I thought I’d tell you what a typical day in Venice is like for us.   We’re renting an apartment on the 2^nd floor.  We have cooking facilities and are quite close to vegetable markets,  shops, restaurants and the boat dock.  Since there are no cars in Venice, being close to a boat dock is certainly an advantage. I haven’t really introduced you to my travelling companions.  This is a picture of the three of us at the top of the Campanile.  Can you tell the wind was blowing and it was kind of cold?  Bri, on the left, is from the Chicago area, me in the middle (looking the most like a tourist), and Nancy, on the right, is from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Our day usually begins at the local Caffe’.  I have a cappuccino—2.20 euros if we sit at a table,  1.20 euro if we stand at the counter.  It’s quite a busy place on the square.  When we get there the garbage crew, which can be as many as 4  men, or as few as 1 men, are sweeping and cleaning.

This is the cappuccino machine that gives us our morning jolt.

It’s a daily job, but it’s obvious that keeping the city clean means a lot to the Venetians.  This cleanup is accompanied by quite an elaborate recycling program that even we have to follow.  All items must be separated, identified and put outside the door on the appropriate day.  This goes on six days a week.  Then, because there are no cars in Venice, you will see green garbage trucks on the canal, picking up all the garbage.

Also in the square where we have coffee are small vendors, offering vegetables, fresh fish, tourist nick-nacks, and other coffee shops and restaurants.  We watch children go to school, we watch the dogs wander after their owners and we watch the vendors bring out their goods each and every day.  I can’t imagine hauling everything out and packing it up each evening, 7 days a week.  They work hard, pulling everything in on carts.

We’re getting well acquainted with the neighborhood.  It’s definitely one of the advantages of living in a neighborhood and “becoming” Italian.

I love the walking everywhere, the small shops and the feeling that you’re becoming part of the community.  Bri will be off to Florence on Monday morning, but Nancy and I will be here another week.  Tomorrow, after cappuccinos, we hope to be on our way to Burano, the island of lace.  See you there!

One thing I’ve been reminded of on this trip, is that Italians do everything beautifully.  Whether it’s cooking, flowers, clothes, whatever…everything is done artfully and ultimately appears beautiful.  I’ve started taking pictures of doors and door knobs.  They intrigue me here.  See if you understand what I mean.

I continue to be amazed at the beautiful window boxes as well.

Shop owners take great care in arranging their merchandise, making it a feast for the eyes for anyone who walks by.

It’s not unusual to see people walking by with flowers in their hands.  The fruit and vegetable vendors take great care in arranging their food so that it is visually appealing.  Bakeries, gelato stores-everyone in Italy lives beautifully.

Here’s one of my travelling companions in front of a bakery.

Hope you enjoy some of the beauty of Italy.  I just want to absorb it and bring it all home with me.  Living beautifully is a way of life that anyone can have.  I’m going to try to do it better!  We’re off to museums today!

Yesterday was the best day!  The Italians seem to know that tourists are extremely important to Italy.  We have experienced this firsthand.  Everyone we have asked questions of, everyone we talk with are so welcoming and generous.  The “glass people” in Murano and Venice have gone beyond anything I had ever imagined.  Earlier in the week we visited Vittorio Constantini, known for his glass insects, birds and butterflies.  We spent a fair amount of time talking with he and his wife in his shop.While there, I chose to buy one of his bees.  They are made to scale and I don’t think you could tell that it’s not real if you didn’t know.  He allowed us to photograph this display of his.

Yesterday, on Murano, we visited the Carlo Dona tool shop.  It’s just a small place.  You wouldn’t know it was there.  But the tools that Carlo and his son Roberto make are the tools famous glass artists thoughout the world use.  I’m thinking we may go back there!

We also stopped to visit with Lucio Bubacco.  Nancy had taken a class from him in Murano a couple of years ago.  He was packing his work to be sent to Chicago for a SOFA exhibit.  His work is very ornate and sculptural.  He sells to clients like Elton John and Donald Trump, in addition to making

items such as chandeliers. Can you imagine packing these to send?

We also were able to visit the David Salvadore shop where we all bought handblown glass beads.  They are so neat!  Since right now they’re all packed up, ready to come home, I won’t take pictures, but they are wonderful!  Then, we ended the day with Paolo Cenedese and his wife.  I’ll bet we spent at least 1 1/2 hours in their shop.  He was generous enought to make some of his seashells while we watched so we could then purchase the ones he made.  He also made a glass artist’s brush. Here he is working on one of his shells for us.  We learned that Paolo loves to play the drums and he’ll be having a Halloween party, even though Halloween isn’t really a holiday that is celebrated in Italy.  He told us what he’ll be dressing up as, but I guess I better not give that away!  He said it’s more of an excuse to have some fun!

I’m sure we’ll be returning to Murano before our time is up.  But if you love glass, you must plan on coming.  It’s an amazing place! Ciao!

Yesterday I was inspired by the food of Venice.  And, actually, I still am.  But now it’s the art that seems to be everywhere.  The last time I was here I swore that it was impossible not to take a picture that looked like it belonged on a calendar or in a book.  I’m not a great photographer, but, Venetians have a way of making everything beautiful.

These are pictures from yesterday.  See if you agree.

We walked by an antique shop where the owner had created these Pinnochios out of leftover pieces of wood.  I love them!

We all had trouble sleeping last night.  We were tired, but the time change really threw us off.  I’m sure we’ll all sleep well tonight.  We started the morning with cappuccino.  It was yummy! Bri had “toast” which was two pieces of toasted bread with melted cheese and meat in the middle.  Nancy had a jelly filled croissant.  Needless to say, we enjoyed our breakfast outside in the sunshine.  Then we ventured to the supermarket.  We started with a typical Italian dinner…fresh pasta, Italian sausage, fresh vegetables from a boat market, bread & cheese and of course, wine.  Venetians present their food so beautifully!  Look at these bread faces that a bakery was selling. Since this is the first day, I’m sure there will be more pictures of food.  But before I close, one more picture that’s food related…boat markets.  This is where we purchased our fruit.

And, yes, we did more than eat today!  Tomorrow we’ll be touring the Orsoni mosaic factory, Saturday we’ll be on the Secret Itinerary Tour of the Dogges Palace, and of course we’ll be visiting Murano and Burano.  Come with us, you’ll have a great time!

We arrived in Venice about noon today.  This is such an interesting city.  There’s always something interesting just around the corner.  No pictures today…we just all got our internet figured out.  Tomorrow one of our major tasks is to find the grocery store.  Our apartment is basic, but in a good location and only up one flight of stairs.  The walk from the bus terminal to the apartment was kind of a killer.  I had the heaviest suitcase and we had to cross 3 bridges.  Because of the weight of my suitcase I couldn’t pull it up the steps, I had to carry it up the steps.

Tomorrow is a day for exploring…finding interesting shops and figuring out what we want to do the rest of the time here.  I’ve already seen some handmade dresses for little girls that would be just perfect for our granddaughter.  That’s one place, I may want to visit again.

We are all very, very tired.  It will be early to bed for me tonight so I can have lots of energy to explore the wonders of Venice!!!

Over the years, I’ve become a pretty decent packer when we go on vacations.  I’m more inclined to take lots of things to do and not a lot of clothes. For this 16 day trip to Venice, I’m being presented with the ultimate packing challenge.  Dan isn’t coming.  That means I am in charge of lugging my own bag(s).  In Venice, that means up and down stairs.  So….what to take????  Fortunately, we’re staying in an apartment that has a washing machine.  We’ll be hanging our things on a line to dry just like the Venetians do.  That means quick drying clothes would be good.  Underwear is a necessity.  However, when Dan and I went to Italy a couple of years ago, we took our oldest underwear and just threw it out.  We also took old, but serviceable clothes that could be dumped.  That method leaves room in bags for bringing things home!

A raincoat is a must, as well as a sweatshirt or fleece of some kind for layering.  A pair of jeans will be in my bag.  Even though they don’t dry quickly, there just isn’t anything like a pair of your favorite, comfy jeans.  And, for Italy, a black outfit.  That seems to be their favorite “go to” outfit for anytime.

The non-clothing items are what make my bags heavy.  I’ll be taking some food with me, a book or two, the usual camera stuff, supplies for doing some journaling, extra shoes, a few beads to trade, and hope that I can still lift the suitcase!  The trip is just a few days away now and I’m getting soooo excited!  Please join us by logging in to hear about what we’re doing, where we’ve been, who we’ve met, and what we’ve found! We’d love to have you come with us!  Probably you’ll hear from me next in Venice.  Ciao for now!

I see it’s been almost a year since I last posted here.  A lot has happened and sometimes life has to take precedence over blog.  I’ll try to take things from the beginning…first, we have a new granddaughter…Hadley Paige Premuda.  Of course, she is the smartest, cutest little girl ever!  We all love her and feel blessed to enjoy her.  She was quite a Christmas gift.

Second, and probably the most major event, is that Dan and I moved from Michigan to Texas.  We were fortunate to sell our home, Dan quit his job (I am just now realizing how crazy this all sounds now), and we moved to Texas.  Dan like to tell people he was both jobless and homeless. Fortunately, that didn’t last long. We were in the Residence Inn for a month while we were finding a home.  After we found a home, Dan found a job.  We’re pretty much unpacked and enjoying the sunshine.  We still have lots of things we want to do on the house, but gradually, we’ll get them done.

Needless to say, I devoted most of my time to packing and unpacking boxes for a couple of months.  Of course, while in the motel, I didn’t have a sewing machine or torch, so I really didn’t produce anything very creative.  Now, however, I have a studio for making beads and am enjoying getting back in the swing of things.  My trip to Venice is coming next month and I’ll be blogging as we explore.  I hope you’ll travel with me and let me know what you think and if you have suggestions on people or places I should check out while I’m there.

Life is getting back into a rhythm.  That’s a good thing!

I have always loved Christmas.  I love the music, the hustle and bustle, buying gifts, making and eating good things.  It’s all good.  Growing up, one of the best parts of the gift giving was our Christmas stockings.  When my sister and I were born, our great aunt knit each of us a Christmas stocking.  She was quite an accomplished knitter and our stocking reflect her talent.  They are embellished with sequins and jingle bells, angora yarn for Santa’s beard and at the very top, she knit in our names and our year of birth.  We both treasure them.

The practical part of these stocking is that they stretch and allow for lots of things to be put in them.  As my sister and I got older, we began doing stocking for our parents.  Once married, everyone continued to get stockings–adults and children.  I always felt bad that I was the only one in our family who had such a special “sock”.  I told a family friend about my stocking and soon afterward, she had made my husband one.  Later, she also made one for our first son.  Then, when son number two came along, Dan’s grandmother made him one.

Now I’m thinking that I’d like to continue this tradition for our daughter-in-law and new grand daughter.  I have a whole year to work at it.  I’m counting on all of you to prod me on.  I know how special mine is to me.  Thanks Aunt Lucille for a gift that has been treasured for so long!

HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY!

I admit that I watch Martha Stewart. I also subscribe to her magazine. However, I rarely even try some of the things she suggests. It always seems like it’s going to take too much money and too much energy. One of her programs was devoted to making cheese. She had someone demonstrate how to make cheese at home. That got my interest.  Shortly afterward I got online and looked up “making cheese at home”.  I was amazed at the many entries and how easy the directions sounded.  I decided to make homemade mozzarella cheese.

I went to the store and bought a thermometer and the rennet that is necessary.  The recipe I selected was “How to Make Mozzarella in 30 Minutes”.  I am proud to say that 30 minutes later I did have mozzarella!  It was really fun and quite fast.  This is something I’ll do again, making just one change.  I substituted lemon juice for citric acid.  Next time, I’ll invest in the citric acid.  My cheese tasted a little lemony.

I love trying things like this–especially when they’re successful.  I’m going to try adding some Italian seasoning or basil.  Give it a try.  It would be a great project for Christmas vacation with the kids!