Silver Springs

"blue green colors flashing"

Venice: Then and Now
It was a rainy, windy and wild night on Friday the 13th, November of 1992, when my oldest daughter was born at a naval hospital in Naples, Italy. We weren't stationed there, but San Vito Air Station only had an outpatient clinic so I had the choice of flying up to Naples one or two weeks prior to my due date or staying in southern Italy and delivering in the local Italian hospital in Brindisi.

Most women stationed at a military base in southern Italy chose to deliver at the naval hospital because of the horror stories we'd heard about the local hospital, i.e., your husband might not be able to be with you during delivery if there were another woman delivering at the same time because there was no privacy; it was possible you may not have an interpreter with you; hospital practices were equivalent to the stateside medical profession during the 70's; you were still shaved; nurses pressed on your fundus to help deliver the baby; there was no option for pain medication; smoking was allowed in the hospital. Considering the fact that this was my first baby and I was far from home, this naïve and scared little lady chose the road not less travelled.

We left Italy when my daughter was a year and a half old, so she doesn't remember anything about it. She's always been interested in it though and has asked about dual citizenship, visiting Italy, and possibly living there again someday. I asked each of my three older children to choose one place they would really want to go if they could go anywhere in Europe before we move back to the States. She picked Italy, so we started checking out the special airfares at Ryanair. At first she wanted to go to Naples, but I managed to convince her that Venice, Rome, or Florence might be a better introduction to Italy.

I didn't want to tell her that Naples has been called the armpit of the Mediterranean. I can still remember the smell of sulfur or rotten eggs when I stayed at the Stork's Nest in Naples waiting past my due date for this little baby to arrive. And when she and I had to stay in the hospital for a week afterwards because of her pneumothorax and jaundice, my husband, my mother, and my grandmother did some shopping in Naples and even found a shirt that said, "I survived driving in Naples" or something to that effect. Italians are the most aggressive drivers I've ever seen! You know how when you want to pass someone on the road, you wait until the oncoming traffic is far enough away? Not so the larger-than-life Italians! Their national anthem could be, "I feel the need for speed."

Anyway, we decided upon Venice. Hubby and I had gone there in 1994 for Carnevale while we were still stationed in Italy. I dug through my pictures of that trip and realized I'd hardly taken any. Inconceivable! I planned not to make the same mistake again. Armed with my new digital camera, a willing-and-able model, and good walking shoes, I was ready for an adventure.

Ryanair doesn't fly directly into Venice, so we flew into Treviso Airport and then took the shuttle bus to Piazzale Roma (Venice's gateway for land transportation). We were both tired because we'd gotten up so early for the flight. It was also extremely hot in Italy, so we were feeling sluggish on the bus ride. I started perking up when I found I could read the Italian signs and saw so many familiar sights. I didn't think I'd remember much, but I almost felt like I was coming home.

From Piazzale Roma it was either on foot or by boat, so we took the vaporetto (the water bus -- similar to the subway) to the station closest to our hotel. I'd read that water taxis were too expensive, and I knew that Venice wasn't that big so I'd planned to do a lot of walking.

We got lost trying to find our hotel. Up and down all those bridges, and I was so glad we didn't bring too much luggage.


When we finally found the hotel, we were too early to check in. So we left our luggage and headed off for an early lunch at one of the places in Campo San Polo that the clerk recommended. We knew that there was a cover charge just to sit down and eat at most of these places, but we thought it'd be worth it.



My daughter had a delicious margherita pizza, and I helped her eat it. Pizza in Italy is so much better than what passes as pizza today. I also ordered bruschetta because it's one of my favorites. Hubby is amazed that I love it, because I don't like tomatoes.

The best bruschetta I've ever had was in Taormina, Sicily. I would so love to go back to Taormina. The scenery there was absolutely beautiful, and I can remember the sharp, hairpin turns on the drive up the hill to get there. I remember the Woody Allen movie "Mighty Aphrodite" had a scene filmed at an outdoor amphitheatre in Taormina. Stupid movie, beautiful scenery.

I even asked the waitress the correct way to pronounce bruschetta, because I was saying it one way and when we got to England I kept hearing it pronounced another way. I found out I was right! Yee-haw!













It's broo-skay-tah (but I can't roll my r's). The Brits like to pronounce it broo-shet-ah. Reminds me of shed-ule instead of sked-ule. And, just in case, I asked her if it's sometimes pronounced the other way but she said nope.

After rejuvenating ourselves, we were ready for our first foray around Venice. We headed towards Piazza San Marco, stopping to check out the shops on the way. We loved the mask shops and even saw a lady painting a Pulcinella at La Bottega di Pantalone. She let me take a picture of her. Many times the shops have signs saying "No Photos."

If you've seen the children's movie The Thief Lord, you may be interested in the history of the mask that the thief lord wears.

The line was too long for St. Mark's Basilica, so we thought we'd try to get there early the next morning. It was incredibly hot, so my daughter had a gelato (ice cream) and then put her feet in the San Marco Bay.













We walked around some more and tried to get an idea of what gifts we'd like to get for friends and family before heading back to our hotel room for a quick, cool shower.



My daughter thought the room was small, but I thought it was pretty big for European standards. It had a balcony, too, no less. I was impressed. I was also glad we'd found a good deal for it online. It was the Locanda Sant'Agostin.





We headed back out for some more pictures, sightseeing, shopping, and dinner. My daughter saw a Chinese restaurant that she wanted to try, so we braved the cover charge and service charge again for dinner. It was actually pretty good, and my daughter found she liked the lemon soda with the pulp.



She also found her favorite gelato flavors were nocciola (hazelnut), Nutella, and cioccolato (chocolate). We frequently made stops for a scoop or two of gelato for her.








We didn't try the coconuts though, and I wish we had. There were several fruit stands that had a fountain-type stand with sliced coconuts and other fruits like watermelon and grapes on display. Water was kept running over the fruit to keep them cool, and it looked so good!



The next morning we had a nice little breakfast at the hotel before heading out into the growing heat of the day. This time we took the vaporetto from St. Mark's Square to San Giorgio Maggiore Island. I'd been hoping to go up in the bell tower for a view of St. Mark's Square, but it was closed for renovations. We did see the pretty little church though, and it was a little more quiet and peaceful than the hustle and bustle of St. Mark's Square. My daughter was once again mesmerized by the steps to the water and kept making me nervous by how far down the steps she went. Sometimes the vaporetto would slam into the dock and send waves crashing, along with people waiting on the little dock! The algae on the steps was very slippery, so I couldn't relax until she was away from the steps. (If you look closely, you can see mussels on the steps, too.)

After we got back to St. Mark's Square, we grabbed some lunch on the way to the Bridge Accademia. They weren't very good calzones, but we weren't interested in sitting down in a trattoria or ristorante. We saw one guy who'd set up a temporary display for selling his wares running away when the carabinieri walked by. It was funny listening to him yell back to them. It must've been something like, "Oh, yeah, I forgot. I'll take care of it right away." And then it was funny watching the carabinieri decide whether or not it was worth it to chase him up across a crowded bridge in the heat of the afternoon. I think not!

I remember something about vendors having to pay a fee for their space to sell, so the people who haven't rented a space have to be ready to pick up and go when they see the carabinieri. They're usually selling purses and bags, but this guy was selling something that had been hand-made, like birds made from sticks or something. I didn't get a chance to look closely.

Another thing we saw was a lot of was begging. We saw the same people over and over again each day. A lot of the women beggars would come up to you asking for money and talking about their babies. Many people turned away, but I did see some people drop coins into their cups. One lady pressed a 20 Euro note into a woman's hands. The woman beggar said thank you, the note disappeared into a pocket, and she went right on begging again.


Anyway, we visited the Accademia Gallery and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. I preferred the latter. My favorite was Mercury Passing Before the Sun. I had to laugh because when I saw Men in the City, the song "Hot Child in the City" popped into my head.













When we went out to see Peggy Guggenheim's grave, I noticed a tree given to her by Yoko Ono. I pointed it out to my daughter, said she was John Lennon's wife, and then she asked who John Lennon was. That was cause for another laugh, and I told her I'd have to let Grandpa know about that one. (He's a big Beatles fan.)


My daughter had a cola slushee which was much better than the mint slushee she'd had the day before. We headed back to the hotel room for a quick, cooling shower and then headed back out again. We'd gotten tickets for a Vivaldi concert that night so we planned to eat dinner and then feed the birds in St. Mark's Square before going to the concert.


I love this picture and call it "Bird lady in training."






We almost ate at one of those places on the Grand Canal by the Rialto Bridge, but when we found out you had to have at least two courses per person we decided to take our business elsewhere. The clerk at the hotel had suggested we stay away from places near the Rialto Bridge, and now we knew why.

My daughter says Vivaldi's Four Seasons concert at Scuola Grande di San Teodoro was her favorite part of our trip to Venice. The musicians were dressed in period costume, and we felt sorry for them because it was so terribly hot. They had fans, but had to turn one off because it was messing up the sheet music on the stand. They played very well, but when this one man came to join the rest we were blown away. It was lovely to listen to them playing, but he was so wonderful to watch, too. The other musicians seemed like they were just going through the motions, but he really seemed to be enjoying the music all over again. His emotion spoke to us, and we felt it. I imagine it's very hard to do that when you have to play the same pieces over and over again. We were very impressed, and I think that night will stay with us for a very long time.

The next morning we finally went to St. Mark's Basilica. I found it amusing that you couldn't wear shorts into the church even if they were long, but it was okay to wear really, really short skirts.

I also found the sensation of walking along the floor very appealing. The floor had some dips and valleys in places, but they weren't short drops. They were more like waves and lulls, and I found it really fit into the life of this city on water.



Then we went up into the bell tower at St. Mark's Square. My daughter didn't really want to go because of her fear of heights, but she decided to try it. I'm so glad she did, because I really enjoyed it.





We tried to find the Vivaldi Museum in the rear of the Pieta Church, but it was closed both times we checked. We also really wanted to try the Secret Itinerary tour at the Doge's Palace, but we didn't book it the first time we went and the second time we went there was nothing available. We wandered around and happened to find the rear of the Bridge of Sighs. Not as crowded as the front! There we found a little place to eat lunch. My daughter had a margherita pizza and I had gnocchi with a tomato sauce. They were like dumplings which I normally don't like, but these were yummy!

We decided to walk to the New Ghetto, which was the first Jewish Ghetto in history. It was late in the afternoon, so a lot of places were closed.





(In Italy many shops close during lunch and then re-open for the evening hours.)

I did find it interesting that there seemed to be a higher number of security guards walking around the area. It was quiet and empty, so it kind of added to the somberness of the memorial we saw in the square.

On our final day in Venice, there was a vaporetto strike. I'd been thinking about heading out to one of the outer islands or lagoons, but I wasn't sure about taking a water taxi out there and not knowing how much time it would take. I was worried that the strike might affect our transportation prospects back to the airport. The hotel desk kept trying to call and find out, but there was no answer.



So we spent our last few hours walking around and shopping for final gifts for friends and family. I was excited to find a Murano glass puzzle that I'd seen in a window a few days before. I'd been looking for it again and couldn't find it until then.







We ate at the Chinese restaurant my daughter liked so much. Funny how we went to an Italian country and ate Chinese food! I guess it's because we'd lived in Japan and found many favorite foods there.





When we finally walked to Piazzale Roma, we found out the shuttle was working and had no trouble catching our flight home. It was wonderful to re-visit this fascinating city. I think I was most amazed by how little things had changed in the 11 years since I'd been there last.

I believe I'd even found a pizzeria that we'd eaten at before.





I can still hear the gondoliers calling after us,


"Gondola!"




"Gondola!"






Unfortunately, that's one treat we didn't get to experience. The one time we thought about it, the gondolier said it was 100 Euros. After we'd said, "Thanks, but no thanks," he offered it for 80 Euros. I almost wish we had. It was a beautiful night, but c'est la vie!



Hopefully my daughter will be able to go back to Italy someday. She's said that she's thinking about living there, and I told her I'd definitely visit ... maybe even twice a year!

Venice Monuments

written in 2005 and modified in 2006

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Landslide

"climb a mountain and turn around"

Heather and Fern: Scotland in September
The trip to Scotland was memorable in so many ways, but one of the very first impressions I got while driving up there was seeing the hills all covered with heather and fern. Since it was September when we went, the colours were starting to change. I couldn't figure out what kind of foliage it was ... considering the fact that I was driving certainly didn't help. It didn't give me much time to study the countryside. We finally figured out that it was heather and fern. I was nonplussed to see fern all over the hillsides but even more surprised that the undergrowth was brown and the tops were green. Miles and miles of hills covered with heather and fern ... that's an image that'll stick with me for quite a while.

I took my parents to Scotland. The kids stayed home with hubby and while he was happy to excuse himself from the trip and stay home, the kids weren't happy with us. How could I take their grandparents away? That would mean they would have less time to spend with them! I'll be making this up to them for a while. They do keep asking for a puppy. Hmmm.

We started our trip at Edinburgh Castle. It was really windy, and it reminded me a lot of Dover Castle. Must have something to do with the proximity to water ... both castles were high up on a cliff with the water nearby. On a clear day you could see France from Dover Castle, but the wind and clouds prevented it the day we went there. Same thing happened at Edinburgh Castle and we couldn't see very far. Probably better anyway because we were getting our tongues tied up and twisted trying to figure out if it was Forth of Firth, Fife of Forth, Fifth of Forth, or Firth of Forth. (It's Firth of Forth in case you're still wondering, and no, we hadn't had any alcohol yet.)

The Prisoners of War exhibition at Edinburgh Castle was interesting because of the mention of the "American rebels" and how they were treated more harshly than the other prisoners (French, Spanish, Dutch, Irish). There's even something written about how they were considered pirates, so they got less food and drink portions than the other prisoners. Dirty, rotten scoundrels! Har! I was left wondering why they'd taken the prisoners from the American colonies all the way up to Scotland.

How would you like to live in a city where you can check your clocks and watches by the One O'Clock Gun that fires every day? Well, except for Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day. Oh, I just got an image from Mary Poppins. "Posts, everyone!" (Psst, the gun's on the left.)

The One O'Clock Gun is synchronized with the time-ball that drops from the top of the Nelson Monument (over on Calton Hill), so they both combine to make an audiovisual time-signal for the ships in the Port of Leith and the Firth of Forth. (Firth of Forth, Firth of Forth, Firth of Forth.) It was loud.

I really enjoyed my beef steak pie at the Redcoat Café. Can't believe we've lived in England for over two years and I hadn't had one until we'd gone to Scotland. How's that for irony?

After visiting the castle, we did the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre tour. That was a special treat for my dad. My special treat was seeing a young Val Kilmer look-alike in our tour group.

The presentations were wonderful. We started with a sample and learned how to look at the colour and the body, how to nose it, and how to taste it. Then a fire alarm interrupted us, and we had to move outside. That's the fastest I've ever seen a fire truck respond! We later learned it was because Edinburgh Castle was so close by. Ah ha!

Came back in and went through the tour. I kept getting thrown off by the accent though. Every time he said "barrel," I heard "bowel." We learned that some of the really serious whiskey tasters don't even brush their teeth in the morning because they don't want the taste to interfere with their whiskey tasting. I believe our guide said he doesn't like to start tasting too early, so he waits until after 9 or 10am. I'm getting queasy just thinking of it. And, just to make it seem like a real treat, the tour ended with a ride in a bowel, er, barrel.

We walked by the Witchery and had a nice little fantasy about eating at the restaurant. Maybe someday if we ever win the lottery, my husband and I can spend a second honeymoon there!

We stayed at the Channings Hotel that night. The bathtub was glorious! Well, maybe it seemed wonderful to me because I've been deprived of a large tub since we've been overseas for several years. I was also interested in the different titles sitting on the desk in my room. The Rough Magic by Mary Stewart, Whitaker's Almanack 1962, Homeport by Nora Roberts, The Finger of Saturn by Victor Canning, Reader's Digest: Warpath, The Days Were Too Short, Marnie, Mrs. Harris Goes to New York, Village of Stars, Rule Britannia by Daphne du Maurier, and The Shell-Hunters by Dr. Gordon Stables. The books were all hardbacks and looked old, but I must confess I'm not familiar with any of them.

Most of the people up in Scotland were incredibly friendly. My dad had a grand time talking to the porter for quite a while. He found out that the parliament they just built was way over budget and took much longer than originally planned. And one of the best views over Edinburgh was Arthur's Seat. We didn't have time to see it, but it was pretty windy, too, so it probably worked out for the best.

We had a lovely drive on the way to Fort William in the highlands. We saw Hamish, a highland cow, at the Kilmahog Woolen Mill. Had a chuckle renaming the town Murder My Pig. Yes, it was a cheesy tourist trap, but we went along for the ride. We chatted with a lady whose son had been born in Kent, England, and was now living in Kent, Washington. She asked where my parents were from, and when they said Montana she asked if the hurricanes had been tough on them. (This was after Hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Ivan.) I suppose we wouldn't ace English geography either.

Glencoe ... rocks, cliffs, hills, waterfalls, heather and fern.














The pictures just don't do it justice.



High winds prevented us from taking the gondola up Aonach Mor, but we did enjoy the drive around Fort William and even checked out the ruins of Inverlochy Castle. Not to be confused with Inverlochy Castle Hotel which is a magnificent piece of property. I was told that lunch there was highly recommended.


Ballachulish Hotel was old and beautiful, and the view was splendid. I had a chuckle as I came down the stairs and saw a guest bringing his rather large dog up the stairs. Shortly after they were out of sight, I heard the large dog's "chuff" and then a little dog's "yip yip, yip yip yip." Thought of my youngest child learning BIG and little.

The Ballachulish Hotel was situated right on a loch. I'd assumed loch was translated into lake, so I was really surprised to see this loch had tides. Found out later that Scotland only has one lake - Lake of Menteith in the Trossachs. I heard it's beautiful in that area and was disappointed to find out Lake of Menteith Hotel was all booked up when we were there.

Dinner wasn't served until 7pm at the hotel, so we stopped in the bar to get some victuals. We were still chuckling over the lady's question about hurricanes in Montana when a Tornado suddenly whipped over the loch. My dad pointed out a jet, but when he said "Tornado" I pictured a twister and not a jet. I knew what a Spitfire was, but I'd never heard of a Tornado! You, too, can learn all kinds of new things in Scotland!

I learned about puffins in Scotland. I first saw a picture of one in a taxi from the Edinburgh Airport. It said "No puffin" and had a picture of this bird with the "No" sign over it. It was a "no smoking" sign. I assumed it was a cartoon character. It looked like a penguin. I laughed. Shows how much I know. My dad thought he saw a puffin crash into the loch, but we found out later that they don't come that far inland. We did a little bird watching while at Ballachulish.

My dad scored some chocolate from the lady at the front desk. Somebody had left their lights on in their car, so my dad took the plate number to the desk so they could notify the owner. She offered him some chocolate, but he said he couldn't take it because his mother had warned him about pretty ladies handing out chocolate. The next morning as they were checking out, he told my mom that this was the lady that was trying to give him chocolate. The lady at the desk got a big kick out of that and tried to give him some chocolate, but he still wouldn't take it. So she gave it to my mom and told her to share. Mmm, that was some good chocolate!

We tried to see if there was a weaving demo at the Spean Bridge Mill, but it wasn't operating so we just did some shopping instead. My mom and I sampled some Heather Cream and each bought a bottle. This was pretty unusual for me because I'm not much of a drinker, but oh, it was yummy, yummy, yummy! We also found the kind of whisky my dad had tried at the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre (the shop there had sold the last bottle the day before).

Hey, did you know Nazareth was from Scotland? (Love Hurts)

We got a little lost on the way back to the lowlands and took a lovely detour towards Kinlochleven. Plenty of pictures on that drive.













I especially love the one with the sunlight streaming through the clouds.


The town looked dead on a Saturday afternoon, but we did see a building with "Story of Aluminium" on the side of it. We had just wondered the day before why so many Brits say aluminium instead aluminum. Now we know! They must laugh themselves silly when we try to say Worcestershire or Leicester.



Stopped in at the Glencoe Visitor Centre and learned more about the Glencoe Massacre, Deirdre of Sorrow, and the connection between the MacDonalds and the Nez Perce Indians. "From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever." Scots and the American Indians

The gift shop had a bulletin board with some notes and suggestions for our visit. It mentioned different animals we might see on our walk and even explained how we would be able to tell the difference between a weasel and a stoat, because weasels are "weaselily recognizable" and stoats are "stoatally different." I found a bunch of stuffed animal birds with real call sounds for the kids. I also found a terrific book called A Wee Book o Fairy Tales in Scots. It's great to read aloud.

Oh, almost forgot my lunch. I had cock-a-leekie soup. Translation: chicken and leek soup. 'Nuff said.

On the drive to Stirling, we stopped for petrol. We had rented a Daewoo Takuma, and it cost £30 to fill up ¾ of the tank. That's about $57. Ouch. And on the drive back we were slowly being tortured by the TRAF-RDS button. It kept beeping, and we couldn't figure out how to turn it off! Turns out TRAF means Traffic Information Station, and it beeps if you leave the reception area for the traffic radio stations. Somehow without a manual we figured out how to turn it off. Why don't they include manuals in rental cars?

I noticed that sometimes the tap water in Edinburgh and Ballachulish was brown, but when we stayed in Stirling it was clear. Iron in the water?

We found out that it's very important to make dinner reservations for Saturday night in Stirling or else you'll end up driving everywhere looking for someplace to eat. We ended up at the Terraces Hotel bar, and the food was pretty darn good. Could it be we were so hungry that anything would've tasted good? Nah.

Took my Monty Python fan of a dad to see Doune Castle.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed there, so many fans make the pilgrimage. We found out they'd just had a festival the previous weekend. Drat.

I can hear, "So I say,
I say WELCOME, welcome to the Doune town!" sung to the tune of Welcome to the Boomtown.

The Wallace Monument was fantastic. A very steep climb and windy as all get-out up at the top, but it was definitely worth it. I think I enjoyed that more than Stirling Castle. The Bannockburn Heritage Centre and the Rob Roy and Trossachs Visitor Centre were both interesting, but I still think the Wallace Monument and the old Stirling Bridge were more impressive.



As I dig through these pictures, I'm trying to decide which part was my favourite and I really can't pick just one. I never thought I'd go to Scotland and really didn't have much interest in it. Now that I've gotten a taste of it, I'm hoping to go back again. I'll have to study up on William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, and Mary, Queen of Scots before I go.


How much is that doggie in the window?





You'll have to look for this adorable little cutie on Bridgehaugh Road if you go see the old Stirling Bridge!

written in 2004 and modified in 2006

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