My Venice

Venice Docks, Watercolor, 4" x 6 1/4" Everyone has a 'my Venice'. One visit and we fall hard.

San Marco, watercolor, 4" x 12 1/2"

One friend is in Venice right now for 2 weeks before she goes on to Paris for 2 weeks - the best of both worlds. Another friend is going just to Venice for 3 weeks! And she doesn't even paint! This is not fair.

San Marco Sillouette, watercolor, 3 1/2" x 6 1/2"

I went back to Venice 9 years ago just for 1 day while I was at the Verona Vinitaly wine fair. It's a short 1 1/2 hours away by train.

Santa Maria Majori, watercolor, 4" x 6"

I was lucky to have an architect student sit down next to me and she was staying in Venice for 3 months. Anyway fortunately for me, she was a bit short of change. I helped her out and in doing so got the best of guides for my very short visit. She knew the history and aesthetics of every palazzo and canal bridge. She showed me the secret Venice.

Venice Melange, watercolor, 4" x 11 1/2"

I went back for 3 days a few years later- not long enough. Then 2 years ago I managed to stay 5 days while the Turner Venice watercolor show was on. An unbeatable combination.

There's a small very nice hotel, Hotel Mignon in Carneggio you might look into if you're going. Every hotel in Venice is small and the rooms are all very small, unless you happen to be friendly with a palazzo-owner..But who stays in their hotel room in Venice? It makes no sense. A Venice Card is essential..open door to 10 museums and all the rides you want on the Vaporetto for a week. Brek Ristorante is a terrific chain of cafeterias with farm-fresh food. You help yourself to local wines straight from the tap. Just a few steps to the right of the train station.                           Gondoliers, watercolor, 4" x 6 1/4"

Oh and don't forget to take your art materials. They can be quite pricy in Venice unless you want to spring for one of those hand-made marbelized sketchbooks you may never use, but treasure always...to be continued.

Animaux au Paris

I seem to be relentlessly drawn to animals in Paris... Maybe animaux anywhere attract my attention... I saw this delightful Panda working the Nestle at the Salon du chocolat. A crew of zebras was coralled into serving Nestle's new teas as well! Meanwhile over on rue Bonaparte, les chats were quite busy... Who could not have used the aid of a good cat server during their New Years Eve soiree? Cats readily assist lamps in Paris all the time evidently... On the other hand these roosters on rue Madame are just standing around looking elegant. I have yet to enter the very exclusive Oderantes fleurist shop - quelle dommage.

What's not to love about this hound in a hat?

A whimsical ostrich is not to be outdone sporting a cigarette holder to boot...

Jules Pansu boutique at 42 rue Bonaparte is the place to go if you must have amusante animaux coussins.

Over the long holiday I've been thinking about sending your animaux/pets off to Venice and making sketches and doodles...

I was chatting with Brit watercolorist, Ian Sidaway about pets in Venice, and he says you can only send CATS to Venice. I beg to differ!

Why your average hound would not enjoy a trip in a Gondola on the Grand Canal is beyond me!

Frankly, I think you can send BOTH cats and dogs to Venice. They will behave perfectly as long as you throw them the occasional bone or sardine non? I am taking myself off to Venice in March and I might meet up with Ian on a gondola or at the gelateria...

What do YOU think?

Would you like your pet painted in Venice/Venise?

Do Tell all.

BONJOUR Animaux au Paris & Venice!!

Donna Leon's Venice

Venice is a mysterious seductress... You want to get to know her better... First you turn to history books for the elusive answers... But the clues to a city are it's people. And though both tourists and Venetian citizens ride the vaporetto together, there's an invisible wall between them... Venetians keep their nose hidden in their newspapers/Gazzettino, pet their dogs and ignore you... They sit on the end seats patiently waiting their fermata/stop, decked out in elegant outfits. They never fight for the window seat or aim cameras at the Grand Canal. And they never wear shlumpy jeans and hoodies... They do wear impossibly high heels to walk the cobbled calle/streets of Venice. They are the 'other' Venice. Leon agrees with Henry James' observation more than a century ago that "in Venice there is nothing so disagreeable as the visitors." You won't see them trekking over the crowded Academia bridge... Or noses pressed up to shop windows of blinding glass... Nor focusing greedy lenses on the icing cake palazzos... It's the back alleyways that make you long to know more...
What's behind those balconies and dark green shutters?
I found the answer by chance, on the shelves at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum gift shop. Stacks of Commissario Brunetti mysteries by Donna Leon held the answer for me.
Not just mysteries but Venice walks and a Venetian cookbook...

I chose at random, About Face and found within Venice walls made transparent. Venetian social hierachy is revealed both high and low - Brunetti is married to a Count's daughter (a university professor of literature) yet the criminals he daily deals with often come from the lower echelons. Details of proper social behavior, local political issues, what his family ate for lunch, where and what he drinks in a cafe, all are revealed in a way that opens a doorway like no other book.

Donna Leon was born in New Jersey, but has lived in Venice over 30 years. She's chosen not to have her books translated into Italian to maintain her anonymity. More about her in this interview.

Imagine my surprise when I found on page 217 an exact description of the little street near my hotel, Calle della Mandola. Including the optician where I bought my new glasses, the flower shop and the fruit vendor nextdoor - that kind of precise detail. A Venice map front-of the book marks every campo, calle, landmark mentioned.

I stayed at Hotel San Giorgio in the quiet Rio Tera della Mandola around the corner from Brunetti's florist.

FYI, the San Giorgio's staff were molto gentile/very kind. And the breakfast included was huge. Tutti perfecto!
That's how BEAR and I discovered segreti/secret Venezia. Grazie mille Donna Leon. I suggest you try her books. They start out slow, then coil like a cobra full of surprises. *BEAR was made an honorary Venetian citizen because of his good manners on the vaporetto, though he forgot his Il Gazzettino.

BUON GIORNO DONNA LEON'S VENICE!

Macarons in Venice

No, I did not take a gondola ride in Venice.Macaron Boxes,9" x 11 Nor did I find French macarons.

Why not be content with all the Tiramisu floating around Venice These giant hazelnut-smothered cookies looked lethal to me, perhaps even weapon-like..? A massive meringue cake filled with vanilla cream with more cream on the side to drap over it - no way! In a pinch, one could settle for the ropes and ropes of liquirizia/liqurice lining the calle/streets of Venice... In desperation, I bought a Venetian guidebook to help me find local pastries - there are at least 22 listed: balcoli, bussolai ciosotri, castagnole, colombina, crema frita, curasan etc., etc. Rosa Salva is one of Venice's oldest, most revered pasticcerias in sestiere San Marco, 951, Calle Fiubera. It's a cafe as well so you can stop in for a coffee with your cantucci. But I was not tempted.At last I broke down and gobbled an unpronouncable sfogliatelle - a Naples specialty. Maybe I sucumbed because these are in my neighborhood in Astoria? And maybe because these are crispy?
Look! Little Nutella tartelettes. What's wrong with these you ask? Are you saying to yourselves, "picky...picky?"

All from pasticceria Toletta in sestiere Dorsodura, 1192, calle della Toletta, mentioned in the guide...

As a so-called Paris pastry (painter)expert have I been ruined for the treats of the rest of the planet? I think I have.

I do love Italian Macedonia de fruita (basically an improved version of our 'fruitcup' minus the tin).

And there's ALWAYS gelato for dessert. No wonder I was reduced to going on The Gelato Dieta in Venice.

And there ARE plenty of dogs in Venice (more to come on them). So what's YOUR favorite Venetian dessert? Do tell all PBers!!

I did find mini macarons at Toletta my last day in Venice...

By then I'd given up hope and missed out tasting them. They're cleverly sitting in little caissette plissee/paper cups and the cream filling inside is decoratively squiggled. At least I got this photo in passing... I'll just have to return to Venice to taste them. c'est la vie.

BUON GIORNO MACARONS IN VENEZIA