Living the dream- 4 am on Rio Cazziola - part two

I have to say, as annoyed as I have been at being woken at 4am every morning by screaming seagulls, I would never have discovered something else going on here on Rio Cazziola at that hour of the morning if it weren’t for the birds.

I’m not sure why I do this, but since I am awake, I get up out of the bed and go open the back door. The dogs usually run down the back steps into the garden, and I wait for them. That’s how I discovered another early activity here on our canal. There on the back steps I am catching the whiff of some wonderful smells. What can this be? OH MY--- the Panifico just across the bridge and two doors down is baking bread here just across from my back door! Yes, that is what this heavenly smell is.

The scent of freshly baking bread is intoxicating. Every morning between 4-5 am I am treated to one of life’s simple pleasures, the smell of fresh bread floating across the canal and right through my open windows. This might just be the perfect way to start the day. A little early for me, but the trade off seems worth it.

Tops on the con list for keeping the shutters wide open is the luscious smell of fresh bread. There is no dilemma here, the cons win. I tolerate the birds, and waking up early. The birds stop squawking after 10 minutes, and I am left with such a special treat.

We are living the dream here! Not only have we found ourselves dropped into a little slice of paradise right here on the corner of our two canals, we are also blessed with the heavenly smells of fresh bread every day.

Life is good.

Living the dream - 4 am on Rio Cazziola

When it’s not absolutely sweltering, we throw open the windows here in the apartment, day and night. I’m not sure how other Italians manage, because they button up their homes every night tight as a drum. Shutters get closed every evening.

I had my doubts about closing the shutters at first, but now I can see the pros and con’s of it.
I’ve spent several early mornings awake pondering those specifics. I am awake because the windows were wide open, and the seagulls start up their morning racket every day at 4am.

The first time I heard them, I thought someone was being murdered on the street. There was awful, awful screaming. Bloodcurdling noises, actually. I went from window to window seeking the source of the ruckus, and discovered there were seagulls circling a huge tree in our neighbor’s yard at a furious pace, making those screams as they went. It’s their wake up call, it seems, because it is an every morning ritual. I wish they could find something a bit more quiet... an alarm clock perhaps!

I hadn’t heard it before because the windows had been closed all through winter and early spring. That explains it. The next day I tried closing the shutters when I went to bed, and I was not jolted out of my bed at 4am. I didn’t hear a thing. Hmmm--- maybe my Italian neighbors knew something I didn’t, and that’s why they are bolted shut every night.

So now the first item on my Pro list for keeping the windows shuttered every night is “Drown out the seagull nonsense”.

Unfortunately, the top of my Con list contains a much more compelling reason for keeping the windows wide open!