In Venezia X

Another beautiful day in Venezia. We lazed around a bit this morning, taking advantage of the absence of our gatti, the pests, Ping and Ryman, who usually force one of us from bed by 6:30 so they can begin one of three highlights of their day--eating, sleeping, and eating again. We fought through the crowds in what Donna Leon calls The Devil's Triangle of Venezia--that area bounded by the Accademia and Rialto bridges and St. Mark's Piazza--to the Giardini Bienalle. The city park was built on drained wetlands when Napoleon ruled Venezia. I guess he wanted to see a tree and have some shade. A holiday weekend plus the normal tourist crowd (estimated at 40 million per year, that's 110,000 per day in a city of 60,000 residents--like a million a day would be in Portland, all on foot) made the going slow. It's clear that the Venetians don't know much about caring for grass. They also don't seem to care about maintaining the park that houses 30 or more permanent buildings where on odd numbered years, countries of the world exhibit the art of their nations.


The place is a wreck. Trash abounds. Buildings are in disrepair (Scandanavian countries to the left). It's overgrown and a warren of trails leading who-knows-where. The Hungarian building, featuring a very nice roof and some mosiacs, seemed the best. Built in 1957, likely as a "told-you-so" to the world, it's clearly the class act currently. The building of Great Britain is also looking pretty good. Canada, right next door, appropriately enough (though Quebec didn't seem to have their own building), features a tree growing through the roof (on purpose). The US building is about a half-scale Monticello. Germany is under construction. Russia, built in 1914, is back to being Russia. Inquiring minds want to know if the grounds look better in the odd years or if they just go with the art inside the buildings. Googled, but didn't find, pictures of the grounds. Biggest surprise? Plenty of graffiti, but none on the US building.

Hungarian mosaic (left) and Canadian tree (right, eh). But it's not a sugar maple or even a Manitoba maple. What would the lads up the line say to that eh?




On the way back, I shot some bytes of a street vendor's relaxed dog, a tireless violinist (she's been playing every day in St. Mark's since we got here), an attractive sandwich, and some masonry as part of my forthcoming "Masonry in Venezia" series.

In Venezia IX

Three windows in Dorsoduro and three San Polo doorways. After a sunny, warm day exploring Venetian museums and Looking at Life in Venezia over the last 10 Centuries, I went back out for a walk this afternoon. I wonder what's been seen out these windows and I wonder what's gone on behind these doorways in Venezia. None let on.


For a city so vibrant during the day, it's almost soundless at night, except for the occasional footsteps and the abbreviated bells on the half and hour. I guess life continues on behind the shutters and beyond the three Venetian doorways.

In Venezia VIII

April 25th is quite the day in Venezia. A national holiday celebrating liberation at the end of WWII, it's also a Venetian holiday. St. Mark's Day celebrates the founding of Venezia in 421 AD--that's 1587 years ago. For a thousand years, Venezia was governed more or less by an elected republic. Granted, the Doges came from the aristocrats, but don't our presidents for the most part? And they had a very complicated electoral process, sort of like our Electoral College on steroids. Puts the history of the US in perspective, although I'm sure the poor of old Venezia probably didn't appreciate the republican form of government. But the poor of the US probably don't either. Flower stands started appearing as one is supposed to give a rose to the one one loves on the 25th. At 5 to 7 € a pop, there were very few visibly loved people in the crowds. Maybe as more wine flows...


Even the nuns are out in force. It's pretty unusual to see a nun in a habit in Oregon, and they aren't too common here either, but there were lots enjoying the day and even some talking on their cell phones. I'll bet more than one bambina's hand gets slapped with a ruler for pulling out the telefonino in school!



We headed off to St. Mark's early so as to be able to observe the Race of the Traghetti and found ourselves in perfect position to observe the ceremonies in the Piazza--complete with dignitaries, military, the only running brass band I've ever seen (yes, running while playing a fanfare), and a flag raising.









I'm also pretty sure I saw Guido Brunetti, the hero Commisario of Donna Leon's crime series set in Venezia. Nancy keeps reminding me that it's fiction, but I'm sure this guy is Brunetti. He looks a little like Lt. Colombo and was moving around inside the fenced area like a cop on the lookout for someone wanting to do something bad. What do you think?



It was also a great day for sightseeing, people watching and window shopping. The streets were jammed with Venetians and tourists alike. Lots of kids playing in Campi. Lots of tourists taking pictures of other tourists taking pictures of them. People from the ceremonies dressed in period and riding in gondolas. Lots of caffe, caffe latte, caffe correto, vino bianco, vino rosso, and aqua minerale being drunk. Lots of dolce, panini, gelatio, and cicchetti being eaten. Lots of miles being walked and steps being climbed.


Oh, here's what the bells sound like several times a day at our casa San Barnaba

In Venezia VII

Ok, we went to Murano today--the Island of Glass. Unfortunately, the island has been taken over by this race of creature, in both blue and orange colors, that causes almost everything produced on the island to be really really ugly and/or tacky. I will refrain from posting the little guys with the anatomically correct features...



Back to observations on Murano. It's a pretty little place--sort of like a tiny Venezia. We took the #42 vaporetto from San Zaccaria and stopped first at the cemetery. It's loaded with fornaci, the furnaces and glass making shops. There are even more shops selling all sorts of wares from some very fabulous glass to some really hideous stuff. I'm betting more hideous than fabulous goes out the door. Dolphins in various colors seem to be a favorite.



The cemetery is an interesting place with a zillion graves. A great quiet spot to have a picnic. It looks like maybe you get 20 years or so of a regular kind of plot (see left if you call that regular) and then get moved to a stack (see below). Some of the current plots are, shall we say, impressive. The stacks appeal to me. Watering cans and ladders for servicing the flowers on the stack are provided.

All in all, not a bad place to rest. Ezra Pound, Joesph Brodsky, the Stravinskys picked it.

In Venezia VI

After the thrill of St. Anthony's tongue (see posting In Padova I if you haven't already) it was time to spend the day taking care of business. I hoofed it up to the Rialto market for a morning of photography followed by marketing. The market was just as photogenic as the last time with myriad vegetable stands and fish, eel, bivalve, and crustacean mongers. After a hundred or so pictures, I put the camera away and started shopping in Italian 0.101 (that's like one-one hundredth of Italian 101). I managed to buy 2 trout for dinner, but I didn't know how to ask him to clean them. Rather than lapse into sign, I brought them home and cleaned them myself. I think the last time I cleaned fish was just before Zack, Molly, and I left on our grand adventure in 1991--they caught a couple bass at the Ormondroyd's and wanted to eat them. Seventeen years later cleaning a fish hasn't changed much although I suspect these are farm-raised genetically improved rainbow-trout...Onward. I found a meat market--rejecting the first where the butcher shared a storefront with a horse-meat dealer. Figuring they were related businesses, and out of respect for my brother and sister-in-law, my four neigh-phews, and North American horseflesh in general, I passed them by. Another shop seemed to have plenty of flesh that we don't consider companion animals so I went in there and proceeded to buy a small round of veal--no horse, just baby cow...There was a long wait; the butchers provide custom service, back and forth to the cooler, slicing, trimming, displaying, talking, wrapping. A sprig of rosmarino when appropriate for the cut. A quick trip to the veg market for lemons, beans, some fruit and I was on my way back to Fondamenta Gherardini and our casa. One more trip for wine (the wine shop was closed as it's Wednesday afternoon--just like Berea in the 1950s) and then some potatoes from our local vendor.

In between market trips, Nancy and I went to Scuola Grande de S. Roch. My o' my, what a display of early 1500s Italian art. The rooms were huge and the paintings by Tintoretto depicting both Old and New Testament stories were full of veiled imagery that I remember my friend, Luke Colavito from Ithaca, used to tell my freshman composition class about when we went to the Johnson Museum. The Scuola was great for me as they provided mirrors for observing the ceiling art--solved my vertigo problem and let me enjoy Moses Drawing Water From The Rock!

In Padova I

We took a day trip to Padova (Padua) today. Left Venezia by train about 1030 and arrived there at 11. We toured the Scrovegni Chapel--a chapel of some reknown and controversy. Enrico Scrovengi, a business man and son of a money lender in the 14th Century, constructed a chapel next to his palace, perhaps to redeem his father and likely to buy his way into heaven. He commissioned Giotto to decorate the walls of the chapel, which he and his assistants did in a short 2 years (maybe 1303-05). He painted a series of panels on the walls depicting the life of Christ starting with the childhood of Mary and continuing through the Last Supper, Crucifixion, Ascension, and Pentecost. The Disciples don't have their golden Annunciations during the last supper or kiss of Judas, but do at the Pentecost.

The building was neglected for some time and damaged in the war. The restoration is amazing and you now enter through an airlock after acclimating to the humidity for 15 minutes (you get to watch a video). Visits in the chapel are limited to 15 minutes.

Then we went to what may well be the high point of the trip--St. Anthony's Basilica. What's the draw you ask? Pictured to the left is a photo of a photo of the chief relic: St. Anthony's tongue! In the 1800s he was exhumed and his tongue and larynx were found to be in such great shape that they were removed and placed in the Reliquary. There it is, a tiny shriveled tongue complete with taste buds sticking up. The larynx is unremarkable in my opinion. Molly, I think this out does the Giant Cheeto and to think, you were only 20 miles from this!

Click on the photo to see a larger version...

In Venezia V

Here is a movie walking through the stunning portraits of Africans I wrote about--Post In Venezia I. In the background you can hear the bells of San Margherita and drumming from the music and dance in the Campo on the closing night of the exhibit. Apparently the exhibit is part of an effort to overcome bias against African immigrants to Italy. It's leaving here today, headed for Roma.

In Venezia IV

The street where we live--Fondamenta Gherardini. Nancy by the Ramo that leads to our door. The window sills in the foreground are our apartment's front windows, facing on a small canal. Over the weekend there was a steady flow of gondola traffic past our place--it's part of a nice loop from the Canal Grande.




A view in the morning down the Fondamenta, through Campo San Barnaba, towards the Canal Grande. The vegetable boat is tied up just past the bridge. At night it closes, with bungee cords and a blue tarp providing security for the produce that's underneath. Closed on Sunday, but at 7:30 this morning I could tell they were at work--lettuce leaves floating down the canal means they are freshening the wares for the day.


In the opposite direction is a local school. The bells in the tower play off and on all day and chime the full and half hours all night. Quite the clamor of bells in Venezia--they quickly become, along with the sound of footsteps on the paving stones, the distinguishing sounds of life.

Just noticed that the post dates and times are still Pacific time--9 hours behind the actual posting time...

In Venezia III

What a glorious day in Venezia! Clear blue sky and about 75-80F. I took off on a 5 mile loop early this morning--couldn't sleep from time change and I wanted to get some shots of places before the people arrived.

In the afternoon, Nancy and I headed out and ended up walking over 9 miles! Not all of that was planned--I forgot which side of the Canal Grande we were on and so I directed us to a Bridge Too Far and added 2 or 3 to the trek!

We stopped by the Cathedral of Giovanni e Paola (or as the Venetians call it, San Zanipolo) where I added to my "Floors of Italian Cathedrals" series of photos. Twenty-five Doges lie in tombs built by the Dominicans. The Chief Relic of the Cathedral is the foot of St. Catherine of Siena, pictured to the left. She is co-Patron of Italy, along with St. Francis, for convincing the Popes to return to Rome from Avignon. I posted this picture as my feet feel like hers looks...


Nancy's highlight of the day was getting locked in a restroom at a coffee shop--she struggled with the key and latch whilst I sipped the espresso we bought to gain her access to the badly behaving bath. She had one leg out the window apparently when the lock gave way. She wondered how long it would have taken me to look for her. I suppose a half-liter of wine or so...

In Venezia II

A preview of my upcoming series "Masonry of Venice". We just bought a house in Portland and one thing our house inspector made a point of was that "the bricks in your chimney have been re-pointed recently." I couldn''t help but wonder how the house inspector's report would come out for places we see over here. I decided to photograph some masonry since Bill, our house inspector, would produce a 500 page report about rot, water, masonry, water, algae, water, mold, water, rats, water, insects, water...Get my drift? On the other hand, these damned bricks have been here for 500 or a thousand years. Seems like they can wait 30 0r 40 more to be pointed...

In Venezia I

We ran across an extraordinary art exhibit in the Campo next to ours today. Life-sized portraits of Africans of all walks of life standing in the Campo San Margherita. Check it out here The portraits are 4 or 5 centimeters thick, but look like they are alive 'til you sidle up to them...
They are also printed front and back--mirror images. Great idea!

Oops!

I mistakenly referred to Babe as She--obviously, HE is not a SHE...

Babe! You've Lost Your Head!

Something was terribly amiss as I drove by The Trees of Mystery on my way to Arcata this week. Babe was missing her head! Apparently back around the holidays, the owners were decorating Babe by hanging a wreath around her neck. They knew she was due for some maintenance but figured they'd wait until after the holidays. Alas, Babe's neck gave way the next day.

Don't despair--repairs are under way and her head will be back on by tourist season...

The Soap Lady

We've had this soap dish for a while. It was in the Oxbow Powder Room--you know the one near the kitchen with the Bell Helmets decal on the toilet lid. But the sun never found it's way onto her before. In our new bathroom--no decals in this one--she lights up in the afternoon. Doesn't it just make you want to wash your hands?

Your All-Purpose River

Up in Fairbanks they don't believe in letting a river rest during the winter. Here's the Ice Road shortcut to Chena Pump Road from Pike's Landing. "Cuts 10 minutes off the trip". Today was the finish of the Iron Dog Snowmachine race and the locals gathered to drive around on the river, land and take off again in an airplane, and jump their snow machines. Beer was involved...














Good thing those snow machines were blessed, eh Newsman? I showed the science meeting attendees your post at noon--on the big screen!

The Passing of Two Old Friends

Bought these speakers in 1974. Shopped for weeks. Listened to low-priced, high-priced. Took my own music with me. Pretended to hear unhearable sounds. Bought these. Made for a small chain audio store in Minneapolis. A tweeter, 2 mid-ranges, and a woofer in each cheap veneer-covered chipboard cabinet. You could really drive these babies! Vibrated one right off the steps at Oxbow a couple times. Replaced a mid-range and a woofer over the years. A couple of sets of foam fronts. They've been with me almost my entire adult(?) life.

But, I've grown up. Don't need the volume these days. Opted for 21st Century technology. And Nancy said they weren't allowed in the new house.

Glenn, a guy about my age, came to pick them up today. He snapped at our Craig'sList ad "Free to a good home..." in less than 5 minutes. Enjoy them Glenn, but, they're old, so No Stairway, No Watchtower!

2-D San Francisco

I was at a meeting in the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco last week--yes I was trying to get them to lower interest rates--good job, eh?--and get a sample of the $2 billion in worn bills in the basement awaiting the shredder. They said no. But out the window of our conference room, I snapped this picture of the SF financial district looking very two dimensional, sort of like the US economy these days--seemingly not much depth and maybe a house of cards.

Interesting about the Fed--a friend asked if he had to leave his pocket knife outside security. "No," the guard replied, "we have 50 caliber machine guns, you can have your knife..."

Breakfast in the Big City

Corvallis friends Renee and Leigh joined us at Helser's on Alberta this morning for breakfast. Great food for what a grated cheddar omelette costs at lots of so-called "breakfast spots" that are popular in towns all over this country. Leigh had the Louisiana hot sausage scramble wrap, Nancy the potato pancakes, Renee went for eggs Benedict, and I opted for the heart healthy bacon cheddar Yukon gold hash with poached eggs--pictured below. Caution: Take Lipator before viewing...

A Little Larger House in the Big City

Nancy and I are about to become grown-ups. It looks like we will be home-owners again! Here's a tour.

Yes, after being out of the market for a while there was significant "sticker shock"