R.I.P. Sam

It is with great sadness that I write today about the passing of my sweet faithful companion Sam. There are no words to describe the incredible joy he has brought to my life, nor the grief I feel today.   Sam was 17 this year, he had a wonderful long life. 

This week's stuff

Che Freddo!!!!  We have been having incredible COLD days here over the past week. So cold that the lagoon has frozen over, and the Grand Canal and even the smaller canals have ice on them.

Ice chunks on the canal outside my apartment

Ice on the bottom and sides of the gondola.

The Carnevale Regata on Sunday was cancelled due to the frigid temperatures, and the temperatures have only gone lower throughout the rest of the week. Last night a wind (a Bora) was whipping down the streets and the canals  with such force we thought our shutters were going to be ripped off the house. All night long we heard boats banging up against the brick wall. This morning I read in the newspaper that il Toro, that bull I blogged about the other day, suffered quite a bit of damage from the high winds. It was constructed mostly of reeds from the lagoon. I think those reeds made their way back to the lagoon last night.  By mid day, what was left of il Toro had been moved from it's mooring next to La Salute to a place on land.

Besides the weather, this just hasn't been a good week at Ca' Hendersoni.  Even though I admit we are living a dream life,  there are still times we get a brutal reminder that life can smack us in the face just like anyone else.  On Monday, I took my dog Sam to the vets.  He is 17 yrs old this month, quite the old guy, with rapidly declining health. He's been on medication for arthritis, however in the last 2 weeks he can barely move. I wanted to know if there was any stronger medication we could be giving him.  Well, we now know that there is something a bit more serious causing the pain- he has a large tumor on his right back leg.  The vet took some blood and extracted some cells and sent them off to the lab. Unfortunately, the test results showed nothing conclusive. The next step would be a biopsy.  The vet, and we agree, feel that Sam is too frail to deal with surgery. At this point, we are giving him a new pain medication, much stronger.   Not a good start to the week.

Tuesday, I dropped a knife between the washing machine and the sink cabinet.  In order to retrieve it, we had to move the washer. When we put the washer back in place, it wasn't exactly right, so I ended up jacking it around a bit to get it positioned properly. While I was jacking around with the washer, I managed to bump the stainless steel counter top that has the sink embedded in it.  This counter top is not anchored in anyway- I moved it about a quarter of an inch off center.  So- I had to jack around with the counter top.  While I was doing that, I sliced open my thumb, which bled like an S.O. B. I had blood to clean up everywhere! Finally, with everything back in place, I got out of the kitchen before I could cause any more damage!

Two days later, while we were cleaning up dinner dishes, we looked down to discover we were standing in about a quarter inch of water, that was quickly making its way across the entire kitchen floor!!!  Somehow, while I was "fixing" the counter top I had moved previously, the pipe under the counter came loose, and gradually got looser over the two days.  When it finally gave way, the water spewed everywhere!  We had a swimming pool in seconds.  We had to empty the entire cabinet below the sink and dry that up. We had to mop up the floor. And- we had to pull out the washing machine to mop up behind it. I should have just left the washing machine where it was in the first place!

See, my dream life has it's crap days too!!

I'm sorry to say that my Venice Carnevale updates are going to take a hiatus starting tomorrow because we will not be in Venice. We're headed to Portugal, and will catch Carnevale on Maderia Island, where they celebrate it more like in Rio de Janiero.  We'll be back in Venice just in time for the very last night of Carnevale.  I am very eagerly awaiting the closing event of Carnevale 2012- Vogata del Silenzio. I watched it last year from the Accademia bridge, this year we have tickets to be riding in one of the gondolas that night. Vogata del Silenzio, a silent procession of gondolas down the Grand Canal ending at St. Mark's square, begins at 11:30 pm.  By midnight, all the boats will have arrived at St. Mark's square, where the wooden bull,  il Toro, will be set on fire, signifying the end of Carnevale and the beginning of Lent.

According to weather reports, the temperatures in Portugal are about 20 degrees warmer than in Venice today. Let's hope so. The forecasts for Venice are calling for snow on Friday and Saturday.

Carnevale 2012 - Day 1

Today is the first day of Carnevale!!!  The big events begin next week, there are only a few things going on in Venice today, the first of which is the arrival of Il Toro.  Lighting a wooden bull on fire on the last day of Carnevale is an old tradition, which has not been part of current celebrations here, until this year. Today the  bull was put into place at Punta della Dogana where it will remain until Feb 21, the last day of Carnevale, when it will be set on fire at midnight.

Mike and I walked all the way up the Zattere to the Dogana this morning around 11:30 to get photos of the bull on it's first day. Today was the coldest day we've had all winter ! The lagoon was frozen this morning, it was -1 F when we were out. Trust me, I wanted to stay inside, but my desire to see Il Toro on it's arrival had a higher priority than my staying warm.

All of the news articles advertised the inauguration would be at noon, and indeed it was. Not a very big turn out however, only about 30 people, mostly press, and a few other locals like us. We know the sculptor and mask maker Guerrino Lovato, the artist who made the bull, from our neighborhood, and we were very happy to be able to congratulate him on this incredible sculpture in person.

Mike estimates the bull is about 50 feet tall, way bigger than I imagined it to be. Above is the view you have when you are standing on the Dogana.

Here is Guerrino Lovato as he is talking to the press this morning. When I had a minute to congratulate him he turned to me and told me he was dressed in style with his scarf and hat for the occassion!

These guys assisted with the construction.

After seeing the bull at the Dogana and talking with Guerrino a bit, we got on the vaporetto in front of Salute so that we could ride past the bull in the hopes of getting a few decent shots of a front view. It was very grey today, so my photos are not so great. But- here's a front view. Cute, isn't it?

This photo is courtesy of the Carnevale 2012 website.  The bull is anatomically correct, including a huge pair of balls!

We disembarked the vaporetto at San Marco Vallresso in order to check out the Fountain of Wine that will be used this evening for the grand Brindisi (toast) to celebrate the offical opening of Carnevale. When it is working, wine will be spouting from all the top and all the lion's mouths.  I had originally planned to walk to St. Marks at 6pm to witness this event also, but it is way too cold. One walk was enough today. toasting Carnevale from the warmth of our apartment.

Carnevale starts tomorrow.....

Carnevale 2012 kicks off tomorrow in St. Mark's square at 6pm with a special toast, with wine flowing from a large fountain that is constructed specially for Carnevale.  There are a few other events over the weekend, then things are quiet until Feb 11 when things really get going.  Here are some photos of prior years costumes to give you a taste of what's to come - soon!  While St. Mark's square is a sea of humans during Carnevale, it's worth being jostled for a few hours just to be able to enjoy the sights.

 Yes, even the dogs join in.

This little guy looks like he's had all the fun he could take. 

And these two are in about the same shape!

At the end of the day, the streets of Venice are covered with confetti. Oftentimes, you can still see confetti on the streets well into March.

And one more "taste of Carnevale"- a few more frittelle. These are from Colussi's bakery near Campo Santa Barnaba. If you have not yet found your way to Colussi's, put it on your wish list.

Another Earthquake!!!

Early this afternoon, another terremoto (earthquake) shook our apartment. What the heck is going on in Italy this week??  The epicenter was again near Parma, and about the same intensity as the first one a few days ago. Fortunately for everyone in Italy, no damage was suffered as a result of either of these events.  After everything was over, Mike and I had a little discussion about what it might have been like if the epicenter had been here in Venice. Surely we would have been covered by our building. It's 4 stories high, and we are on the second floor. It's got lots of marble, brick and big thick wooden beams throughout the whole building.  After thinking about all this, I now have an escape plan in mind should we need it in the future. I'm grabbing a big trash bag, throwing my computer, passport, phone and money into this. Then I'm grabbing the dogs and we're jumping into the canal. I am betting the canal is safer than land in a situation like this.

The anniversary - 4 yrs ago today the adventure began

Today is a special day at our house! Four years ago, we arrived in Venice to begin our new life. Where have  those 4 years gone?  Goodness, they have just flown,  it feels as if it were just yesterday I walked into this apartment for the first time.

I spent most of today reflecting on everything we've been through- from all the planningto selling all of our possessions and actually getting ourselves here, to making a life in an entirely new country,  not knowing one single soul other than ourselves or knowing the language.  Sometimes I look back and wonder "What were we thinking?" I know the answer to that. We wanted to get out of the rat race and live a simpler life before it was too late.

My life coach, Bill Pullen, sent me this wonderful  message this morning -- "Wow, 4 years. You are a powerful example of the willingness to courageously pursue your dream."

 His words reminded me of one of the most important lessons I learned during this process - I had found the courage to pursue a dream, and make it a reality.

I just want to share with everyone reading one thing- if I can find that courage, anyone can. No matter what you dream of, YOU are the one who can make it happen. There is no luck involved, it's all your own hard work, dedication, and the courage to keep at it until you succeed.

The tax man cometh and a terremoto (earthquake) this morning

The letter you see above from RAI, the Italian TV networks run by the Italian government, was delivered yesterday by our post woman. Here's a little tidbit you should know about if you are ever thinking of living in Italy- if you have  a TV in your apartment, you must pay a special tax to the Italian government of 112 Euros per year, just to have the luxury of plugging the TV into an antenna. Isn't that something?  Fortunately for us this wasn't a shock .  (It was a shock when we initially saw it spelled out in our lease! ) Can any American imagine getting taxed on their TV's every year???  Tomorrow we'll be making a stop at the Post Office to pay the RAI tax. There's something every day, huh??

Speaking of something every day- this morning a little after 9am I was sitting in bed enjoying a cup of tea while checking email on my iPad when I felt a slight vibration. It lasted only about half a minute. I thought it was unusual,  had no idea what it could have been and wondered for a second if it could have been an earthquake, but quickly dismissed it.  I put it out of my mind, until later  this  morning when I read the newspaper to discover there had been an earthquake of magnitude 4.9 this morning centered in the Mantova, Parma, and Emiglia area that reportedly was also felt all over the Veneto area.  I can confirm that, I felt it. Did anyone else? 

A little bit of Maryland comes to Venice

We had an unplanned festa at our house tonight!  Earlier this morning, while at my fish monger in Campo Santa Margherita to pick up a piece of salmon, I noticed he had a small pile of blue crabs- Maryland blue crabs! Wow, this was an incredible surprise. I could not leave there without some, so I asked for 6 of them also.  My fish monger says, "Oh, you like the Dungeness crabs?"  Sorry- these are Maryland Blues. I had to set him straight. We got into a little discussion on the difference between the two crab types. As usual, we were doing this conversation in half English, half Italian. I was speaking the Italian, he was answering me in as much English as he knew. This then led to a bigger discussion of where I lived in the US.  Maryland, of course!   He impressed me with his knowledge of US geography. He knew exactly that Maryland was between New York and Washington DC, and that they were on the East coast of the US. 

As he was slicing my salmon, he asked where I was born. When he found out I was from New Jersey, he had to know if I watch some show on Italian cable called Jersey Girls.  I think he must have meant Jersey Shore or Real Housewives of New Jersey.  I just had to laugh. What an unbelievable conversation to be having with my fish guy!

I was so excited to share my good fortune with Mike I just about ran home.  We've never seen Maryland Blue crabs in any of the fish stalls we've been at in Venice in all the years we've been here. There are very few things we miss about living in the US, but high up on that list would be Maryland crabs and sweet white corn.   We don't dwell on the things we miss, because there are so many other wonderful things here, especially foods, that we also love. We can always find things to step in and take the place of any of the items we might miss on occassion. However, today, to find these crabs was just like getting a little prize.  If anyone had watched us eat dinner tonight, they would have thought we hadn't eaten in days!  We devoured those 6 crabs. 

My six crabs, fresh from the market.

All cooked up, ready to be eaten!

After the feast...Buonissimo!!

Tomorrow morning, I will be back at my fish mongers to see if he has a few crabs left, or if he can order them for us.  Now all I need is a few ears of white corn!!

Postscript to last nite's post -- We've just come from the fish monger, with the last 6 crabs in hand! He had them under the counter. When he saw us approaching, he flashed us a big smile and said "You want the crabs" and pulled them out for us.  Wow, are we ever happy!!  And, he tells us that although these particular crabs are not readily available, if we let him know when we want more he will put in an order and hope he can get some.  Guess what we are eating again tonight ???? That's right!!! 

Today's walk - Aqua Bassa

Last night as I was closing up the shutters I noticed a thick fog had rolled in around our canal. I wondered what morning would be like.  We've had an unusually mild winter so far in Venice- pretty mild temperatures, very little fog, no ice or snow yet, and only one morning of high water. Weird season, actually, but I am not complaining. I'm a summer girl.

In the morning, my first order of business was an appointment at my hairdresser's, Simone.  His salon was FREEZING this morning!!!  I had checked the weather when I got up, supposed to be 33 degrees F. At Simone's I think it was colder, and my hunch was right, he explained that his caldaia (the water heater) was not working when he arrived earlier.  Yikes! I shivered through the whole event. 

On my way home from Simone's I noticed a familiar gondola parked right in front of the Frari. Alessandro!!!  I haven't seen him since early fall. I looked around to see where he was standing, hoping it really was him today. Sometimes gondoliers who are not working will lend their boats to other gondoliers. This was clearly Sandro's gondola, but where was he?  Aha! There he was having a coffee in the window of the cafe at the foot of the bridge. When he spotted me, he waved  and motioned for me to come in. We had a coffee together and caught up a bit. I'm excited, he is going to check around to see if any of his friends will be rowing in the Volo in Silenzio on the last night of Carnevale to hopefully secure me a seat in a boat for less money than the official tickets are being sold for.  After kisses and hugs, I left Sandro to his work and I headed off to Campo Santa Margherita for a stop at my fish guys. 

I love my fish guys! While I waited a few minutes, they peeled and deveined my kilo of gambero (shrimp) for me.  Makes my life really simple come dinner time. I also stopped at the vegetable stall, then met Mike at Mood Cafe for a cup of tea and a little light lunch. By this time I was freezing. Today is the coldest day we've had so far. I checked on my iphone- the temperature was now 26 degrees F or  -3 C!!!!  It wasn't too warm inside Mood either, but better than being outside.

I had one more errand to accomplish before I could get home and warm up. Mike and I both walked together to Giustinian so I could drop off my request for prescriptions at my doctor's office.  My doctor has a new system now, which I am very grateful for. Instead of having to wait in the queue at his office each month to renew prescriptions, I can drop off a letter in his mail box, then return the next day to pick up the prescriptions. 

On our walk  home from the Dottore's office, I snapped a few photos of the unusually low water in the canals today. On a typical day at  high tide, the water level is even with the highest dark line you see on the canals. When it's low tide on a normal day, the green area on the canal wall is visible.  During this period of  very  low tide, the water is so low the last stairs are visible.

Even the algae is out of water today by several feet. Very unusual.

And the steps at my own water door (photo above) are completely out of water. This is the first time I've seen those bottom 2 steps. Fortunately, most boats are flat bottomed and don't require very much water. I can't imagine all the boats that would be run aground otherwise. Italy has had all the ship problems it can handle for one week!

My new best friend

I bet you thought I was going to tell you all about a new shopkeeper or barista who  befriended me this week.  I wish!  I made a promise to myself that I would push myself harder to improve my Italian this year, and in doing so, I've been working on developing some new daily habits.  One to two hours a day I am pouring over my Italian workbooks, listening to audiotapes and recording myself. I'm also reading a book in Italian!  I chose an old favorite of mine- Nancy Drew's Mystery of the Broken Locket!  Don't laugh, I realize this  book is geared towards 10-12 yrs old, but it's right up my alley.

According to some Italian proficiency tests I took recently, I'm at an intermediate level. Still, I find myself horribly deficient. The Nancy Drew book is forcing me to really work at it. I've been making some good progress, although a bit slower than I would have liked.  My process is pretty simple- I attempt to make out the text on my own with the hopes of being able to read and understand as much as I possibly can. Then,  I break out i Ragazzini, my trusty Italian-English dictionary,  and start looking up the words I don't know. Then, I take a tea break!  I have two new notebooks- one for nouns, prepositions, adverbs etc, and another for verbs. Anything that is new to me I am writing down in my notebooks, along with examples of how the words are used. I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but i Ragazzini is about 4 1/2 inches thick.  I'm not only getting a mental work out, but  my arms are also benefitting from all the lifting.

At the rate I am going, I expect to be finished with Nancy Drew in about a month.  I thought I had a pretty extensive vocabulary already, however, to be honest, I think my new notebooks will be full up before the book is finished.  The system seems to be working for me- except for bumping into some verb tenses I'm unfamiliar with.  Passato remoto for one. I'm still struggling over the use of Passato prossimo and Imperfetto!  You know that saying "You can't teach an old dog new tricks"?  Well, folks- Karen is an old dog. Trying to learn new verb tenses is just not easy.  However, determination and hard work will see me through this. I am committed to becoming more proficient.  Notice I was careful not to say fluent?

Now, the only other thing I need this week is a few words with the Patron saint of learning Italian!

Postscript added Friday morning- I know this is going to sound weird, but it's true. Last night in a dream, the identification of the Patron saint of Learning Italian was revealed to me.  Its Spiro Agnew!  I woke up shortly after that tidbit of information was divulged in the dream, so I unfortunately was unable to get back to the dream to find out if there was anything else to it.  When I told this to Mike this morning, he commented that this was surely a sign  I am supposed to turn Republican.  Sorry, but I don't agree.