Our Fifth Week in Italy

Click HERE to see the photos.

Friday, September 21

Mike here. Today was supposed to be pick up Sandra at the airport for a long weekend with us in Italy. Unfortunately she got caught up in a security lockdown at Newark and missed her plane. But since we were up and dressed with no place to go we, of course, went back to Venice. As I should have expected, we finally ended up on a side street with a couple of small shops that let Margaret feed her need to Xmas shop.

Margaret Here. Mike pretty much summarized today. However, wandering around the Dorsoduro area was new to me. We walked out to the Punta della Dogana, around the point, and stumbled into an amazing art/music exhibit. Then we did a little shopping. The shops in this area are much more “arty”, with many of them being staffed by artists creating as well as selling. This was much more to my liking than the souvenir shops around St. Mark’s. We found our way to the Peggy Guggenheim, had a nice light lunch in the garden café, and Mike admired most of the art, especially his favorite Yves Tanguy. Our next stop was the Academia. Now, this place just was amazing. They say there is more religious art here than other museums, and we think that’s true. We were particularly fascinated with the Hieronymus Bosch works, as we both had read Michael Connelly’s books with a main character with the same name.

Some notes about life in Italy:

Crosswalks. Everybody walks here. If you can get there by walking, you walk. And the Italians are serious about crosswalks. Even on rural roads, if you are driving along and see a crosswalk, you better watch out. Pedestrians have the right of way.

Bicycles. If you can’t walk, you ride a bike. Or, if you just want to get out, you ride a bike. Bikes are everywhere.

Coffee. You will read in the guide books that there are particular rules about when to drink what kind of coffee. None of them are true. If you want coffee, any time of day, any which way, you order it. Espresso, macchiato, whatever.

Eating. The guide books also tell you that breakfast is just a roll and coffee, that lunch is the main meal in the afternoon, and dinner is a light meal in the evening. Again, not true. Italians eat all day long. True that the “main meal” is in the afternoon, but the evening meal is no different. Menus in restaurants offer antipasti, a first course of pasta, a second course of meat or fish, and dessert. Some people choose to consume all four courses. And at our family dinners, we did have all four. But it’s perfectly all right to just have one. I got so that I just order an antipasti. Too much food!

Food. Of course, pasta is everywhere. The supermarkets have pasta on multiple aisles. And every restaurant menu has several pasta choices. There is always an assortment of salame, proscuito, and other cold cuts. And lots of cheese. In this area of the country they particularly like Asiago. Breads are plentiful. We see roasted chickens at the food trucks on market day. And, of course, there is pizza. And more pizza. When you order pizza, you get a whole 10-inch thin crust pizza. And you have your choice of at least a dozen different kinds. Our trips to the grocery store always seem to cost much less than in the U.S. The food is fresh and not prepared. You buy food to take home and cook.

Driving. Yes, driving is every bit as scary as people say. Maybe even more so. I am very happy that Mike has agreed to do most of it, although being the navigator has its challenges. Google maps does not always keep up with the car. Especially when Mike drives the round-abouts in 3rd gear. But the most frightening is the narrow roads that are built between drainage ditches; ten-twenty feet drop-offs on both sides of a narrow two-lane road and no guard rails.

Saturday, September 22.

Margaret here. We picked Sandra up at the airport; her plane was about an hour late. She seemed ready to do whatever was on the agenda. First thing we did was drive to Lina’s and introduce her to everyone. Then she was shown to her room in the B&B, and we had “lunch”. Sticking to our previous schedule but just a few hours behind, we hopped into the car and headed for Possagno to see the Gypsotheca and Antonio Canova Museum. This was definitely one of the highlights of our month in Italy. The setting, nestled into the foothills of the mountains, the artist’s home and studio, the collection of plaster molds, the people, all were wonderful. One employee was learning English and graciously gave us a personal tour. While she had ulterior motives (i.e., speak English with a native speaker), her knowledge of the exhibits and pleasant personality made this visit exceptional.

It was about an hour’s drive back to Mirano, and by then we were hungry again. So we decided to try a little trattoria that we’d passed several times. We were not disappointed. After stopping by our apartment to show it to Sandra, we got her back to her B&B at about 11 p.m.

Sunday, September 23.

Margaret here. We had arranged to pick Sandra up at 10:00 in order to get to Orderzo by 11:00. When we arrived, however, Sandra was not quite ready (still asleep). Not to worry. This is Italy. So I texted Donatella to let her know we’d be about an hour late. We arrived at the home of Valentina and Alberto a few minutes after noon. What fun it was!

Then we headed out to the same restaurant where we had all been two weeks ago. Mike, Sandra, and I rode with Julius. Joining us for pizza was Louise and Julius and their son Enrico and his finance Barbara. Valentina (Louise’s sister) and her husband Alberto (parents of Donatello and Annachiara) and their handsome son Davide (20 something) were there. Also, there was of course Donatella and Alessandro and their children, Laura (14, just returned from a school trip to London), Giovanni (9), Domiano (7), and Maria (3). Donatella’s sister Annachiara and her husband Luca and their two daughters, Stella (7) and Emma (3). Always with us is the matriarch of the family Antoinette. Everyone was interested in Sandra’s shoes and the women had fun trying on samples.

From the restaurant, we drove to the center of the city of Oderzo to visit the archaeological museum. This area is very rich in history, from pre-historic, to Roman, to medieval, to renaissance. In the museum are artifacts from Egypt more than 2000 years old. And bones of a prehistoric horse. Also, a clay bottle that Julius found in his yard, probably about 2000 years old. He had shown it to the Mayor, and it was turned over to the museum. Julius jokes about his retirement being locked up there.

Upon leaving the museum, we met up with a friend of Donatella who is an archaeologist. She led us around the city, showing and explaining to us various sites that have been saved or restored. You must see the photos. She spent over an hour with us.

Back at the house, Antoinette showed Sandra the shoe making tools that her husband Tarcisio had used 75 years ago when he was a young man. Occasionally, over the years, after changing careers, he would make shoes for a friend or a relative. One particular set of “lasts” was the form he used to make shoes for Antoinette, who generously offered to give them to Sandra as a memento. It was a pretty emotional moment. Antoinette invited us to see her home, which was full of family photos and many other memories. We relaxed in the living room of the home of Valentina and Alberto (which is next door to Antoinette) for a while, chatting and showing photos.

Returning to Mirano, we discovered that there had been a food festival in the square and that Ristorante Dalla Lina had had a booth. So sorry we missed that. We did discover a cute little restaurant where we had some pasta and wine before taking Sandra back to the B&B.

Monday, September 24.

Margaret here. We had decided to not try to make it an early day, so Mike and I arrived at Lina’s about 10 a.m. to pick up Sandra. We took off for Dolo, bought our train tickets, and headed for Venice. Arriving there just before noon and finding a touch of “aqua alta”, we waded our way to the Café Florian for a light lunch.

Our behind-the-scenes tour of the Doges Palace was to begin at 1:15. I had booked the tour through Viator and did not realize that we were to meet near the pillars on St. Mark’s square, so I had a slight panic attack when the ticket agent shooed us away. We managed to recover and find our little (two other people) group. Our guide was excellent, and it was really fun to go behind the secret walls and to hear again the story of Giacomo Casanova who escaped from the prison.

After the tour, we walked through the narrow streets and found a cute little restaurant tucked into an alley. We ordered spritzes, and a couple sitting next to us started talking to us. One thing led to another, and soon we discovered that they are booked on the same South American cruise in 2020 that Mike and I are booked on. Now, is that amazing or what? We exchanged contact information and agreed to meet at the martini bar on the ship.

Sandra remembers a previous visit to Venice where she had found a shop selling ink pens made from Mirano glass, and wanted to try to find it. So we Googled pen shops and headed for the closest one. It wasn’t the one she was looking for, but had a lot to offer, so we agreed to return later.

Since our visit to New York City in August, where we saw the Canova exhibit at the Frick Museum, we’ve been a mission to learn more about him and his work. Our trip to Passagno was part of that, and we had learned that the Correr Museum in Venice was exhibiting Canova statues and art. So, of course, we headed off to the Correr Museum, hopeful to see the actual marble statues of the plaster molds we’d seen at the Gypsotheca. We were woefully disappointed. The exhibit was limited, and not well displayed. However, we did enjoy an exhibit on the history of printing. It was extensive and very well done.

Our day not being over, we set out to find another pen shop, but were unsuccessful. We did find our way to the Rialto Bridge (my favorite spot in Venice) where we had a light dinner and more spritzes. Afterward, we returned to the first pen shop we’d found and Sandra purchased a pen set for herself. Back to the Rialto to catch a water taxi and the train to our Italian home.

Tuesday, September 25.

Sandra had a return flight home at 10:50 a.m., so we picked her up from the B&B at 7:30, made it to the airport a little after 8 and got her checked in. Mike and I got coffee and a roll, waiting to make sure she got on her flight safely. Then we headed back to off to our next adventure.

When we were in Orderzo, I had asked Antoinette if she remembered the location of the home where my father was born and lived. She said it was near the WWI memorial. So, Mike and I drove to Ponte di Piave in search of the home. I have a vague recollection of seeing it when Tarcisio took us there almost 20 years ago. Mike patiently drove around. I had remembered driving under a viaduct and pulling off to see the home. We did find such a place. I am 90 percent sure the photos are correct.

We stopped at a cafe in Ponte di Piave for some iced tea, and popped into a cute flower shop and bought flowers for Lina (from Sandra), then headed back to Mirano. Lina fed us ravioli with a poppyseed sauce that was delicious. Then vegetables and meat. Again, too much!

Mike and I just rolled into bed and fell asleep when we got home.

That evening we went for a walk, got some gelato at Mirano’s famous chocolateria, and headed home for a good night’s sleep.

Mike here. Margaret did a good job covering the details. I will limit my comments to the odd impression or two. First, mixing Sandra and Margaret together is not a relaxing recipe, Saturday, Sunday and Monday were a whirlwind of activity. Second, spending time with both parts of Margaret’s family here in Italy is more fun the more I get to interact with them. The men of the family that are my age are as limited by their lack of English as I am with my lack of Italian. Alberto managed to let me know that he had spent several months in the US when he was in the Italian army and trained on missile systems at Fort Sill Oklahoma and at White Sands New Mexico. We agreed that it was too caldo “hot”.

Sandra had brought a bunch of her high heeled shoes to show the family (lugging 6 (?) pairs of 4-inch heels to Italy was a packing challenge. But as Margaret said the women in the family were very interested. Maybe…except for Alessandro and Donatella who watched their 14-year old in 4-inch heels (too young!)

As we walked through the Oderzo streets, small cars, narrow streets, limited parking, we saw a 1959 red Cadillac De Ville convertible parked in front of a restaurant. A continuous flow of people would walk over and take a picture. I have enough trouble maneuvering our little Ford and I can’t imagine the effort it took to restore and maintain the Caddy and drive it in Italy. One of my least favorite roads to get to Oderzo is a too narrow, 2-lane road with 10-foot water drainage ditches on both sides and I can only image the nightmare of meeting up with the Caddy on that road.

Monday, Tuesday and today, Wednesday, have turned colder. Monday night in Venice was chilly and windy but we hung out until 10:30 at night. Fun, but it made for a short night as we picked up Sandra at 7:30 the next morning to go to the airport.