10th Gennaio 2014

Sorry for the delays!

I hope you have time to read this – it is about 1900 words. If not, read it later, it is very detailed, but I hope it is interesting.

On Saturday I didn't go to school. Instead, I visited Venezia.

I needed to catch the 7:45 bus from Roncajette, just a few houses from where Giuliana lives. I set my alarm for 7:10, giving myself 5 minutes more than the usual half hour. 

It didn't go off.

I woke up at 7:43. Somehow (without breakfast) I was outside at 7:52, and I saw the bus drive off (late). I could have waited for the next bus, at 8:20, but then I would not have arrived at the train station until 9:10, too close to the 9:23 departure of the train.

So I walked to Ponte San Nicolo. Through the fog, in the cold. It was very nice actually. I did it in record time, arriving just in time for the number 16 bus at 8:07. I had to wait until 8:35 for the number five, but I arrived at Stazione Ferrovaria (the train station) at 8:55.

I bought a ticket, and some favetti, which are little biscuits, shaped like fritelli. They are another carnevale food. I didn’t know anything about them. They looked nice, and I didn’t want to go empty-handed.

I waited at the platform and, in the space of about 10 minutes four intercity trains went by platform 5, where I was to catch the train. It arrived, and I got on. I then received a message from Lia telling me to go to the first carriage. I was much further back. So I walked through the train. I felt quite bad doing it, as I had a backpack and the doors were really noisy, but I didn’t want to get left on the station.

A funny little sidestory, I couldn’t open the first door between the carriages. I turned the handle, but could neither push nor pull. Not wanting to look silly, remembering a little story about the Ohio School for the Gifted, I waited for someone else to go.  It was a sliding door.

The next set of doors, and most of the subsequent ones, were saloon-style double doors, in clear plastic. About halfway through my intra-train voyage, I found myself in front of a ticket inspector. I went through one set of doors, but I couldn’t work out how to stop them slamming in his face, so I let him go in front of me. I hope you are sensing the annoyance I received from the doors on the Regionale Veloce (Fast Regional) train.

Finally I saw Phillipo, from the day before, coming towards me. He had been sent to look for me in the back carriages. Only a few rows behind him I saw Lia, Luciano, Andrea, Stella and Nicolo as well as Orso, Lia’s son. In the row in front of them was Paulo and Aadam. I sat next to Orso and we went to Venice. It was very foggy outside, and we couldn’t see anything. However, it cleared up quite a bit before we began to cross the long bridge to the Venetian Archipelago. 27 minutes after I boarded the train, it was time to disembark at Stazione Ferroviaria Santa Lucia.

We left the station and were immediately awestruck. I have always been suspicious when people tell me how miraculously unique and beautiful things like the Parthenon, a particular lookout in the Blue Mountains and the Blue Mosque are, and I was especially suspicious of stories that a whole city, like Venice, could be so magnificent and awesome. From the steps of the trainstation one can see the Grand Canal and Ponte degli Scalzi. We began to walk to the bridge to cross the river (and take photos) and Lia took me into the Chiesa degli Scalzi for a few moments. I don’t want to keep banging on about it, but it was just so beautiful. Photos were forbidden, but I am sure that there are some on the internet that are better than what I could have taken.

So we crossed the bridge and began to walk down Lunga Chioverette. Please note that I am listing streets primarily for my own reference, but feel free to look them up on Google Maps or Open Street Maps. Here it was decided that we would have breakfast - at a pasticerria! I am not sure exactly where we went exactly, but I had an occhioni, but with jam instead of chocolate. It was excellent, but I think I prefer chocolate. I have looked up recipes for occhioni, and while they are fiddly, they don’t seem too difficult. I will certainly try making them!

Italians are, as a generalisation, fast eaters. I am a fast eater, by Australian standards, and I consider it a bad habit of mine. Here, I am always among the last to finish. On this particular occasion, the adults ordered coffee, ate a croissant, drank coffee and were ready to go before I ate a biscuit. I don’t know how. Another interesting thing is that at many cafes there is nowhere to sit. Instead, people stand at the bar. At others, there are a few seats, but each item is about 50 cents more expensive if you choose to sit rather than at stand. At this Venetian Pasticceria, it was standing room only.

We wandered a little bit, but our group of 10 was too large. It kept splitting into the adults at the front, most of the young’uns at the back and Orso and Niccolo in the middle. I was between the last two groups, depending on photo opportunities. It was decided, at about half past 10, that we would meet again at Piazza San Marco at half-past 11. So we wandered, with Orso leading us. We stopped a few times to look in shops, and photos were taken from every bridge, as well as in between.

One particular highlight was the Rialto Bridge. It is so wide, with shops on both side, that I didn’t realise it was a bridge until we were at the top, where you can go around and look off the bridge. We took many photos, and some selfies.

We continued through narrow little lanes to Piazza San Marco. There were some magnificent Carnivale costumes in shop windows, but there were plenty of signs forbidding photos from being taken. Again, while it is not the same, there will be some on the internet if I would like Mum to make one for a costume party.

Then we got to Piazza San Marco. There were SO MANY PIDGEONS, and I hope you realise the amount of superlativeness it require for me to use all-capitals. There were some people there, selling selfie sticks, who would, if you asked give you some crumbs, or put them on your shoulders or head, and the pidgeons would land on you. I didn’t, but every now and then you could hear a tourist screaming and trying to get them off. It was quite funny to watch.

We arrived at the Piazza about 3 minutes late. We waited for a while, but the adults didn’t arrive. Paolo, Aadam and I decided to take a little walk and look at the shops around the Piazza. When we got back to where Phillipo, Niccolo and Orso were waiting, the adults were there too.

At this point Stella and Lia minded our bags while the rest of us went into the Basilica di San Marco. I think I will teach you a little Italian, just so I you can understand place names more easily. You may already know, but “di” means “of”, and “dell”, “della”, “dell’”, “dei” and “degli” all mean “of the”. So, “Chiesa degli Scalzi” means “Church of the Bare Feet.”

The Basilica was beautiful. More than beautiful. Bellissima. Again, no photos. The Basilica had a good little money making system though. Entry was free, because you can’t charge to enter a church. Then there was a big sign that said that, on a guided tour (for only €17), the guide will open exclusive doors. Then, having decided against a guided tour, one walks into the foyer of the church. To one side is the door to the church treasury, (an optional extra for only €4). In the main room of the basilica there are about four ‘extras’, each costing between €2 and €4. As far as I know there is no ‘value pack’ to visit them all.

After San Marco we had lunch, at the Giardini Ex Reali. Lia had made panini for everyone – I had one with mortadella and one with Nutella. Then I brought out the favetti and all the Italians in our party were very happy – apparently they are popular. What I do know is that they are delicious.

From the gardens we walked to San Zaccaria, admiring il Ponte dei Sospiri, or the Bridge of Sighs, on the way. At San Zaccaria we caught a ferry to Murano, the set of islands most famous for glass.

We disembarked at Murano Colonna, and walked along Fondamenta dei Vetrai, admiring the immaculate pieces of glass in the windows. We went into one shop and saw a man making a bottle. We walked in at a very good time – he was just about to put it in the mould.

We crossed Canale degli Angeli (Canal [FILL IN THE BLANK] Angels) on Ponte Vivarini, and walked along Fondamenta Cavour. We went into a café – one where sitting was expected, and had ciocollata calda – hot chocolate. Some of you may remember a very cosmopolitan little Café in Putney, and some of you may have had Italian hot chocolate elsewhere. It may seem obvious, but I must tell you how delighted I was to find that, in Italy, Italian hot chocolate is just hot chocolate!

After our hot chocolate, we returned to the ferry and caught it to the train. I stood outside and took many photos. We got off at the train station and caught it home – I was sorry we had to leave!

I got off the train in Padova and waited a while for l’autobus numero cinque, aka bus 5. I caught it, and then 16, and then Giuliana met me at the bus stop and drove me home.

A little later, we went to the house of Patricia, one of Giuliana’s friends, for dinner. First we had a pasta that I didn’t really like. It was a Bolognese, with spinach gnocchi. They clashed. Then there was cold-meat and salad – mortadella, prosciutto crudo, salame and bresaola, which is thinly sliced dry beef. It was a beautiful salad, with fennel and pesto-marinated tofu.

For sweets we had something another guest had made. I am not sure what it is called, but it was caramellised chestnuts, pulverised and mixed with cream and sugar. Delicious.

On the way home, Giuliana and I discussed the food, as we often do. She asked me if I knew what the meat in the Bolognese was called. I said no, and she told me that she didn’t know the name in English.

Now, I used to be very fussy about eating meat. I am less so now. However, when describing what animal the pasta sauce was made from, I recommend not starting with:

“Well, do you remember Bambi?”

I wasn’t too horrified, but Bambi is one of the cutest animals ever, and I think it is a mental image that is just easier to avoid.

Here are some photos of Venice.