Breathtaking Venicia!

It is hard to describe this city in words and harder still to capture it in a camera. Here are a few attempts. 

On the Grande Canal

Happy tourists!

Venice in motion

More Venice

The Grand Canal and gondolas 

The grande canal seen from the Ponte Rialto

just another back lane!

Pin-up priests!

Cement 'truck'

Two happy wanderers

Palais des Doges. In the distance, the grande canal with the winged lion who is the symbol of venice at the top of the pillar. In the fore ground the platform that is used for getting around when the water rises to cover the square S. Marco. No water when we were there but the ground was wet as if there had been water earlier in the day. Prepared visitors bring their gum boots.

Night falling on the canal grande as seem from the Vaporetto (the Venetian boat/bus)

Some ornate 3d puzzles. Colin, I though of you when seeing those trees.

More Food

Some memorable moments with food and friends! My camera does not do very well with poor light and small spaces but it gives you an idea!

Pizza on stone bench.

Ester with Gnocchi which simply melt in your mouth

Osso Buco with potato mouse

Caro with... ?

A shared dessert - chocolate mouse with amaretto gelato and carrot flakes - the little white tube is carrot jelly!

The menu said that this was lumpfish with ink (squid?). The waiter assured me that it was a Venitian specialty.

Shareing

Part of the deal when one is invited to do a residency is to give a workshop and to present the work in progress to the community, these events are called shareings (a name and idea that I much like). For our sharing we had 40 min of a first draught of a piece (not bad for only a few weeks of work). We tried for the first time to dance the piece with down feathers on the floor - it was very beautiful but very hard to breath! Both Ester and I had serious bouts of coughing but we did manage to make it through!  

Two downy dancers

Two cleaner-uppers

Garage Nardini

Here is where we are spending our days... The garage Nardini. An abandoned garage turned theatre / studio - full marks for charm not so good on the heat. There are three space heaters that run around the clock but in january in the north of Italy it is cold. We are rehearsing with all our woolies on!

Some graffiti-art outside

Views of Bassano

Food!

Of course the food is sublime! Eric has asked me to send pictures so here are a few...

The Italians seem to eat a great deal - there are appetizers then the first dish then the second dish, then of course dessert and coffee and grappa. The first dish is usually pasta or pizza and the second dish is fish or meat. We have a hard time getting through one dish let alone three!

This is seafood soup... where is the soup? This is an appetizer!

The classic - grilled vegetables. This is a side dish, doesn't even count.

Polenta w/ asiago cheese, Radicchio (marinated), and sausage. Again, an appetizer!

There will be lots more to come. Yum!

The Garage

First day in the studio today. It is a great place - an old Nardini garage now transformed into dance studio/theatre. Beautiful big space with a good floor and lots of charm  (I will post pictures soon) but a little lacking in the heat department. We have three heaters going full tilt but it is a big and draughty space so we have to keep all our many layers on. Good thing we came prepared!

First day at the Garage Nardini

Wonderful to have a residency that gives us a space 24hrs a day where we can work when we like and we can leave our set-up in place. It is a real treat! This freedom comes with some complications though... the first day we couldn't get the door to open! Luckily we got in through the back door eventually as who knows when we would have found someone to bail us out!

Caroline trying the door

My turn, no  success

al numero 14

This is our B&B - Al numero 14. 

These rather odd trees are each dedicated to someone who was hanged here during the second world war. A rather grim reminder of some of Italy's dark times.

A discreet entrance!

14 is the first building

from my room

My Room

         

Ponte Veccio

Our first day in Bassano. We were up early to attend a dance class given in the museum for people with parkinson's disease. The class was great and attended by 50 people of varying ages and abilities some with parkinson's, some with other physical complications, some just wanting to move. It was very inspiring on many levels. We decided that  with jet-lag and all the traveling we would take the rest of the day off. I got to explore Bassano. It was a magical day! The sun sining and almost warm, this enchanting old city to explore, not a tourist to be seen (apart from myself). I found a path along the river where I intend to do my morning runs. Everywhere I look there is some beauty to be discovered. How lucky I feel!

This is the bridge that seems to be the symbol of Bassano. Il Ponte Veccio.

Caroline, Ester, et Casey sur le pont

A happy place for a café - in the sun!

Bassano Del Grappa

Made it!

Believe it or not we just got here... 5 pm sunday having left Montreal at 6pm (Montreal time) on Saturday!! 

The flights all went well and we got to venice, hooked up with Casey who was coming in half and hour later and got on our bus to Mestre where we were to catch a train for Bassano.... only to find that the trains or at least some of them are on strike today and none were running to Bassano. Some confusion in the train station involving back and forths between the ticket counter (where each time there was a good long wait) at one end of the station and the information centre at the other end. No one seemed to know quite which trains were running if any at all. Finally we got ourselves on to a train headed to Padova, not at all sure that we were getting any closer to Bassano. However in Padova we did find a bus (just as it was leaving) that seemed to be heading to Bassano. So on we got and some time later arrived in Bassano! Yay!  Apparently there was a train strike last time that Caroline was in Bassano to - it seems to be a tradition! There is still Ester to come. She has made it to Venice and now needs to navigate all this on her own. Thank goodness for text messages!

The drive from Padova reminded me a great deal of the drive from Alberta into the rockies. We were on a very flat plane but there were the huge wall of the alps looming ever closer. Here in Bassano we are right on the doorstep of the mountains. I am looking forward to exploring. The B&B is great. My room looks out to the mountains.

I will send pictures when there is some daylight.

the puzzle finished!

So here we are. The day of my departure for Italy and Alice and I have just put the final pieces in the new year's puzzle. Feeling very pleased with ourselves!

Du Patin au lac du Domaine Alpine

A magic skate with Marie-Claude on the frozen lake near Marie-Claude and Alejandro's chalet. The lake was solidly frozen with only a light dusting of snow over top. No shovelling necessary! It looked and felt as if we were skating on the snow!! Great terrain for the seasoned and the up and coming figure skaters.

Marie-Claude

Alice 

Left to right: Eric, Marie-Claude,
Alice, Lily, Rachel, Alejandro

First storm of the winter

Here are the girls off to school this morning in a beautiful white world. I don't imagine that Oxford or Paris or Vancouver can offer such riches!!

Eric's Birthday

Nous avons fêté les 55 ans de Eric en grand samedi soir avec Aznavour, Barbarah, Brassens, Lhasa, et Silvio Rodrigues à l'honneur grace à Gabriela, Thomas, Mathieu, Maxime, et Alejandro. Un moment de bonheur pur dans la belle maison de Annie et Francis à NDG. Merci merci merci la vie!