Goings on at Ca' Hendersoni

The mozzarella shaped like a pig was just too good to pass up.  Look closely, it really is shaped like a pig.You just don't see these every day :) These are hanging in one of the booths at the mercatino over at Campo San Polo. When we were there on Saturday, we got the great news the booths will be open until the end of Carnevale!!!! We've really been enjoying wandering over to San Polo to watch the local kids ice skate and also buy artigianal products like sausages and cheese.

OK, the holidays are just about over (still need to get through Jan 6, Epiphany and La Befana) and life is returning to normal around our house.  Today we woke up to discover a window in our living room had been broken over the holiday, most likely by someone partying just a little bit too hard on New Year's Eve.  Our living room windows overlook two canals, and our apartment is right on a busy thoroughfare leading to and from Piazzale Roma. Anyone leaving St. Mark's square on New Year's Eve heading back home to Mestre by bus would have opportunity to throw something at our window.  Why? Who knows! Just another one of life's pleasantries. And how's this for a kicker. Normally we close the window shutters, however we left them open because our Christmas tree sits right in this window.  From now on we will be closing our shutters for sure.

Fortunately, we only rent the apartment. Fixing the window will have to be dealt with by the landlord. I can't even imagine what gyrations we'd have to through to get one of these windows replaced,as they are very old, and very huge. Luckily, there are two sets of windows in each window in our apartment, which must have been an early attempt at double pane windows,so we aren't getting cold air through the house. The broken window is on the outside set of windows.  Even though Venice is the home of glass, I am betting the cost of a new window sure to be astronomical. I'm already imagining a large piece of glass being floated down the canal by boat! With any luck, this will be handled soon, and I'll let you know how it all turns out!

 Speaking of the landlord, we completed our annual renewing of the lease process yesterday. I love how this all goes down!  It's very simple. He emails us, usually one or two days before the end of the year (our lease goes January to December), and tells us that if we want, the new year's rent will be 100 Euros more per month. We email back and say we think that's too much. He emails back and says "How about 50?". We say ok, and the deal is completed. This year, it was even simpler. He emailed and said "50 Euros more a month". We said "Done".

Today it was alittle wet and overcast here in Venice. But not so wet that we couldn't get out and walk.  We were headed over to Santa Marta, which is located on the westernmost tip of Venice. The Venice farmers market that used to be held at Piazzale Roma was moved to Santa Marta a few months ago, and I wanted to check it out. If you look at the map below, the section on the far left that is yellow and grey colored is the part where we were headed.   (This map is from the Comune di Venezia website. I am surprised to learn that they consider the area where the churches of San Sebastiano and Angelo Raffaele -4 and 5 on the map- part of Santa Marta.  You have to click on the map to see the complete area, I think. Sorry about that.). Santa Marta is an old area of Venice where there used to be an old cotton factory and other warehouses. It's close to the port of Venice. Today, many of the old buildings have been converted into University departments, including a theatre.

While at the farmers market we bought fresh eggs stacked up in a basket, and met the young man at the egg booth who also takes orders for chicken, guinea hens and gallina. You sign his order form, include your phone number and he will call to tell you what day he'll bring them over to Venice. Fresh guinea hen is sure to be on our dinner menu very soon, now that we have a source.  Today there were only about 5-6 stalls total, including the egg guy,  fresh vegetables, cheese, meats- sausage, pork chops and cotelchino, and a wine vendor.  I usually try to shop at Rialto market, but on Mondays in the future I will make sure I get to Santa Marta to support these vendors too.

To leave you on a happy note, and give you one more little tidbit about local Venetian culture, here's a You Tube video of perhap's Venice's premier musical group, Ska-J, singing one of their earliest hits, Santa Marta. The lead singer, Furio, lives in Santa Marta, and frequents our neighborhood and Campo Santa Margherita often. You cannot miss Furio with that great hair!  It's a catchy little tune, sung in Venetian dialect (with English subtitles included).  Enjoy!

Festa di San Giacomo dell'Orio

One of my favorite summer time activities is to attend the festa's sponsored by local communities to raise money for their neighborhood church.  It gives me a chance to really feel like a local, and experience the locals out at their best- and no one does it quite like the community at Campo San Giacomo dell'Orio.

The festa this year runs from July 14 to July 23. I had put it on my calendar earlier in the month to be sure I wouldn't miss it.  I shouldn't have worried, because my hairdresser Simone always gives me the list of things going on around town he thinks I should definitely not miss.  And sure enough, he reminded me the other day about this one coming up!

Mike and I walked over on Friday evening to eat dinner in the campo, cooked by the neighbors out on big grills. They had chicken, sausage, beef, ribs and vegetables grilling. How could anyone resist those smells! Mike chose grilled chicken and polenta, I had bigoli in salsa (spaghetti with anchovy and onion).

Every evening during the week long festa there is a band playing at the bandstand at the far end of the campo.  I noticed from the schedule that one of my favorite local groups, Furio and  Ska J, would be performing on the 19th.   We made plans to return on Tuesday July 19.

All day long yesterday (the 19th), I looked forward to being able to sit out under the sky at Campo San Giacomon dell'Orio, to enjoy some food, great music, and get another dose of the locals out in their natural habitat.  It's another reminder that no matter how long I am here, I will never be considered a local, but I don't mind that anymore.

When we arrived at the campo, the line of people waiting to order their dinner snaked all the way through the campo. This is great for the church coffers, unfortunately we didn't want to wait that long. Instead we chose to eat at Taverna Capitan Uncio in the campo.  Doing this allowed us to get a table and seating very close to the bandstand, and I could also have some of my favorite pizza.  Karen was a happy girl!

The band's equipment was already set up on the bandstand by the time we sat down.  As we ate, the band members were coming and going, making sure everything was in place. Shortly before 9pm, we noticed all of the guys in the band, dressed in shorts and T shirts, pick up garment bags from the bandstand and off they went. A few minutes later, they all returned in black suits and white shirts, except for Furio, the lead singer, who donned a pink shirt instead.  At exactly 9pm, the band started playing.  The lines waiting for grilled food were still long, but we had just about finished eating and were getting ready to enjoy some drinks and dessert, and music.

A few sprinkles had been coming down intermittently during dinner. At the same time the band began,  the rain started to come down more. There was no avoiding getting wet now. Our table was not under cover.   The owner of the restaurant, a little woman dressed in a white chef's outfit, ran out to help people pull their tables back under cover. She told us to go sit at a larger table while she wrestled with our smaller table by herself. She refused to move anything off the table, she just yanked it harder and harder. Wouldn't you know it, the water glasses all tipped over, spilling water everywhere. She yelled:  "VAFANCULLO!!!!.     (Translation:  Go F-K yourself)  I just about peed my pants lauging.

A few minutes later, I received a text message from my friend Louisa informing me of her arrival and location on the other side of the bandstand. God bless cell phones and text messaging. Without these, I would never have located them in that crowd!  I herded Lousia, her daughter Poppy, and Poppy's friend Izzy back to our table. The girls decided they wanted some gelato,so raced off around the corner. And then the skies opened up. Furio and band mates were frantically covering all their equipment with tarps. They stood around for a few minutes waiting to determine if the downpour would let up. Unfortunately for all of  us, it didn't.  For the next 30 minutes the band ran back and forth, packing up and removing equipment in the pouring rain. We were dry, under the restaurant's umbrella.  We made plans for how we would evacuate and make our way home.

We were laughing about needing umbrella salesmen.  Normally, the second a drop of rain falls out of the sky there are hundreds of guys out in the streets hawking 5 Euro umbrellas.  If ever we needed them, it was last nite!  And- like magic- our prayers were answered, one of these umbrella guys appeared at our table.  We quickly purchased 3 of them. We knew they would only last about 5 minutes, it's always the case, but we felt better having them, none the less.

Louisa opened her umbrella as she and the girls stood up to leave. Sure enough, the umbrella was already busted. One of the spokes was not connected to the fabric, it was sadly sticking out all on it's own. Another round of laughter. Oh yes, this is  exactly what we expected on a night like this.  We said our goodbyes. Louisa and the girls made their way barefoot to the San Stae vaporetto dock, while Mike and I turned in the other direction headed for Piazzale Roma.  I got only to the other side of the church, maybe about 10 meters from the safety of the restaurant awning, when my umbrella collapsed. It just wouldn't stay up. I ended up with this little tiny bit of umbrella shaft, maybe 10 inches at most. I looked like I was wearing a big flat yellow bonnet on my head.  On top of that, there was standing water on every street, contributing to soaked shoes  and water wicking up our pant legs to about mid-calf level.  The umbrella didn't do much good. It was all good for a great laugh, though.

Upon arriving home and drying out a bit, I couldn't resist watching a couple of You-tube clips, I wanted to get a bit of  Furio and Ska-J that I missed out on.  Furio, the long haired guy in the video, lives near we do. We we see him around the neighborhood often. So, dear readers,  have a little dose of one of my favorite local Venetian groups on me. Enjoy!

This song- So Figo, is from the group's latest album.  The next one, Santa Marta, is one of their earliest hits.