What can I say? I'm stuck on Venice...

More Venice, less tourists...

 While perusing some of the finer fashion in a particularly busy quarter of the Floating City, a procession of some 50 persons, wavin' flags and a-carryin' signs, distracted us from the haute couture.
Literature printed in Italian and English, obtained from the gentleman on the right, identified them as the commitee "FOR INDEPENDENCE" and declared April 24th "INDEPENDENCE DAY FOR VENETIA."
     Their map showed the proposed state's borders. "Venetia" would encompass the northeastern corner of Italy and wrap around the Adriatic sea, taking a nice chunk of the Istrian peninsula of Croatia as well as the only sliver of coast belonging to Slovenia. They expressed solidarity with other nations seeking independence such as Scotland and Catalonia and cited successful seceding nations such as Slovenia and Ireland.
     Rather jovial police officers followed the calm demonstrators, laughing and joking with one another. I wondered if any of them wished they were marching.
     We saw the beautiful Venentian flag hanging out of many windows that day. However, when I googled the committee, I didn't find any information on the movement. They did admit that this was the first time they had succeeded in securing their "most important goal: to organize a rally for independence in Venice, our capital city."
     Part of me wonders if this is a real movement or a pageant produced to amuse the masses. In any case, I doubt we'll be seeing Venetian secession any time soon.
  

A "few" shots of Venice...

Upon arriving in the city with one 2G card already full, I planned to just erase an older photo here and there and only capture the really good moments in Venice.

...Insert snorting laugh here.

After wandering for one hour, one eye on the hallways and shadows, on the canals and gondoliers and the other eye desperately searching for a photography store, I purchased an outrageously priced 2G card.
By the evening, I'd shot up a whole gig.
Because Venice, that smelly tourist-trap of a wierd city... is a photographer's paradise when the sun is out.  I think of these scenes as  "typical" Venice shots. I'll post some less typical images tomorrow.

Naples to Sorrento...

 These are all pictures from Trianon Pizzeria in Naples, Italy. It was, my own mother's pizza notwithstanding (sorry, Mama), the best pizza I have ever tasted. Of course, they've been making it since 1923, in the city where pizza was born. YUM.


And below begins a project I've been brewing up for a while. The following is an excerpt from my travel journal in Italy. So much life goes on all the time, but I seem to notice more bits and pieces of it when I'm on the road... Hope you enjoy some of my impressions...


February 21, 2010 (or 21/02/2010 as it's written in Europe -they switch the day and month)
On a train from Napes to Sorrento, Italy

We didn't see much of smiling grubby Naples, but I am a little charmed by it all: by the quadruple-deckered pizzeria with the busy bossy staff who melt into helpfulness and smiles when you, the American tourist, ask to take their picture, by the pizza maker who gives dough to curious Italian bambinos, and again by a friendly female behind the espresso counter. You have to figure she's collected a few stories of her own, working in the train station district, her little caffe filled with a swarm of over-the-hill Neapolitan gents.

Then there’s the achingly young couple on the metro: genial dad and bone-tired mom, a laughing, rosy dark baby. The Indian student in the next seat is completely captivated by this baby: "Belissimo!" He takes the small family's photo, strikes up a conversation. He speaks a mixture of Italian, Spanish, and French peppered with English and Hindi exclamations. The train car's small population shares a moment. Everyone delights in baby's laughter. A rainbow graces the grey grubby city as our graffiti-clad train heads toward Sorrento...

Positano, Italy

You find Positano on the Amalfi Coast in Italy... described by the Lonely Planet as the most picturesque town in Italy... True. Dustin and I had only a short afternoon to enjoy this gem, but it definitely made the "go back to someday" list. It's been a favorite of artists and writers for a long time: 

One last view before we caught our bus and lumbered around the twisting road lining the coast, back to our English oasis of a B&B (The Secret Garden Relais) in Sorrento.

Paestum, Italy

Paestum -the scent of Campania's bufala lends this ancient Greek colony in Italy an earthy air, connecting the 6th century BC ruins with a very current economy. The local mozzerella di bufala cheese is nothing like what you eat on your average pizza in the States... if cheese were fruit, then mozzerella di bufala would be the mango. That's the only way I can think to describe it.  

Dustin and I visited Paestum towards the end of our Italy trip, spending the night with a couchsurfing friend in Salerno. This is the Temple of Hera. Artifacts found on the Paestum site are today shown in the nearby museum... I'll sprinkle in some photos of those soon.  

Rome at Sunset

My favorite spot in Rome...

On our first day in Rome, Dustin and I took a walk near the Tiber River. After crossing the Ponte Sant' Angelo, parts of which were constructed by Hadrian in 126 AD, we stood studying the mythic muddy water. He asked a very sweet question... to which I gave a very sweet reply... Later I made him pose here, where he had proposed. <3

Ischia, Italy

The remnants of a fabulous meal shared on the island of Ischia. We sat down, and a little old Italian grandma came and gave one choice -what we wanted to drink. After that she simply brought us large steaming bowls of delicious lentil minestrone followed by a plate of freshly marinated and grilled sardines. We were a bit worried that she wouldn't stop feeding us, but she followed the fish with some simple but delicious melon. Mmmmmm!

Another picture on Ischia...

Vatican Museums

Viola two classic "must-take" photos from the Vatican Museums -the Map Room and the double-helix staircase. The staircase was purportedly designed to have horses driven up it. Not sure why the horses would be super interested in the Sistine Chapel, but who knows? :) A person could spend days in the Map Room and not see everything.

Italy 2010

 Dustin and I are scooping up a "free" wi-fi signal in a little piazza near our hotel in Ischia Porto, Italy. I haven't sorted/edited my photos yet, but here's a quick upload; more to come soon!

This is St. Peter's square with St. Peter's Basilica on the left in the Vatican. Lovely day, quick line, good people-watching. The Vatican is huge, impressive, and thought-provoking...