in Mediterranean - that had many food options I was unfamiliar with. (I have to admit I’ll probably stick to our American favorites in the future, but it was fun trying something new.)

Breakfast today will be another late brunch meal at Breks as I try to limit expenses and calories. Tonight I dine at the Osteria La Zucca - by appointment only.

I finally broke down and had a chocolate gelato. Oh heaven! I went back and got another, and the woman gave me an extra scoop for free. I think she was thanking me for accidentally jabbing her unwanted suitor in the face on my previous visit. Honest it was an accident! (Thank god I outweighed him by 100 pounds.)

The photography has been exhilarating, as I hope you’ll agree.

-------------------------------------------------

I also went on a gondola ride yesterday. Venice is funny, there are all these sailor-like looking characters waiting on bridges trying entice people to take a ride in their gondola. After I crossed the Rialto bridge there were two of these gondoliers touting their wares in the plaza. One of them I was particularly interested in having give me a ride. (The photograph is NOT flattering.)

What a ride it was. He took over gondoliering from his retired grandfather 8 years ago. He said that most people we see working here in Venezia are not local inhabitant, but actually come from the mainland into town to work because work is good. For the last two weeks there has been a weird downturn in gondola riding that’s worse than winter season, so he was very happy for my fare (even though the question of my true motives were clearly in the air). So there I was in the gondola with his voice behind me telling me about the world, the oldest building this, the richest family that, the rules of the gondola traffic, blah blah blah. Sort of like having guide headphones on where the narrative voice has a thick Italian accent. Occasionally we’d pass by overpasses with loads of people gaping out at the scene of me riding solo with my gondolier friend. I say gaping, because I’ve been on those bridges - we’re all usually trying to take a picture. The people on the other hand were just looking. Hhehehehe.

Occasionally we’d also pass his fellow gondoliers doing their thing with boat-fulls of passengers. The banter between these men had the sound of the usual male chiding, but I couldn’t tell exactly what the chiding was about. I can say however that the chiding appeared to always be pointed at my gondolier - hehheh. Those boys had better be careful, I saw a few other gondoliers on that little gaunt that I’d take a ride from as well, so any one of them could be next!

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyone who gets this message should send money, fast please.