Comments | pamelina: "I have to admit, it's gettin bettah"

pamelina

"I have to admit, it's gettin bettah"

Mar 26, 2005 07:26

I got 6 hours of sleep last night, and yesterday transformed around midday from abysmal to wonderful-on-the-way-to-exciting! I got three offers from friends I love to accompany Will and I to Venice, so I'll get to share the fun and responsibility with a friend ( Read more... )

Comments 9

new_man March 26 2005, 16:49:35 UTC

I didn't even know you were going. How odd -- you're the second friend I have who's on her way there. Is there some big Boston to Venice sale going on? BUy commedia stuff!

pamelina March 27 2005, 04:24:22 UTC

Ok, Capocomico, I'll keep a look-out for commedia stuff. Who's the other Venice-bound lady? I wonder if we'll be there at the same time.

new_man March 27 2005, 08:13:49 UTC

Cassandra from Mountain Freehold. Although she was Carolingian once upon a time, I don't think you know her. She's there now (effectively -- I think she arrives Sunday night) and is gone for two weeks.

mermaidlady March 26 2005, 17:21:09 UTC

Venice has been famous for centuries for lace and glass. I'm sorry that when I was there last (as an unappreciative 18 year old) I didn't buy anything. You could probably even find period designs. In any case, a trip to Murano and the glass works would probably be fun.

pamelina March 27 2005, 04:28:03 UTC

Yes, in fact, I visited Venice once before on a trip to Italy in the '70s, and I did buy lace and we visited the Murano glass works. But then I wasn't interested in renaissance or medieval stuff.

cvirtue March 26 2005, 19:38:55 UTC

The kids could only take 10 minutes of watching Rick Steves' program about Venice, so I'll have more to report later. So far he describes it as lots of fun, confusing, expensive, and worth getting lost on foot, which is easy, because there aren't any street signs (although there are lots of signs which point toward landmarks -- apparently the way most folks naviage there). The gondolas are expensive; he advises going wild on vaporetto trips instead.

Vapporetto! learnteach March 28 2005, 00:28:00 UTC

Gondolas are for tourists only. Take a water taxi (vaporetto.)
Three possibilities:
1. Make one place (coffeehouse, deli, stand) your hangout. Show up at the same time every day, and either walk the menu or order the same thing (same thing works best in a coffeehouse.) See if you can be accepted and how long it takes. If you're walking the menu, ask what the locals are proud of.
2. Pick a piece of fiction and find the landmarks in it; anything from Merchant of Venice (a natural for Pamelina) to The Stress of Her Regard or Drawing of the Dark (Tim Powers) to a bodiceripper, and use that as a guide.
3. http://www.visitvenice.co.uk/train-veneto.html or http://www.magicaljourneys.com/Italy/italy-travel-venice-daytrips.html

Wooow!

Re: Vapporetto! cvirtue March 28 2005, 00:51:12 UTC

Yeah! In the past two days I've swallowed two guidebooks about Venice (DK and Rick Steve's) and Rick Steve's half hour program.

I think "Dangerous Beauty" was set in Venice. I'm not sure if I have that. Maybe Pamela does.

AND, even better, my sister knows a fellow who lives near Venice on the mainland AND he's a chef AND she showed him a fun time on his first visit to the US about a month ago. So we can get him to take us to somewhere he thinks is "real".

Re: Vapporetto! pamelina March 28 2005, 01:51:43 UTC

We should rent the video of "Dangerous Beauty"! We should watch it together before we go. And you definately should see the new "Merchant of Venice" with Al Pacino...I want Will to see that, too.