Here is a picture of our new street – Vico Sacramento. 

We are in a great part of town, right off of Corso Umberto (the main drag) within the city walls of Taormina.

Taormina is a beautiful Sicilian town overlooking the Mediterranean.  It is the place where Sicilians go to vacation – along with everyone else.  We are here before the summer season begins – although we already have seen two cruise ships coming for the day. 

Taormina is my favorite town in Sicily – and we are back in our same apartment (for the 5^th or 6^th time, I’ve lost count).  They greet us like old friends now.

Here is our front gate – we have half of the top floor, plus part of the terrace.

We have a little courtyard filled with orange trees, which are blooming now.  The fragrance is heavenly!

Then a front door to our building.

Once inside . . .

Next – I’ll give you a tour!

But this is one of my favorite pictures – a little olive tree growing on the roof.

And now we say farewell to Venezia –

Our temporary address, Salizada San Samuele . . .

Our view of the rooftops . . .

And Frank’s favorite bridge – the Accademia.

On to new views . . .

And now the adventure REALLY begins!

We are winding down our time in Venezia.  It will be so hard to leave.  To help us say good-bye, we spent a sunny afternoon in one of our favorite spots – listening to music at Caffe Florian, the oldest coffeehouse in Venice, dating from 1720 (www.caffeflorian.com).

The Florian is located on Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square) and is a very special place for us.  It is beautiful inside, but if you’re lucky, the orchestra is playing outside on the piazza – and you can sit in the sunshine, have a spritz, and listen to the music. 

My parents first took me here – dancing in the piazza.

Then Frank and I had our first wedding toast here when we eloped to Venice (arranged by my family).

This year, the Florian closed for a time due to COVID.  We were worried it would not re-open.

When we finally made it back to Venice and to our favorite Florian, we looked at each other with tears in our eyes.  It has been a rough couple of years for all of us – but we are so happy to have taken a chance and jumped back into travel.  And happy that the Florian and other places so special to us are making a comeback, too.

I will leave you with a short video so you can feel the spirit of this magical place.

Venice has very strict rules about trash pick-up – which is important.  No one wants trash in the Grand Canal!   

And since this is a city of boats, the trash boat comes around, rather than the garbage truck. 

They have several trash boats and certain places they tie up.  The garbage men go door-to-door to collect trash, or you can bring your trash to the boat.  (We never figured out the door-to-door bit so had to take our trash to the boat, which was at our local vaparetto stop, right down the “street”.)

Trash is collected at the boat from 6:30-8:30 am, so you have to be on your toes.  Many days we lingered too long and (literally) missed the boat. 

There is a schedule of the type of trash that they take each day:

So we always had 3 bags running – regular trah, paper, and pastic/glass/tin. 

We finally got a system of bagging the trash to be taken out the night before and having it ready to go for the early morning.

Then Frank would run down to the dock (thank goodness for Frank!).

At the dock, you load your trash into the bin . . .

And a crane moves it to the trash boat and drops it in the cargo hold.

Pretty slick!  (Although we will appreciate just wheeling our big cans to the end of the driveway once a week when we are home!)  

We had the most fun dinner cruise last night – on a pirate ship in Venice!  And not just any pirate ship – The Jolly Roger!

We have done this cruise before and loved it, so it was definitely on our list for this visit. 

Despite the name, it is actually a very upscale pirate ship.

They start off by giving each table a whole bottle of prosecco and small appetizers.  Cheers!

Then on to a 5-course feast prepared right on the boat – they even do the cooking there!

The menu was very gourmet and the food was excellent.

There are only about 30 guests.  During our cruise, there was a birthday and a proposal!

As we dined and drank wine, the ship sailed around Murano, Burano, Torcello and then back to Venice, where they stopped and played “Time to Say Good-Bye” as we floated past St. Mark’s Square with our espressos and dessert. 

Venetian pirates certainly have style!

We love exploring the islands of the Venetian Lagoon.  We have been to Murano a couple of times, known for its beautiful glass makers (vetri di Murano).  But it is usually mobbed by tourists like us!

So we decided to experience the “real” Murano after-hours by spending the night.

It turns out there is a little Hyatt in the middle of Murano, right by the Museo Vaparetto stop.  Who knew?

They have a lovely garden . . .

A trendy lobby –

And a nice restaurant (also a more casual pub/bar). 

Our room had an amazing view.

Once the crowds died down, we took a walk with the locals – here is the “real” Murano.

P.S.  I have two recommendations for anyone visiting.  We had one of our best meals at Ristorante Ai Piantaleoni  – try the Friturra Mista di Pesce (Fried Mixed Fish – lightly battered and VERY fresh) . They have the fish delivered each morning – I heard them from our room at 5 am when the fishing boat pulled up out front.  It is in the same “block” as the Hyatt.

And next door to the Hyatt is a wonderful glass shop (on an island full of them) – Tommasi – tommasi.it/en/ .  They have beautiful and artistic jewelry.  The Tommasi Family has had a furnace on Murano since 1933 and they make all the glass there.  Here’s my new necklace.  : )

When we were here before, we discovered the most unique wine store – at least to us. 

It is very simple.

You purchase an empty 1-liter bottle (or bring your own).

You choose from a wide selection of kegged wines, and the storekeeper “pumps” the wine into your bottle, like beer.  (I do not know the proper terminology for this.)

It is very economical, too.  We got a liter of Cabernet Franc for 3 Euro 60 – including the plastic jug.

Next time we go back, it will even be cheaper since we’ll bring our own bottle back! We may even splurge for Prosecco!

Cin Cin!

P.S. If you are looking for this store, it is near Campo SS Giovanni e Paolo – across from a Coop market. On Google Maps, it is simply listed as “Wine Shop Across from Coop.” : )

This weekend we made a pilgrimage back to our favorite island in the Venetian Lagoon – Burano. 

One reason it is special is that it takes a little work to get there.

We have to walk to Fondamente Nova – the quay on the other end of town and the board a vaparetto for about a 40-minute ride out in the lagoon. 

But it is so worth it.  

Scarves!!

They are famous for lace – and have the best source of scarves anywhere.  If you know me, you know this is my jam!  I always stock up.  Each shop is a little different – from everyday scarves to colorful scarves to handmade heirloom-quality scarves.  Here is me – very happy with my newly-acquired scarves. : )

My favorite shop is Martina Vidal.  They are especially meaningful to me because they helped me put together my wedding dress when we eloped in Venice 7 years ago. We went back and forth to Burano many times that trip for fittings.

And a picture of the dress . . .

And Go Fish!!

We also always pay a visit to Da Romano, which has been run by the same family for four generations.  https://www.daromano.it/en/ 

Photos of celebrities dining there line the wall, and numerous travel shows have highlighted their food.

The patriarch is 84 and still working – he and Frank always take a picture together. 

Their “risotto di Go” made with the “Goby” or “Go” fish (found only in the Venetian Lagoon) is amazing. 

I will leave you with a 2- minute video of how Go risotto is made and showing some of the other dishes we had (featuring Anthony Bourdain) –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLoANw-XwYo .

Buon Apetito!

A short posting to show you our day.

I worked this morning, and then we walked over to Dorsoduro (the sestiere across the Grand Canal from us) for a late lunch – with a view!

http://www.ristorantelineadombra.com

We slowly meandered back home and stopped for cafe espresso under the Academia Bridge, with another great view.

Life in Venezia . . .

In our last post, I promised pictures of the most outstanding feature of our new apartment – the amazing glass.

Our apartment is called “Venini.”  We did not understand the significance of that when we booked.  When we arrived, we discovered absolutely beautiful glass sculptures, vases, and bowls.  Most of it is under lock and key.  We were mesmerized.

We met the owner (he dropped by with the Italian plumber after we discovered a leak in the radiator – another story), who proudly told us the glass was from his personal collection and is Venini (a big deal!). 

Venini is one of the oldest and most famous glass families on Murano.  www.venini.com

The Venini Fornace (kiln) was founded by Paolo Venini in 1921.  Since then, they have added other artists to their collection and trained numerous glassmakers, including the American glassmaker, Chihuly.  Their pieces are found in opera houses, museums, and hotels all over the world. 

And every day we get to wake up to our own personal gallery!

Then there is my favorite art installation. 

Do you see it?  The balloon? 

It is glass and hangs by an invisible thread from the ceiling. 

The owner told me it is a Di Marchi (another big deal!). 

Livio Di Marchi is an avante garde artist in Venice, whose designs are whimsical and usually on a large scale.  One of his recent noteworthy ventures was floating a wooden violin-shaped barge down the Grand Canal with a string quartet playing Vivaldi. It was meant to signify the re-birth of Venice after the pandemic. Check out this video:

He did a series of balloons, and a signed De Marchi balloon is rare and no longer for sale.  There are lots of smaller copies in the shops, but we have an original. 

All of this has certainly spiced up my Zoom background on work calls!