Al Fresco Dining

One of the things Dave and I enjoyed in Italy, especially in Venice, was al fresco dining. Many Venetian restaurants set up outdoor dining areas that feature tables with cloth covers, floral centerpieces, glassware, and so on. The outdoor dining areas are decorated as exquisitely as indoor dining rooms. Here's a photo of some people dining beside a small canal in Venice.

Next is a photo of Dave enjoying an iced, cold Coca Cola Light (i.e., Diet Coke) in a Venetian square.

Notice the lovely table setting. To be honest, it looks more inviting than my dining room table (from which I am typing this post) looks at the moment. I mentioned the iced, cold soda because that lunch was the only occasion on which we were served ice with our soda. Italians serve refrigerated beverages, but don't typically put ice in their drinks. From the time we boarded the Alitalia flight in Boston until we left Rome on a Delta airplane, this lunch was the only occasion on which we so much as glimpsed an ice cube. Of course, the ice was not the highlight of our meal. Like all of our meals in Italy, our lunch on this occasion was very tasty.

I snapped the next photo as we rode a water taxi through the Grand Canal. What a great place for a picnic!

Finally, here's Dave holding the picnic lunch we ate in Murano. I thought the box was much prettier than the ones I normally see in the USA, so I took a photo so that Domino's, Papa John's, Pizza Hut and the rest could see what the competition is doing and, hopefully, learn from them. As we ate this lunch (the only time all week that we shared a pizza), we sat on the steps of a bridge (like other fine diners) and watched the boats travel up and down the canal.

I guess I should explain why this was the only pizza we shared in Italy. Italian pizza is typically much lighter than American pizza - the crust is thinner and it is not smothered with heavy toppings as American pizzas tend to be. Therefore, one Italian typically consumes one pizza. Dave and I ate the Italian way for several lunches after this day, which freed me to experiment with different topping combinations. The one I enjoyed the most was the Pizza Campagnola - which had an amazing array of vegetables and delicious peppers (I suspect some of the peppers I had there are not readily available here, which is a shame).

So, there you have it: a glimpse of al fresco dining Italian style and a brief introduction to authentic Italian pizza.

Lewis Black Pwns Glenn Beck

Unless you live in a cave with no electricity - or are fortunate enough not to have access to Fox News channel - you've probably heard of Glenn Beck, an ultra-right-wing TV commentator. Beck is known for, in addition to breaking down in tears nearly every day of the week, comparing everyone with whom he disagrees with the Nazis. Lewis Black, a comedian with a very sharp edge to his wit, pwned Beck on a recent episode of The Daily Show. Enjoy.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Back in Black - Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourette's
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Encounters of the Religious Kind in Italy

None of you will be surprised by my observation that there are churches everywhere in Venice and Rome. It may be going too far to say that there are churches on every corner, but it is fair to say that one need not walk more than a few blocks to get from one church to another. Some churches are small and easily overlooked. Others are fair-to-middling sized, and others can only be missed if one is blind. Rome is also littered with the remains of its pre-Christian, pagan past. There's simply no escaping religion and its symbols in Italy.

In addition to these inevitable physical encounters with religions, Dave and I had some interesting personal interactions and observations during our (far too) brief Italian sojourn. Three of these had to do with the way our tour guides discussed the sites we saw.

Two of the guides, the one who showed us around Piazza San Marco and the Doge's Palace in Venice, and the one who showed us the Roman Forum, spoke of religious legends in rather neutral tones. They repeatedly referred to the "traditions" associated with the sites we toured. The lady in Venice, especially, often looked a bit sheepish as she told a tale, then finished by grinning and saying, "that's the tradition."

St. Mark's Basilica - detail



























Temple of Vestal Virgins - Forum


In contrast, the lady who guided us through the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, the tombs of the popes and St. Peter's Basilica, spoke like a true believer. She didn't come right out and say, "I believe this." But, she gave her spiels with a slant that implied that she held the things she was saying as precious truths. The most striking example was when she discussed scientific tests that had been performed on what many believe are the remains of St. Peter. She concluded her presentation by saying, "Are these really the bones of St. Peter?" Then, she answered her question by smiling broadly and enthusiastically nodding her head, yes.

St. Peter's Basilica - view from Vatican City


The final encounter I want to discuss is not about Italian attitudes toward religion, but about the religion that dominates the Italian landscape: Roman Catholicism. One of the tours that Dave and I took in Rome was a Rome By Night bus tour. The tour began at about 8:00 p.m. and concluded with dinner in a little off-the-beaten-path restaurant. Dinner began at about 10:15 p.m. and concluded around 12:00 a.m., give or take a few minutes. (Italians take their time eating; meals are social events, not mere means of physical sustenance for them. That's an attitude I like and am determined to adopt more regularly). On this occasion, Dave and I shared a table with a fellow we'd never met before and probably never will see again. Since a stop by St. Peter's Basilica - to see the exterior in its evening illumination - was one of the last stops before dinner, I shouldn't have been surprised (although I was, a little bit)  when Carlo began talking about religion.

St. Peter's Basilica at Night


Carlo, having been born and raised in Puerto Rico, had grown up in the Catholic Church. When he was about 16, Carlo got a job and began spending less time at his local church. The local priest was concerned and visited Carlo's home to encourage him to make sure that he didn't get too busy to save room in his life for God. Since priests had always visited his home, Carlo didn't think too much about the priest's interest in him at that point. What spooked him was the night that he left work and found the priest waiting for him outside. Apparently, the priest had called someone (not Carlo himself) to find out where Carlo worked and what time he'd be finished. Carlo thought this was more than a bit creepy, so, from that time forward, he minimized his contacts with the priest. And, he found out later that his antenna had been in good working order. It came out, not too long after these events, that the priest had molested some boys in the parish. That was when Carlo realized just how close he had come to being another victim. Needless to say, Carlo has little use for Mother Church these days.

Not surprisingly, the artifacts of religious traditions and history are obvious in Italy. What's less obvious is whether many Italians, while proudly acknowledging their history, continue to take those traditions seriously. That's an interesting question for further investigation.

Pedestrian Roman Adventure

In this post I'm going to share, briefly, my impressions of navigating around Rome.

One of the first things I noticed, and you may notice it in the photos below, is that there are very few large vehicles in Rome. The many small cars we saw (in the photos below, you'll spot a few of the many Smart cars we saw) were accompanied by numerous motorcycles/scooters. Another thing I noticed was that dividing lines on the road, when they exist at all, are treated as suggestions rather than requirements. I think it was Rick Steves who cited the interesting statistic that Rome has about 2 million cars and 300,000 public parking spaces. In short, I discovered that Rome is a city where

PARKING IS A CHALLENGE,

DRIVING IS AN ADVENTURE,

AND CROSSING THE STREET IS AN EXTREME SPORT!

Dave and I did most of our navigating on foot. At busy intersections, the keys to survival were

   
• getting embedded in groups with locals who knew how to cross the street, and
   
• crossing quickly; dawdling was dangerous, or even deadly.

When we didn't walk, we rode buses and quickly developed immense respect for drivers who deftly maneuvered large, unwieldy vehicles through crowded Roman streets. I tip my hat to them.

Finally - If (or should I say when?) you visit Rome, my advice is that you either walk or take the bus. Whatever you do, don't drive there unless you have a greater taste for adventure than I do.

Venice - Take One

I'm finally getting my photos from Italy into some sort of order. Here are a few that may give you a taste of what we saw.

First, is a glimpse of the Doge's Palace. In addition to being the home of the Venetian Republic's chief magistrate (the doge), this palace served as the center of government and housed stunning meeting chambers. Many of the walls are decorated with murals, and the walls and ceilings throughout the palace sport elaborate gold-plated trim.

We also took a trip to a glass factory on Murano, a nearby island. We were hosted by our own personal tour guide (read: sales person), who explained the art of glass blowing to us as we watched a glass-blower in action. Naturally, we bought some glassware.

We saw plenty of gondolas, and even rode in one. They ride very low to the water and are adequate for getting around the city's small canals, but I wouldn't want to ride one on the Grand Canal for any length of time.

This is the famous Rialto Bridge, an imposing bridge (one of four) that spans the Grand Canal.

There are many other small bridges that span numerous small canals throughout the city.

This is the San Moise Church, which was located just outside our hotel. Believe it or not, this is a small church that pales in comparison to St. Mark's, which is located just down the street from it.

This is a detail from St. Mark's Basilica, a beautiful, imposing church located at on Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square).

Here we have a shop window displaying some of the many Venetian Carnival masks that are sold throughout the city.

Finally, for today, we have a fake bridal couple. Dave and I are pretty sure they were fakes, because there weren't any attendants anywhere in sight, nor anyone else that appeared to be attached to the bridal couple. It was a nice, romantic touch for the tourists, just the same.