Thursday, July 31, 2008

Ciao, Canale... on to Venice

I am in Venice, now, but haven't really done much, other than getting a 3 day pass for the vaporetti [advised, if you are coming here] and finding my hotel and this internet point.

My final day in Canale was both great and sad. We had lunch at Tulio's wife's mother's farm [apologies to all Tulios... in the last post I consistently spelled the name with 2 Ls]...

The lunch at Mara's mom, Victoria's, place was another exercise in excess. We had assorted antipasti [small balls of mozzarella, artichoke hearts, olives, sausage, proscuitto], then her homemade fettuccini with tomato sauce, then sausages and beef in tomato sauce, then roast beef slices with green beens, roasted peppers and roasted eggplant, then roast chicken and roast potatoes, then salad, then torte [plum], biscotti, and ice cream cake. All of this with accompanying wine, followed by coffee, grappa and limoncello. We went home afterwards and passed out. I was fine and thought that I had made it through relatively well, but hadn't figured the ice cream cake and limoncello. I was going to pass on the lemony goodness, but it turns out that Victoria made it herself... who could pass that up? and it was delicious, if coma-inducing.

We did not have dinner. Tulio, Mara, Claudio, and I drove down to the beach at San Silvestre and walked around, stopping for a coffee granita... this was a nice end to my stay in Canale. Oh, when we got back to Canale, the town was still lively, so we stopped for a beverage at The Special Bar...Claudio's son, Adrian, showed up, as did his cousin Oliver... they enjoy the Special Bar, because the barmaid is cute and the ice cream portions are gigantic. It was sad to leave today.

After saying goodbye to Norma, Claudio's sister, and Rosella, Claudio's mom, Claudio drove me to the station in Bracciano where I took the train to Rome to catch the train to Venice. It was great being hosted in such style... I hope both to return and to return the favour.

Well, it is time to wander about in the 32°C weather. It seems hot, but I am not complaining, because I will soon be back in Prince George... a fine place, but not Venice. I will update some more tomorrow. Ciao for now.

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