Feelings of the Day: Goals can be frivolous or for a proper purpose. The point of them is to set a benchmark you work towards. I am trying to keep fit, while on vacation, and see new things while doing it. Walking is my method because it's a great way to sightsee too. You also never know what you might find.
Full Day’s Events: This morning, while enjoying my oatmeal after sleeping in, I opened the window in the kitchen to more clearly hear the activities on rio della Fava canal. It was fun…but cold, so I closed them again. Fuelled up, I left to cross the Rialto bridge and do some shopping at the open-air market.
The market itself was fairly tourist free and, ensuring I didn’t get in the way of any nonnas, I navigated ordering some Italian tomatoes, parsley, and basil. The seller stalls are very protective about ensuring other sellers do not know all of their prices so NO PICTURES ALLOWED. The one picture I did take was at a seafood seller, whose wares I admired for two minutes before asking. He cheerfully said yes so it could be just the fruit and sellers that are so protective.
On the way back I cut onto the main drag that went back to the Rialto and encountered one of the enoteca’s (alcohol and nice goods store) on my list: Drogheria Mascari. After a short moment inside, a white shirt and apron wearing gent - he had pants too - came from behind the counter and asked, in Italian, if he could help me. “Si, vermouth es amaro por favore” (Yes. Vermouth and Amaro, please.) Seeing the Canada button on my man bag he switched to English and proceeded to show me the location of said items. I pointed to the ones I have tried and indicated I liked them. Realizing he had someone who knew something, he spoke of other ones, where they were from, and their flavour profiles. I picked a vermouth made by a family known for their balsamic vinegar, Giuseppe Giusti, who have aged it in their balsamic casks (they no longer have it on their website). The Amaro Nostrano, made by two gents that own a restaurant, is made with artichokes and seaweed and other things. Happy with my purchases I proceeded through the tight throngs of tourists.
At home I made a lunch which was to be my go-to: spinach, tomatoes, anchovies, canned olives, Pecorino cheese, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. Sometimes I would accompany it with half a can of mackerel in olive oil. Delicious.
Now I traveled East and North, leaving the bulk of the temporary visitors behind. I wasn’t going to one particular thing, but up to 435 things. Bridges.
One of the goals of my two week stay, in Venice, was to experience all of the neighbourhoods and islands that make up the city. I decided to do that by crossing every bridge in the city at least once, to see what was on the other side. I knew there would be bridges that ended at the door of a residence, where my way would be barred from continuing, but the bulk of them would carry me across the water where a new combination of bridge/canal/buildings/church/campo would await. I was jumping inside with excitement.
In my walking, far from the crowds, I saw the character of the city. Yes, there are buildings deteriorating and shedding skin to reveal the bare bricks underneath. Yet that happening lets owners know to repair that part and the area around it to prevent further deterioration. I could see that the repairs were happening more often than the last time I was here. Some buildings were abandoned and perhaps awaiting someone with more money than sense. If I had tons of Canadian multi-coloured or digital cash I would go for it. This city had captured my innards again.
I could see Venetians doing their day to day activities the way anyone would elsewhere. The mazes of streets they traveled were paths they could follow in a haze, easily, when in their familiar stomping grounds. Generations of adaptation to this way of life make it normal in not moving in straight lines to get to your destination. Perhaps that is why they lingered, in conversation, when meeting with each other to chat and experience the day together. They knew that life was not a fast narrow path, but the oblique lines that made it more interesting.
While making my journey, I went into three churches: Dei Miraculi, San Giovanni e Paolo, and Santa Maria Assunta i Gesuiti. It was mainly to see the art, but also to be in cool shade for a time. I was finding that the sculpture and ornamentation was just as interesting as the art. Some friendly advice. There is a Chorus pass where you pay 15 euros and can gain entry into 20 specific churches. A cost savings when you would pay around three euros each to enter. By the way, during service only parishioners are permitted inside and no bano (bathroom).
Dei Miraculi
Pier Maria Pennacchi, Vincenzo da Treviso, and Domenico Caprioli.
Zanino di Pietro's "Virgin with Child", 1408
San Giovanni e Paolo
Giovanni Bellini's "Politico di San Vincenzo Ferrer"
Santa Maria Assunta i Gesuiti
Tiziano Vecellio's "Marydom of Saint Lorenzo", 1548-59
Guiseppe Torretti's "Achangel Uriel"
Some other places during my walkabout.
Returning home I worked on my travel diary and made a supper of contorni of lightly fried carrots and zucchini with garlic, paired with pappardelle pasta with pesto. Yum! The pre and during dinner drink of the vermouth was nicely complex, but not too herbaceous, with a bit of vinegar sweetness from being aged in Balsamic barrels. The Amaro was lovely and deep like the water around me, or at least deep enough for me. I could taste the artichokes and seaweed notes, but it was the clean herbs that rounded it off. 7.6 km, 9 flights, 4 previously crossed bridges and 21 new bridges crossed and walked.
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