....THE 2 FACES OF ITALY....

This picture ABOVE is one of my favorite photos, for it's artistic beauty (in my opinion) because it shows TWO of the contrasting "faces" of Italy. On the one hand, its GREAT BEAUTY (the sea, the flower-laden balconies, and my family being here with me, of course!) On the other hand, it also shows an ugliness which is SO prevalent all over Italy from the cities to the countryside. That is the enormous amount of GRAFFITI, which is literally EVERYWHERE! On statues, on the walls of buildings and even churches, on buses and trains (inside and out), to name a few. It's such a shame, and something that distressed Settimio in particular to see. This is something we don't see here in the U.S. in GOOD city neighborhoods OR out in the countryside, much less to this extent. It's a huge problem in Italy and caused (Italians say) by the huge influx of immigrants this past decade. But I question this assertion, because I remember that graffiti was all over the place even when I lived here, in the early 1970's. It's just that it has gotten so much worse now, along with other sad changes we noticed.

Those who live in Italy ALSO believe that much of these graffiti problems are caused by the Italian system of government, which is SO full of chaos with all the MANY different political parties, eagerly trying to influence public opinion, and frustrated in the process. In fact, the Italian government has "fallen" (temporarily) most years, for the past 30 that I remember, and I was told it is on the verge of collapsing yet again. I forgot to ask how many parties there are today, but there used to be at least 6 different political parties in Italy (Democratic, Socialist, Communist) etc. with the Communist party many years receiving nearly a majority of the votes). Italy has so many problems that the average tourist is unaware of, and angry demonstrations in the streets are commonplace, as are numerous workmen "scioperi" (strikes) of various services. In addition, Italy also has its own gang problems, instigated primarily by angry youth who feel a need for this particular "platform" for their various gripes about life in Italy, as they see it.

Then again, SOME THINGS HAVE IMPROVED too! (Like the toilet paper situation !!) LOL, (Just kidding! - Italians have made much more important advancements as well!) But when you 'gotta go, you gotta go', and on this trip we saw actual REAL toilet paper in all public bathrooms & homes--- no more of the rough "crepe paper"or towels!! In the past, bathroom tissue was missing altogether in many restaurants and snack bars, public parks, etc.. However, this improvement is offset by the fact that in Rome & Venice, for example, using a public washroom or bathroom seems to be NOT allowed UNLESS you buy something at the establishment. You also usually have to ask for the key to use it (like in most snack bars). Settimio was forever complaining about this system. He likes Convenience, with a Capital "C". Ask Sonia someday about her recent "challenging" experience in the "pay toilet" at the Subway station in Rome!! I could go into the gory details here, but that wouldn't be right and she wouldn't appreciate it!! LOL .......... Ahhh, but doesn't that picture below of the beautiful sea, marina, boats and flowers just make it all worthwhile??? :- )



........I SMELL SOMETHING FISHY! ......A beautiful picture of the MARINA at NETTUNO, taken from nearby in town, and a small meat shop that I stumbled upon also, where I had the nerve to take pictures of their FISH, (without buying any, LOL), including the ROMBO, (the lone flat brown, round-shaped fish in the second fish photo below.) which I ate in a seafood restaurant in Anzio, later on. It sure doesn't look too appetizing in the photo! But as I said in the Anzio segment of my Blog, it is a delicate fish like Sole. Don't ask me what kind of fish the others are. Those shown on the blue signs with prices of 8 and 18 Euros per Kilo, ($7 & $14 per pound) are unknown to me, but "Sciabola" means "sabre" if that gives you any clue!

........NETTUNO'S HUGE OUTDOOR MARKET.... We spent an hour or so one morning at an outdoor market in Nettuno and took a bunch of pictures. Here's a close-up of some big blocks of cheese, Italian style! Parmesan and others are shown here. In the photo below this, I'm standing by my favorite kind of bread in Italy, buns called "rossetta" which are delicious if eaten fresh, but the next day they're like rubber! While in Italy those 3 years, I used to just about LIVE on these (with ham inside), so they brought back memories. I also ate eggs or tuna salads with tomatoes, at "home"in Italy, to tide me over til the next restaurant!


These next pictures show how fresh and GREEN (and otherwise colorful) the produce always looked in Italy, including the delicate herb plants they sold. The quality of produce even in late October here was always good ---though I'm not so sure "Good Quality" applies to some of the CLOTHES below, especially those tops hanging upside down, because 5 Euros (5.00) is dirt cheap for Italy!! That's $8.00 American money, with the exchange rate for us at the time we were there. That's another reason everything was so expensive for us here too - the VERY WEAK American Dollar!

.........GYPSY FUN!......I needed a new purse actually, but NOT in Rome, where we learned it was safer NOT to carry one, especially if you're a tourist and act like one! So that's why you seldom see me with a purse in our pictures. I agreed with my husband's decision to carry all our trip money around in his money pouch UNDER his shirt, and Claudio did the same. (That's what that 'bump' is under their shirts, in the photos). I know I mentioned "the Gypsies" at least once before, but I forgot to relate OUR bad experience with them on our last trip to Italy. Settimio got his wallet stolen by the gypsy children at an outdoor market in Rome, much like this one. They distracted him with a big cardboard sign and then slipped their hands under it to relieve him of his wallet (in his pocket). This is but ONE of several underhanded schemes they employ to rob innocent tourists.

Another trick we read about is that sometimes they even kidnap real babies or use fake DOLLS to throw at their intended target, because they know that the bewildered tourist will drop his/her valuables just long enough, to catch the "infant, and for them to make a getaway with the goods. After all, who would NOT help a baby in danger?? I for one do not appreciate their antics, their dishonesty, nor their lifestyle in general, especially that they teach their children to steal, and other corrupt moral values, no doubt. Oliver and the Artful Dodger in the Musical, "OLIVER" might have been cute for a couple hours, but THESE children (and adults) are anything BUT, especially when YOU are their target or victim! If any of you are planning a trip to Italy, and are concerned about this problem that plagues Italy in general, and tourists in particular, you can read more about it on the website: www.romebuddy.com. This site also has a wealth of information on just about every other aspect of travel in Rome too.
Sorry for going on so long a rant about this, but this would probably be # 1 of my Pet Peeves on ANY trip!

.......OH NO!!! - Right now, I am doing something prohibited in these fruit/veggie markets, and that is touching the produce! It was an honest mistake, I swear, (as most of our photos were snapped in haste), but I think the vendor noticed my hand on her pomogranates! In Italy's produce markets, (unlike in supermarkets) customers are NOT allowed to pick and choose what they want by handling it, because NO touching is allowed - period. I already described the unpleasant consequences of breaking the "No Touch" rule (and the logic behind it), in the Venice section! Just make sure you know about this in advance of any trip to Italy where you may find yourself in such a market. (But hey, you almost can't blame them....look how BEAUTIFUL their produce is! As you see, the oranges are SO FRESH right off the trees, that they still have their LEAVES on them!!

Now for an even "darker side" of some of these outdoor merchants. They can get very irritated and even verbally abusive over literally nothing, as they are often the least educated of all Italians. (They even have a special expression they shout at you meant to insult your deceased loved ones!!) You might hear this EVEN when your "offense" was nothing worse than not purchasing something from them (!!) ......I heard someone abused this way this very day at this very market, (NOT directed toward ME this time, but directed toward another customer). Though someone DIO curse my dead relatives once for not buying one of his umbrellas! Hard to believe.....but true! You might also want to remember a general rule in Italy that applies to MOST stores of all types - that the "Customer is (almost) NEVER right". It's nearly impossible to return anything after purchase, (even IF that's 5 minutes later!) usually not even for credit or exchange. This general rule of thumb is not merely realized from my own experience from living in Italy, but also what I've heard from many Italians, including family and friends, numerous times over many years.


...... FOOD AND MORE FOOD ! ! ! I never saw so many different kinds of OLIVES, until I lived in Italy!



















.........SO MANY GREAT DINNERS -----SO LITTLE TIME!!.........OK, there WAS a photo here of some COD FISH for sale, which I described in the paragraph below. Must be another of those photos that got deleted accidentally, in spite of all my efforts! But while we're on the subject of FOOD, I'll now talk about some of the meals that my Italian family prepared for us during our visit. I haven't given details about them so far, so I will now, because no Italian trip would be complete without talking about FOOD! All the dinners Settimio's sisters made were delicious and very much appreciated!

One evening we visited SANDRA, a sister who is extremely sweet and has always been so good to me. Her husband is "JOE" (who used to work for Proctor & Gamble in Italy) but now in his early 80's, has a hearing problem. (He is about 15 years older than Sandra). It was almost comical to see me struggling to make him understand me; ALL evening I often had to shout when speaking to him, and he barely heard me even then. The others had the same problem...I didn't suggest it, but I think he probably needs a new battery for his hearing aid! LOL. But he was such a dear and very spry for his age too, (the Italians would say, "in gamba"). At age 82 or thereabouts he was still driving, and even drove us back to our apartment at nearly 2:00 AM that night!! We took taxis home from other places when it was that late, but he wouldn't hear of it. Joe even slammed the receiver of the telephone down in the middle of Settimio's conversation with the Taxicab company!! HA, HA! (BTW, Joe was a very good, safe driver too, and drove the way I wish ALL Italians would drive!)

But back to those GREAT DINNERS! I still remember all their yummy homemade dinners 2 months later! SANDRA made some delicious lasagna and even more savory VEAL "Salt' in Bocca alla Romana", and her specialty, dried tomatoes and eggplant in oil. She also had fruit and a special Sicilian orange cake for us. She's a great cook, and the sweetest person you'd ever want to meet!! And unfortunately, she has also had a very hard life, in some ways, and I wish her all the very best in this chapter of her life --- she deserves only the best!

GABRIELLA (Certainly very much "in gamba"!) is another sister we visited, who was a great world traveler, and whose late husband, Luciano, was an ambassador for the Italian Embassy. They traveled and lived all over the world, and we really enjoyed seeing all her photo albums of their adventures, including their life in Africa and South America. (Another sister, AGNESE, was there in "spirit" only, because she lives in Argentina and wasn't able to come.) GABRIELLA made for us: Very tender roast veal cutlets in sauce with peas & bacon, but for our "first course" she served her famous ravioli. Fruit and dessert came later, but we were so full afterwards, that I regret to say that none of us could eat the delicious lemon cake she had made (or bought - I forgot!). We did have a little ice cream instead.

IRENE, the blond sister in the dinner and Anzio photos with us, also invited us over for her equisite Cannelloni, Veal & mushrooms, and 2 excellent cakes! My husband's sisters are all such great cooks and were so kind to us in so many ways! We appreciate also so much the nice gifts they gave us. I've talked about Irene a lot in this Blog, as we spent more time with her than any sister, after Romana. There are LOTS of pictures of both IRENE & MAURIZIO in our ANZIO pictures after the Venice ones.

At ROMANA'S HOUSE (where we stayed a week) there were many of the same dishes, Veal and Chicken, (sometimes made in the popular Italian way - breaded) , Tortellini, Minestrone, Fish, and various Antipasto items, including olives, salami, ham (prosciutto), green & red peppers in oil, and green beans, also in oil and served cold, eggplant, zucchini, salad and MANY varieties of cheese! And of course, always Italian bread and fruit! I can't remember everything probably after nearly 2 months, but it was all delicious!! The only thing missing from the table was salt and pepper, and I know I annoyed Romana by asking for it because I have such a "salt habit" it's pathetic. She considers both salt and pepper almost poison, and I know I really need to break my salt addiction! It makes me retain water, for one thing and isn't good for my blood pressure.

ITALIAN VS. JAPANESE/CHINESE COOKING - I know not everyone may be interested in my Blog "Chapter" on food, (Best to read it when you're hungry!) but many believe Italian food to be the best in the world --(including my husband of course!!) I love most Italian dishes, really, but I also have mixed feelings about them. And while I love Italian food, sometimes I prefer the JAPANESE OR CHINESE style of cooking them!! So IF I had any suggestions for Italians IN GENERAL (NOT any family members of course ;-), it would be to use LESS oil of all kinds, and LESS fried, battered cooking. I think Italians have a very healthy diet in general, the so-called "Mediterranean" diet, but to me it defeats the purpose of eating fresh green, healthy vegetables if you're going to deep-fry them in flour or egg batter, as they do so often with zucchini, eggplant, artichokes, meats and other foods. Also, many Italians (including my husband!) boil or otherwise cook the hell out of vegetables, making green vegetables like broccoli and green peppers turn brown and mushy. DEFINITELY a NO-NO for me! LOL, Apart from this, ITALIAN FOOD IS WONDERFUL!! But definitely also meant to be eaten in moderation, as we all know, due to its high calorie count !!

....PHOTO MISSING!....BELOW IS THE PARAGRAPH I WROTE WHICH PREVIOUSLY HAD ONE OR TWO PHOTOS ATTACHED, WHICH HAVE STRANGELY DISAPPEARED. BUT I'M LEAVING WHAT I WROTE HERE ANYWAY, BECAUSE IT DOES PERTAIN TO FOOD, AND SOMEONE MAY BE INTERESTED IN THE FOOD PRICES IN ITALY. WE SURE WERE!!

....MEAT & FISH - is extremely expensive all over Italy, (Like many other foods), but definitely less costly at these outdoor markets. The least expensive meat & fish is between $8.00 and $20.00 per pound. Even this sale on dried cod here is almost 23 euros per kilo, (2 lbs.) which converts to $36 for 2 lbs, or $18.00 for one pound! The other white fish in the photo is clearly marked 11.90 (almost 12 euros per kilo = about $20 per 2 lbs.), OR $10 per pound. And remember, outdoor markets are generally the most economical way to buy stuff! At the supermarkets we bought sliced cooked and raw/cured ham (prosciutto cotto e crudo) to make sandwiches for lunch, and the price was also about 23 euros per kilo, (that converts to $18 per pound!!) VEAL is the meat of choice for most Italians, it seems, and is plentiful in markets, restaurants, and homes. As I mentioned before, I tried to order CHICKEN, but chicken dishes weren't on the menu in many restaurants, and we were told that some Italians are wary of chicken due to many reports of contamination and "bird flu" in chickens some months ago in Italy. And of course, in Italy and in the USA, chicken is normally the least costly of all meats. (Lucky for that, because I love it!!)

....LASTLY, SOME "UNMENTIONABLES" I'M GOING TO MENTION ANYWAY! ....But to be fair, we discovered they really cleaned up the butcher shops and outdoor meat markets since our last visit in 1984. At least now they cover the food somewhat from the flies and don't keep it hanging in the open doorways anymore, those poor skinned animals!! I always felt so sorry for them seeing them hanging there, with all their parts still attached, entire head, legs, tail, etc. Hey, I don't like to be reminded of what I'm eating TOO MUCH when I'm eating it - (but that's just ME!) We ate dinner once in the 1970's with a farm family in the country and the Signora made chicken soup - using EVERY part of the chicken. I witnessed the CLAWS sticking out of the pot!! The man of the house ate a RAW PIG'S EYEBALL at the dinner table in front of us!!! (I'm NOT Kidding!) Many Italians also eat organ meats, not just liver, but brain, kidneys, and other "goodies" which I don't even want to HEAR about! AND I'M SURE you don't either, so I'll shut up now!! (Besides many other Italians eat only what I consider "normal stuff", and by now I'm sure you realize that I tend to eat "with my eyes!" as the saying goes! : -)

WHEW....! ! THIS CONCLUDES THE FOOD & NETTUNO PORTION OF MY BLOG (SO SORRY ABOUT ANY REPETITIONS! THIS HAS TO BE THE LONGEST "CHAPTER" OF ALL! LOL) NOW, WE'RE FINALLY MOVING ON TO VENICE ! ! PLEASE CONTINUE SCROLLING DOWN TO SEE PHOTOS OF THIS UNIQUE CITY THE ITALIANS CALL "VENEZIA" WHICH IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND CHARMING, YOU JUST ABSOLUTELY MUST VISIT IT SOMEDAY! SO DON'T JUST KEEP DREAMING ABOUT IT!! AS THEY SAY, IT'S A "GREAT PLACE TO VISIT" THOUGH FROM MY "VENICE REVIEW" YOU MAY SEE THAT IT'S A PLACE MANY FIND IMPOSSIBLE TO LIVE!





**** WELCOME TO VENICE ! ! ! ****

......VENICE....VENEZIA ! ! !
..... CITY OF DREAMS ! ! .....

(My mother once called it "a City for Rats" when she visited it with us in 1984, (and to be fair, we DID see one, and she wasn't feeling well that day! ; -)) Otherwise, she loved it too!! Others say, "See Venice and Die!" My opinion?? I think Venice is absolutely nothing short of enchanting, beautiful and unique in all the world, but it does have its problems. It is today a city which might as well have been built for tourists only, since, because of those problems, it is now INHABITED BY TOURISTS ONLY, for the most part. We were told that most of the former, native inhabitants have either died, or else have long since deserted Venice, in favor of firmer, higher ground. And that those who still linger here, do so mainly to run businesses FOR the tourists. Yes, Venice is slowly sinking ....and flooding, more and more every year, causing lots of problems for residents and tourists alike. The cost of living here is also beyond the means of most Italians today. More about some of this later. But after having experienced "modern day" Venice and Rome again, my views haven't changed that Italy in general is a GREAT place to find old world charm, adventure and romance, but NOT as much practicality and convenience! Having said that, if you ever in your life get a chance to see this enchanting city - DO IT !! (Just bring 2 pair of comfortable shoes (in case one pair gets wet) and LOTS of money!! LOL : -D

.......THE CURSE OF VENICE is its all too frequent flooding, and here you see tourists in St. Mark's Square trying their best to deal with it. The photos of the flooding were taken (by another tourist) 2 days AFTER we left Venice, but I wanted to include them with our photos because as they say, "Seeing is believing!" The photos (above and below) show the raised platforms that are set up for just such occasions, but seem only wide enough for "thousands" of tourists to walk across single file.

........Well this is one way to keep dry, but I know it would cramp my style as a tourist! And I'm very sure I would end up falling off into the water, as clumsy as I am !!

.......This was the scene as we sailed (?) into town on October 19, and it was near dusk, with a great sunset shaping up, not too cold and best of all --- NO FLOODS !! Yeah!! It was nice to spend more time in Venice this time (6 days) compared to the 3 days we stayed in 1984. And it was nice that it wasn't raining ALL the time. Most of the time it was just an annoying drizzle. It was usually cloudy so I had to lighten most of the photos we took here, but I may have forgotten a few. But on this Blog you can always click on any photo you may want to see larger and in more detail. Venice, especially of all the cities in Italy, you may want to see blown up, with as much detail as possible. It's a fascinating city!

.......We finally arrived at the beautiful Rialto Bridge, which the "padrona di casa" (AKA Angela, our "landlady", who rented the apartment to us), said it was just one minute walk away from there, and she was right! It was also only 5 minutes walk to St. Mark's Square. The apartment was certainly "no-frills" but suited our needs, since we were out most of the time anyway. I had spent a very long time online looking for an apartment in our budget that was close to everything, and I finally found one! And it was great to finally be there, tired after our 6 hour train ride from Rome to Venice, and after battling all the other tourists. The ordinary passenger boats in Venice are rather SLOW, but we took the fast EURO STAR TRAIN to get here, so 6 hours is really about 2 hours faster than other trains manage. The tourists from all nations were just packing into Venice as always, so naturally the transportation system (boats) were always filled to capacity and then some. Actually, as previously mentioned, this also applies to Rome, (except the "boat" part :-)

.......I never got tired of looking at the gondolas that Venice is famous for. They looked so romantic and so inviting, especially compared to the public transit boats, which were overcrowded, where even dogs were allowed on board. One cute little dog I remember in particular, was so distraught by all the commotion on the boat. He kept up his growling and high pitched whining and tried to snap (bite) at every passerby. His owner had a tough time controlling him! Another observation we made while people-watching in Venice, was that they were all very well dressed, especially the young men & women, and often elegantly so. (With the exception of many Americans, like us!!) Italians say they can always spot an American by their clothes. As for myself, I dress for comfort! But what I can't understand at all is how all these young women can wear those extremely high heeled shoes, ESPECIALLY in ROME, where the entire city center is virtually all cobblestone streets, full of cracks and crannies everywhere. Yet, we saw only ONE women get her heel stuck and take a tumble, ----only one. Just AMAZING!

.....Settimio too, dressed for comfort and the often wet weather, and Sonia and Claudio (who met us in Venice later, after their trip to Spain) joked a lot about how he SO resembled the scary fisherman killer in the "Scream" movies! He did! Just by his coat, (borrowed from his brother-in-law) of course, when it was all buttoned up and the hood pulled up. It was a most errie effect against the backdrop of the canals at night.

Anyway .....we were all set, rain or shine, to explore Venice, and here are more of the pictures we took. Sonia and Claudio took way more than we did (if that's possible!), but they still haven't sent them to us! Again, I wouldn't blame anyone reading my Blog if they wanted to skip the long narrative in most of these posts, but I wanted to create as full an account of our trip as possible, as a sort of Journal for us too, and for that purpose I needed to write a lot!

.............I was quick to spot this really COOL portrait of a Persian cat in costume, but we just as quickly found out that Venice was way over-priced on most things, so I didn't even bother asking how much it was. At least I got a photo of it, which I might blow up and hang on MY wall, LOL! And this "portrait" was in a shop window right next door to our apartment, so it was REALLY calling to me!! Darn.....!! On the other hand, it's EYES are not round enough and way too small to be a quality Persian, so it's got one strike against it already! Make that 2 - the long "frill" of fur around his neck & chest is missing.
............I braved the chilly weather in Venice when we arrived, UNTIL the real cold front came in a day later! And then I had to wear that old black sweater I had brought along, borrowed from my nephew....in fact, usually TWO sweaters at once AND a heavy shawl! (Shawls are the biggest fashion craze in Italy now, along with the usual high boots, even in summer.) But NOTHING could dampen our enthusiasm for Venice and all it's magic --- the charming canals and gondolas included. The gondolas in the picture below are docked on the Grand Canal, just waiting to take off, but without us....It's starting to rain again! (Luckily it didn't rain the whole day every day, so we managed to sneak in LOTS more pictures, as you will see!

.........A typical snack bar, (though smaller) like the one where ONE small 20 oz. bottle of water and ONE equally small bottle of soda cost us $12 ( ! ). We should have asked the price before we ordered, I guess! Everything in Venice costs so much mainly because of the familiar principles of "supply and demand". Venice is a relatively small city, but extremely RICH in beauty, character, charm, and uniqueness, thus attracts millions of tourists each year. And the merchants KNOW that only the tourists who can afford to come here will come, and will be willing to pay just about any price. Plus all goods must be shipped BY BOAT to Venice, which is also a more costly process, and slower too!

It's also interesting to note that in the big cities of Italy, just as in the U.S., there are huge numbers of business establishments owned or run by foreigners, and who hire immigrants to cut costs on labor, much more now than decades ago. We definitely noticed a huge increase in the immigrant presence now. More and more of them (many who are illegal) are selling bootleg or black market goods, too. Like the fellows we saw the police chasing in Rome, who had gathered up their pile of designer rip-off purses and split the scene in a hurry when the police arrived ! Generally these opportunists don't have booths or stands. They sell everything on blankets on the pavement. A LOT has changed in the 35 years since I lived here, NOT just the prices!

.....We passed MANY displays like the photo above of oil and water color paintings, and wanted to buy one, but they were quite high in price too, EVEN by some of the "less talented" artists. But those masks in this photo sure are interesting, and they even had some with cat faces!! The display window on the left has all types of animal masks, cats, zebras, giraffes, pigs, among many others in the store (which surprised me a little.)



.....Sonia is standing near the famous "BRIDGE OF SIGHS", so named because in the past, prisoners walked across it from the Courthouse to the prison, to serve their sentence. They sighed as they looked at Venice, for maybe the last time, through one of 3 windows in the bridge, as they were about to lose their freedom. That would make anyone sigh, that's for sure!








.....And LOOK AT THESE MASKS!! They make 'em in all types, colors and sizes, and these are beautiful too. Well NOT those long-beaked vulture looking faces.....what the heck are those?? It WAS almost Halloween, but I think that's only an American tradition. I
know Italians didn't celebrate it in the 1970's when I lived in Italy. But a few times we saw a Halloween display in the shops in Rome & our friend told us that SOME Italians do celebrate it in recent years.

AHHH, ST. MARK'S SQUARE - IS BEAUTIFUL EVEN DRENCHED WITH WATER!
(But the tourists are considerably less - and where are the pigeons??) Oh, I do see a lone pigeon flying high in the picture above with the Basilica in the background.

..........ST. MARK'S SQUARE, (or in Italian, "PIAZZA SAN MARCO"), where all the tourists congregate in Venice (and more than a few pigeons too!!)

......THE PIGEONS VS THE SEAGULLS.....FUNNY !! At least I was amused when I saw this: Someone had dropped a sandwich on the ground wrapped in aluminum foil, and dozens of pigeons were working feverishly to open it. Then FINALLY when they got the sandwich free from its wrapper, 2 big seagulls came out of nowhere and stole the whole thing!! LOL It was hilarious (and sad at the same time) to see all the pigeons hard work go for naught . It was even funnier to see one seagull with a huge slice of ham or bologna hanging out of its mouth, and the other seagull with the entire big bun in its beak, trying again and again to swallow it whole! Then they flew away with their prized catches, lest the pigeons try to get their revenge! LOL, I really enjoyed that moment and wished Sonia had been there with her video camera!! (OK, sometimes it doesn't take much to entertain me :-)
********************************

.....SOME INTERESTING FACTS The pic directly above shows only part of the top of the Basilica di San Marco which is decorated so exquisitely. The WHOLE Basilica can be seen in the photos above. We toured the inside, (got no pictures) but it seemed at least as gorgeous and huge inside as St. Peter's Church in Rome . Also, the very tall bell tower in the Piazza can be seen in our photos below, which the guide book says is over 98 meters high, and was rebuilt around 1912, after the original, identical one collapsed in 1902. No wonder....the ORIGINAL bell tower was built between the years 888 and 912.

Other photos in this group show a white building inside St. Mark's Square, which was built approx. in 1496, and is still standing today.
Part of this building is the "CLOCK TOWER", (white building in 2 photos below with bell on roof), where from the piazza, tourists can spot the bell-ringer figures (made of bronze) high up on the roof. These figures MOVE like clockwork (a UNIQUE ACTUAL GIANT MOTION CLOCK) striking the hours now and for more than 4 centuries. We saw this happen ....How cool!! I have a friend named SAM who adores motion clocks and motion lamps, has a huge collection of them, and even wrote a BOOK on them! - so he would definitely appreciate this!! (Click on the 3rd photo down to see the best view of the bell and figures on the roof).


.....HOW TOURISM HELPS VENICE:
The sinking and flooding problem is one reason, (Settimio's sisters say), why Venice is so expensive. It depends on Tourism for most of the money needed to help keep Venice "afloat", (pun intended!) and repair all the damages.




.............Another example of the costs Venice passes on to the tourists: We paid a total of $300 for the 4 of us for a 3-day pass, JUST to ride the "cheapest" regular passenger boats, (called the vaporetto ), which we didn't use nearly enough, since we walked everywhere so much. And I hate to say it, but we had to cut costs for eating out in regular restaurants in Venice (since Settimio and I paid for all trip expenses for all 4 of us, including airfare, trains, buses, boats, food, apartments, etc) so IN VENICE we always ate in snack bars and the "Tavola Calda" (translated, "hot table") which are similar to snack bars OR more specifically the "Italian equivalent of fast food"!! This was because as a rule REAL Venetian restaurant prices with decent meals started at $40 per person, and went up from there! I may have mentioned this before, but Settimio and I have never been "big spenders" when it comes to food!

.......TWO VIEWS OF "IL PALAZZO DUCALE" (Ducal or Doges Palace) in St. Mark's Square, was used for affairs of State or government. The facade on this side is about 72 meters long. It was constructed in the year 1404 by Jacobello and Pier Paolo dalle Masegne, (according to the our guide book). But before 1340 the original building had a much more primitive appearance and after being completely destroyed by a fire, was thus reconstructed many times. It also underwent more alterations and architecture by Palladio and other artists in 1573 or so, to add the finishing touches to its beautiful Gothic style you see now, as well as the addition of incredible pictorial masterpieces on the walls and ceilings. I think it's also interesting that just a few years later in 1577 one or more rooms of this palace were destroyed yet again by fire, thus requiring still more renovation and artistic work. We didn't have time to tour the interior of the palace, but from the pictures in the guide book, the interior is gorgeous beyond belief with all its ornateness, gold and priceless art in every room.

..........HELP! I'M SINKING ! ! ! (sorry about that....just fooling around and wanted to see if you're still awake!)

......Another of the very ornate churches in Venice (and all over Italy) and I'm glad I took this picture for Sonia, before they arrived because like me, she also loves artistic buildings and delicate statues. Click on the photo and you'll see how intricate they are in great detail! In the second photo, I got the bottom of the same church, where standing there on the left I believe that's one of those opera singers or promoters hired to tell the passing tourists about their opera productions in Venice. They always wore bright period costumes, to attract your attention. I stopped and talked to 5 of them, and purchased tickets for 2 events.
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.....TWO NIGHTS AT THE OPERA

....I think it's the same fellow on the far left side of the picture below, in the very elaborate red, black & white costume, who told us about one of the operas. I bought the actual tickets from the box office, (as Settimio was wary of buying them on the street from strangers). Settimio also REFUSED to attend either of the performances with me, because he was sure they would be low budget with bad singers! He was only PARTIALLY right. The first evening was a concert where the singers wore white wigs and 18th Century costumes, and I must say, they were very good singers! The price was right too - only about $45 per person (BEST deal in Venice!!) The price was the same for the second opera. The only thing I was worried about anyway was whether I got all the dog poop off my shoe that I'd accidentally stepped on just 10 minutes prior to arriving at the theatre!!

The production that Sonia and I attended the following evening was an entire opera, "LA BOHEME" (one of my favorites), but it was not fully staged as far as scenery, lighting, etc. In fact even the stage was a make-shift one, BUT the bass & baritone singers were quite good, as was the soprano. SHE was also SO ANOREXIC-looking that she was certainly believable in the role of MIMI, who was slowly dying (Has there ever been an opera written where SOMEBODY doesn't die??). Disappointing was the TENOR, who was only just adequate, until he got to the High C (on the word "speranza") in "Che Gelida Manina". At that point, his voice completely fell apart on several different notes!! Now, I've heard that aria and those notes over a hundred times, and I mean, they were *Unrecognizable*, sounded SOOO awful!! EVEN SONIA, (who isn't into opera at all), noticed!! I felt sorry for him and you could tell he felt bad too. He was young (around 30) so maybe he just needs more vocal training. I doubt very much that he was just simply nervous, because there were less than 100 people watching in all.

And he didn't even have to worry about projecting his voice much, because we were in just a small hall in an ancient building used as a school, but the hall was beautiful with many old paintings on the walls and also on the high, domed ceiling. I wish Sonia had taken a picture of it with her camera, because photography WAS permitted at these opera events. IT WAS A NIGHT TO REMEMBER -- IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE! Never mind, I think it's wonderful that they give tourists the opportunity to see opera (that otherwise many would not see) at a reasonable price, even if some of them are not up to desired standards. I've only attended about 7 live entire operas at home in my life, because the ticket prices for good seats are generally so high in Wisconsin.


....GONDOLAS & MORE GONDOLAS ! But someone has to also transport more than tourists to & inside Venice, like all the goods they need, from fruits & vegetables to all those glittery souvenirs. So that's where the "work boats" come in, as you see in one photo here, they're piling lots of packages on the ground that have just arrived. EVERYTHING is done either on foot or by boat in Venice. They even use boats for funerals, and they're black (just like hearses) and painted ornately. One boat after the other, all following each other - it's something to behold! Sorry, we got NO photos of the funeral boats nor of any decorated boats used in parades and processions. The boats you see in our pictures are just the every-day sort, but still very attractive.



......."MODERN CONVENIENCES" ?? .....The pic with the packages up there shows the famous RIALTO BRIDGE, which was conveniently located just a few blocks from our apartment. But not everything was so convenient. We visited a supermarket a few times to shop for extra food, but on SUNDAY it was difficult to find a pharmacy OR food store open. They close on other days by 8:00 PM, but are closed ALL DAY on Sundays. We walked all over forever with Sonia, looking for ANYTHING open which sold a very crucial item (to remain nameless) she needed in a hurry! FINALLY, 2 hours later and far away by boat, we found what I think was the ONLY supermarket open! I do think that certain important items should be packed before leaving on a trip, however, ...."Just in Case"!


ANOTHER THING WE LEARNED: ALL OVER ITALY, EVEN IN THESE MODERN TIMES, SUPERMARKETS DO NOT SELL MEDICINE, ONLY PHARMACIES DO! Romana said they hopefully will change this law or custom in the future.. I hope so! Because even finding some simple cold medicine we needed later was an ordeal too. Plus, paying $10 for a small bottle of 12 pills - which also seems can only be purchased directly and through the pharmacist himself, as we noticed that many or most items in pharmacies were located only BEHIND the counter! This made it difficult to choose what we really needed. CONVENIENT OR PRACTICAL?? --- I DON'T THINK SO!!