Terremoto in Central Italy

I am sure, by now, you have seen the recent news regarding the terrible earthquake that hit the hill towns of Amatrice, Accumoli, Pescara del Tronto and Arquata del Tronto.

This was the third earthquake we've felt since we've lived in Italy, and we've been hundreds of miles from the epicenter each time. I can tell you, the shaking is scary. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be right in the middle of it. 

At around 3:35 am on Wednesday morning we felt the bed move. It moved. Side to side.  We both said, "What was that?"  On occasion, when a large ship passes by our apartment, we feel some vibrations. We're that close to the water and we're talking large cruise ships. This wasn't that kind of vibration. And because we'd felt the shakes of two previous earthquakes, the last one being the large one in Aquila in April of 2009, we already knew what we were experiencing. 

Mike grabbed the flashlight on the night table, focusing the beam on the chandelier above us. It was swinging in an arc of about 10 inches in each direction. That's some pretty good movement. Fortunately, it is not centered over our bed, or I would have been running! It's an old Murano glass chandelier, a bit over 3 feet in height, constructed of quite heavy glass. And it was swinging merrily above us. We both said "Earthquake" at the same moment. 

The Murano glass chandelier in our bedroom

We didn't panic, we could tell the epicenter was far enough from us. After a couple of minutes, the chandelier settled down. 

I then picked up my phone and checked Facebook. Sure enough, a friend in Cannaregio had posted she felt it also.  I have no idea how I would function without Facebook. Can you imagine, an earthquake of 6.2 magnitude hits, and the first thing I do is check Facebook. What is wrong with me?  

 Shortly after the news feeds reported the location and severity.  We went back to sleep. 

As the morning hours ticked by, the news reports worsened. The numbers crept up. The photos were frightening. I couldn't stop looking at  the news, even though I didn't want to watch.

Amatrice, Italy - photo www.telegraph.co.uk

Weird that the town clock stopped ticking, frozen in time, at 3:36 am.  Weird, also,  that this earthquake happened at the same time of day, within minutes, of the one that hit Aquila a few years earlier.  More sad than weird is that Amatrice was preparing for it's big Festa coming up this weekend, the Sagra dell' Amatriciana, the famous spaghetti dish named after this hilltown. Tourists were already in town for the event.

Last night in my English lesson with my student Francesco we discussed the earthquake. He had just returned to Venice 2 days ago after having been on vacation in the same region. Talk about luck. He'd have been right smack in the middle of the earthquake. Much of our lesson was spent fixing his pronunciation of the word. By the end of the hour, he'd moved from "Hearth-quick" to a much better "earthquake".  I hadn't planned for this to be the topic of our lesson. Funny how things just happen. 

I returned home thinking how lucky we all are. We're still here. Our homes are intact. In the blink of an eye, 200 plus people have lost their lives, and thousands are in makeshift tents wondering what happens next.  And this is just another reminder of how precious life is. My mantra over the last nearly 10 years has been this:  Tomorrow isn't guaranteed. All I know for sure is that I have this moment, and it is up to me to make the best of it. 

If there is a lesson for us out of disasters like this, I think it's this.  Make the most of each day. We don't know if we will have tomorrow. Leave with no regrets. And, love. Love well. Tell the people you love that you love them. 

In Italian, I would tell you all " Ti voglio bene".  Used for family and  close acquaintances, this is a step down from the full blown  I love you, "Ti amo". 

In honor of the people of Amatrice, we're making their signature dish this week. We're using Mario Batali's recipe ( http://www.mariobatali.com/recipes/bucatini-allamatriciana/)

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
12 ounces thinly sliced guanciale pancetta, or good bacon
1 red onion, cut lengthwise in half and then into 1/4-inch-thick half-moons
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons hot red pepper flakes
2 cups Basic Tomato Sauce
1 pound Bucatini
Freshly grated Pecorino Romano

Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot, and add 2 tablespoons salt.

Meanwhile, in a 10- to 12-inch saute pan, combine the olive oil, guanciale, onion, garlic, and re pepper flakes; set over low heat and cook until the onion is softened and the guanciale has rendered much of its fat, about 12 minutes.

Drain all but 1/4 cup of the fat out of the pan (and set aside to cook you eggs for tomorrow's breakfast). Add the tomato sauce, turn up the heat, and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and allow to bubble for 6 to 7 minutes.

While the sauce simmers, cook the bucatini in the boiling water for about a minute less than the package directions, until still very firm; drain.

Add the pasta to the simmering sauce and toss for about 1 minute to coat. Divide the pasta among four heated bowls and serve immediately, topped with freshly grated pecorino.

Spaghetti all'Amatriciana, photo courtesy lucasardellaejanira.it

During the coming days and months, the people of Amatrice and the surrounding towns affected will need support. The Florentine, a local newspaper in Florence, has compiled an excellent list of  ways we can help, including everything from donating blood to attending events which are making matching donations.  Here's the link. 

http://www.theflorentine.net/news/2016/08/central-italy-earthquake-how-to-help/


Ti Voglio bene.

Vogalonga 2013

One of my favorite Venice events is the Vogalonga, a 30 Kilometer rowing event that starts and ends at St. Mark's. It's a non-competitive race open to just about every rowing type boat imaginable from one man kayaks to 16 man boats, canoes and drum boats. This year's event began, unfortunately, in a light rain, that progressed to a heavy rain at a few points during the day.  Not a good day for the rowers. The good news is the sun came out towards the middle of the afternoon, just as rowers were finding places to pull up their boats to rest at the end of a long, wet 30 kilometers.

This year 1,700 boats and 7,000 rowers from all over the world participated.

Between 9 am and 3pm, the Grand Canal is closed to all motorized boat traffic, so no vaporettos available. If you needed to get somewhere today, you were walking, or taking a very long route around the outside of the city, or- worse case, renting a private water taxi that was also taking a long route to your destination as they also were not allowed on the Grand Canal  during the regatta. I have to say, while  we were waiting for the first of the boats to return to the Grand Canal, the silence on the canal is almost eerie. It's something you don't see too often, so when you do, you can't help but be awe struck by how just how grand this canal is.

Here's a look at the Vogalonga course, beginning at St. Mark's square, down around Sant'Elena, past Certosa Island, Sant Erasmo island, Burano, Mazzorbo, Murano and back through Venice down the Cannaregio canal to the Grand Canal ending at St. Mark's.

 I positioned myself at the waterfront at Sant'Elena at 9:00 am this morning, in the rain, and was able to get some great photos.

Later in the morning I was at Rialto, watching as rowers were making their way down the Grand Canal. Right in front of me I saw a man swimming. At first I thought he had fallen overboard off one of the boats. I looked closer and noticed he had flippers, a wet suit and swim cap, and was being accompanied closely by a gondola with 2 rowers front and back. This man hadn't fallen in, he was actually SWIMMING the Vogalonga!!!!  Made me think of Lord Byron!

 The next few photos are post-Vogalonga, after the rowers had completed the course. These colorful kayaks were stowed at the Rialto fish market. All of the participants who came with these boats were changing out of their wet clothing under cover of the fish market.

 Here a group of rowers were pulling their boats up at Campo San Trovaso, and headed to the wine bars across the canal for some spritz's.

And this guy pulled his boat up at the memorial in front of Giardini. A little unorthodox, but hey, it's Vogalonga. 

A little bit more Christmas in Venice

It's not Christmas in Venice without at least a few sightings of Santa Claus..opps... make that Babbo Natale!  Santa delivers gifts to good children (but of course, only the good ones) by climbing up the balconies on rope ladders. No chimneys to climb down here in Venice. Here's a selection of a few Babbo's I spotted yesterday on my walk from Sant'Elena to Via Garibaldi.

I loved this one, looks like he's rapelling down to the window! Brave Babbo!

In addition to Babbo sightings, you can't help but know it's the Christmas season when you start seeing all the Panetone's stacked up in all the bakery windows.

And while this guy isn't quite the same as the other Babbo Natale's I've seen, I had a hard time passing -him by. This life size Babbo - well, at least my size Babbo (he's as tall as I am)- is standing in front of a shop on Via Garibaldi.  I particularly love his fur trim jacket and hat. Fits right in with winter in Venice.

 Yes, there are Christmas trees (alberi di Natale) in Venice. Not many, but you can find them. These are at the little nursery close to the Giardini vaporetto stop. Most likely you would need the vaporetto to get the tree home after buying it. Can't imagine carrying a live tree through Venice. As much as I regretted giving up having a live tree when we moved here, we did break down and by a very nice "imitation" one a couple of years ago.

I loved the red balls on this gate decoration on Sant'Elena. Note the Babbo Natale at the window ....

And finally....it wouldn't be Christmas in Venice without some Murano glass Santa sightings. This whimsical little tiny one standing only 2 inches high  is in our living room.  It's blown by Igor Balbi, a talented glassblower who has a shop near the Rialto market.

Buon Natale from our house to yours!

New sculpture on Murano

The other day I had a chance to wander over on Murano with friends for a few hours.  The magic the Murano glassblowers create never ceases to amaze me, and this day was no different.  As I turned a corner on the street leading to the Faro vaporetto stop, I came face to face with the newest sculpture in the square.

I loved it instantly. I wasn't particularly keen on the sculpture it replaced- a large glass bride done in all whites and silvers. But this one- it's perfect. Sheer magic. It instantly reminded me of the intensely hot glowing fires I see in the kilns used in all the glass foundrys.

Now I need to figure out when to get back to Murano at night, to see this one lit up.

A visit from my family

My sister just spent  4 days in Venice, and now, I need a vacation.

Venice was the middle stop on a trip to Rome, Venice and Paris for my sister Charlotte, brother-in-law Steve, and their 11 yr old granddaughter Sophie.    I had been tagged by Charlotte to help  pull together the Venice leg of their adventure, since I lived here. I had worked hard on planning 4 days of activities that might appeal 11 yr old, and now it was show time.

We did all of the usual " touristy" things- saw St. Mark's square, the Rialto bridge, the markets, marvelled at the canals and little alleyways.  I walked their feet off and left them ragged at their hotel every evening! And in between all that we did a few not-so-touristy things as well.  We visited my favorite campos and stopped in at my favorite caffes.   Sophie got to meet a few of my friends. First stop was  Mauro Vianello's shop on Calle dei Morti where he created a couple of custom glass gifts for Sophie to take home. Mauro never ceases to amaze me, and I know he wow-ed Sophie! Grazie, Mauro for helping make this a very special visit for one little girl from New York.

We had a private glass blowing demonstration at Mazzucato's on Murano. A wonderful glassblower, Gianni, fascinated us by creating the most exquisite drinking glasses. Sophie purchased a ring made from glass, in the shape of a rose, just what she was looking for!

Next up was a one-on-one mask making session with Mario at Benor Maschere in Santa Croce.  Mario went above and beyond our wildest expectations as he gave Sophie tips on decorating her mask. And then, at the end, he lovingly did a little bit of touch up on her mask to make it an absolutely exquisite piece of art she will treasure for a lifetime.


The night we had dinner at La Terrazza , the restaurant at Hotel Bonvecchiati, I came away with another new friend. I won't be forgetting Fulvio, one of our delighful waiters, anytime soon, and I am sure I'll be back to visit him again and again. At one point in the meal I introduced myself to Fulvio, and explained that I live here. He responded with, "But I have never seen you before!".  As I was leaving Fulvio slipped me a note containing the name of a friend of his who owns another restaurant in town.

One afternoon, while trying a Spritz in Campo S. Giovanni e Paolo, my brother-in-law looked around and said,  "It just doesn't get any better than this, does it?"  I smiled, happy that this constantly working relative had been able to take a step back, and really enjoy a few moments in this beautiful city.

We saved a gondola ride for the very last night.  The heat of the day had left, there was a slight breeze even. All the  crowds had left the city for the day, and we just about had Venice to ourselves. An early evening gondola ride was the perfect way to end a visit.   Venice is a magical city. It's even more magical by gondola.

It is no secret that I love Venice.  To my great surprise, this week I fell even more in love.