Love, Wine and Music... all you could want in a blog post

All right there my lovelies? Sorry for no return from Italy post. It was all a bit of a blur with the last minute shopping and the 4AM bus ride to the airport, although I do I have one thing that I wanted to share. On the bus to the airport there was a set of grandparents taking their two granddaughters to the airport. The girls were little, maybe 11 and 7 and the bus was crowded, so I was standing beside them in the aisle. The grandfather and the younger girl were in front of me, and the bus was fairly quiet but you could still hear whispered conversations and the clicking of people texting. As I tuned in and out of different conversations I realized that the grandfather was talking to the little girl, and as I eavesdropped further (this is how I operate) I realized that he was reciting something to her. He was reciting the words to Good Night Moon to her as she fell asleep in his arms. On a crowded bus full of people at 4 in the morning, it was so tender and sweet; it makes you miss everything about being a child, and long for everything all at once that brings you that same sort of comfort. It seems to me that love is that sort of perfect, gentle care for another person that brings you to the point of memorizing something you know will bring them comfort. It was a lovely end to an amazing trip: everything was incredible and delicious and I am so so sorry that it's over.

Still, not that things around here have been awful or anything. Yesterday I went to a wine tasting in Annapolis at   Wine Cellars of Annapolis which was fantastic. Everyone there was super knowledgeable and nice, and I would highly recommend it if you're in the area. The barrel room also has a passageway to a little cheese and food shop called Tastings Gourmet Market where they had cheese samplers to go with the wine. My recommendation: Gorgonzola Picante. Holy cow (HAHAHAH), it is the very best blue cheese I have ever had in my whole entire life. As for wine, I ended up with a 2011 1 x Spaceman Rose which is incredibly sweet and light and has a label that looks like this:

 

I defy you to find a cooler label for wine. It's not possible. The wine itself is light and sweet but not too sweet. Perfect to chill and drink when it's warm outside. I also bought a delicious bottle of Terre Gaie Moscato, which is dangerous because it tastes like sparkling grapes and is so sweet and bubbly you could down a whole bottle without thinking about it and you would be on your ass. This hasn't happened to me yet, but when it undoubtedly does you will be the very first to know. After all the people I drunkenly text. 

In other news, I am off to Ikea because they seem to have reasonably priced frames. While I had popped off to Italy, I also had my room painted (dark blue grey on two walls and light slate grey on two walls), and it looks lovely. But because it's painted, I shouldn't, you know... thumbtack a thousand posters and printouts to my walls anymore. And I'm a grownup now anyway... and what do grown-ups do? They fucking frame their posters. SO, today I am going to go buy some nice frames for my posters and prints. To be fair, I probably should have done that back when I started buying nice posters and prints... but you know... oh well. If it looks nice, I'll post pictures when I'm done (I know that's exactly what you wanted.)

Stray Observations:

• Realized recently that I have started changing my wardrobe... all changes seem to point to a desire to be a 20-something, hip, crime-solving, scarf-wearing, book-wielding woman of mystery. It is getting a little out of control. I may pretend to be a fashion blogger and make a post about it. It's my blog, I do what I want!
• When I try to download things and they aren't on Pirate Bay, my first response is *cry* and then my second response is *give up.* Neither of these responses are effective when you're in the middle of a radio series that you feel you absolutely MUST listen to the rest of. What on earth are my other options?
• Everyone should listen to the band The Head and The Heart, particularly this song, Honey Come Home: 

                                 

Their debut self-titled album is totally my jam. This live version is fantastic, but their studio work has more instruments and stuff... if instruments are your thing. *sigh* Some people. Seriously though, the ENTIRE album is great. It's a little like Mumford and Sons album Sigh No More. Every song is incredible. It's just not fair. Go buy it now.

XOX

Gelato and Spritz: Venezia, Days 1 & 2

Venice is beautiful. This is something that many many people have said before and that they will continue saying until people, or Venice, no longer exist. That's because it is entirely true. There isn't an alley to walk down where there isn't something fantastic or enticing on the other side. And there's incredible art and architecture everywhere. It's unbelievable that people live here, I mean, really. We just got back from Ca Rezzionico, which is an 18th Century Palace that is now a museum; most of the rooms on the first 2 floors have their original furnishings (they don't let you take pictures inside - if they did the rest of this blog would be pictures of chandeliers from the 1740s.) But while we were there I realized that in America, we design our museums to look like 18th Century Venetian palaces. At first, when you walk around you think, "Oh, well that's just what museums look like: ornate walls, marble floors, high ceilings," and then you realize, "...this museum is a big deal because its furnished as it was in the 18th century when it was a house. Someone lived here and it looked exactly like this."  We have entirely stolen their design aesthetic and applied it to our museums.

Today we went to the Piazza San Marco, which was huge and also a huge draw for tourists. They (we) were EVERYWHERE. Tons of people speaking TONS of different languages, with maps and cameras and fanny packs. This picture is from earlier in the morning, about 10 or so, and its mostly of the Basilica de San Marco, but you can see the crowds starting to form below it. If we spoke Italian we could have listened to the Palm Sunday mass; they broadcast it live over loud speakers into the square.

Yesterday was relatively uneventful. We got into the airport, took the boat to the city (I have seen at least 15 boats to every car this entire trip), came to the apartment, ate a snack, went out for dinner and gelato, and then came back and went to sleep. Beautiful, beautiful sleep. On the plane I hadn't managed to sleep at all  and after about an hour and a half of scooching around in my seat I gave up and listened to Cabin Pressure for the next two and a half hours which was lovely but not quite as revitalizing as a nap. However, in my quest to entice myself to stay awake until 10:00 PM Venice time, I went a little food crazy. Delicious hand-made ricotta and spinach ravioli, Nutella and caramel gelato, and the drink which all the hip cool young Italians drink- Spritz.

Spritz (or sometimes spritze) is very orange and mine was rather bitter; you can have it mixed with a less bitter bitter than I chose. The drink is white wine, sparkling water, and something else, generally a bitter (I went with Campari.) These drinks are everywhere. Sitting in the Campo di Santa Margherita, orange glasses littered the tables at the cafes. Apparently, it's so popular some people call it the official drink of Venice. I will definitely be trying another.

Tomorrow we should be headed up to the Isle of Murano where murano glass is made. The rest of today will be spent exploring the area around the apartment, relaxing and drinking wine. Also, I'll be around on Skype if anyone wants to chat. You can see the canals from out my window in the apartment, and I'd be more than happy to hold my computer out the window for you. 

Ciao!

Stray Observations:

• Also, spent a good portion of the day walking along Riva degli Schiavoni, which borders Saint Mark's Canal. Bought a few watercolors of the rivers from a painter who was setting up outside a restaurant. He did a fantastic job capturing the colors of the city. Venice is incredibly bright and the light reflects off the buildings and the water to make the most stunning colors. 

Canale di San Marco

• Other food I've eaten: Spaghetti in Squid Ink sauce with calamari, stracciatella gelato, and tiramisu mousse. Also, Frosted Flakes which, in Italy, they call Frosties.
• Boats: People take boats everywhere. It is the most convenient way to get around. Their boat system is like a metro system(they're called water buses, but really, it's like a metro) However, for tourists, besides the water metro and water taxis there are also gondolas. The locals can ride the gondolas too; however, most choose not to parody their city's history by paying their kinsmen too many euros to push them around the rivers in a straw hat. Despite how cynical that last sentence was, the gondolas are decked out to be historically accurate and are cool to look at.   Today in gondola news: there was a gondola traffic jam between two bridges. 4 gondolas full of tourists were trying to pass each other and the gondoliers were yelling at each other in Italian and angrily pushing their gondolas around. It was very exciting. Also, unlike in the movies, there aren't people lounging in the gondolas with parasols or with guys with accordions singing to them... oh wait... 

Technically, he's not the one playing the accordion, so...