The Book

30 posters around the island announce
the book signing

What a fantastic experience I had writing, photographing, designing, self-publishing and promoting my first book Sifnos Houses  |  Myrto Kostika, Architect !  Having survived the experience, I feel greater admiration for those who have written, photographed, published, and promoted their own works.  The contributions and enthusiastic support from so many people has been incredibly heart-warming.

For a book description and to order go to  tinyurl.com/mkgbooks .  The book is also available for 20 Euros in the two bookstores on Sifnos, in Kamares and Apollonia.

Despite significant obstacles, the July 16^th book signing event was a success.  Myrto felt rightfully honored –she beamed all evening-- and we all had good fun.  For me, it was our farewell party, and, as such, I could not have expected better.  It was the hottest evening of the summer (30C+).  I learned only the evening before that the last 8 pages of the book were not included during the binding process.  Thus, we had no books to sell and sign.   No books for a Book Signing event!  Can you believe it?  Speechless was I upon receiving the news.  Everyone's reaction was, "That's Greece for you."   In honesty, such a challenge could have happened anywhere.  The local printer is mortified by the situation and strives to make amends.  At his cost, he sent someone (Mary, the psychologist who teaches children's Greek theater) to take orders, and, he has offered to provide courier delivery of signed books to everyone who so ordered it, no matter where they live.


I did have on hand book samples (less the last 8 pages) so that those who overcame the heat to join us could see the book.  About 50 of our friends participated and 77 books were sold.  Even though I publicized to the full community, including tacking 30 posters around the island, only one 'stranger' was amongst us.  He kept to himself, sitting on the veranda reading the book page by page. but didn't place an order.  All others in attendance were our friends or acquaintances.  The venue and hostess (Elli Lehou on her veranda in Artemonas) were absolutely perfect.  She even opened her home so that people could tour it.  Karoline was our business manager for the evening, collecting sales and giving receipts.  Gerhard photographed the event and was the "go-for" guy.  Two of Karoline's friends kept wine and water glasses full while also serving finger sandwiches.  This freed me to roam the group, playing the 'author' role.   Everyone brought their festive outlook, and, since we were all friends, we had a joyful time.  What a lovely grand finale to send us off on the ferry in only two days time!

Book signing party

The End

A day sail to Antiparos

And this concludes a year of living on Sifnos! 

As of a year ago we had landed on Sifnos laden with 10 suitcases of gear that would keep us supplied for our rambles through the region.  In only a few weeks time we return with the same 10 suitcases, this time a bit more beaten up for wear and tear, and filled with memories of extraordinary adventures.

Late Spring and our Sifnos summer have been full of enjoyable activity as we race to ‘experience it all’ before we leave Sifnos at the end of this week, not to see the island again until next summer.

"Faded Glory" in May, close up

April’s unbelievably brilliant greens gave way to a striking orange-pink presented by a pervasive bush that, now in July, looks almost dead.  Since I don’t know it’s rightful name I’ve applied the nickname “Faded Glory”.  May’s colorful show faded as June progressed and now we see the more familiar sandy browns mixed with deep greens. 

Everyone alerted us that May is the most pleasant month of the year.  Certainly we watched as spirits rose after the pressures of the Easter season.  Smiles were broader and steps lighter.  This is the time of great promise…for a good harvest to come…for a wealth-creating tourist season…soon to come.  The potters become most active in this month preparing the new inventory for tourist sales.  They need the sun and drier climate to effectively dry the clay before it is fired in the kilns.  In June everyone braces themself…the students to endure the month long national testing period…the business owners to receive the first onslaught of tourists.

Church at Chrysopigi bedecked for Saint's Day panagiri

Prepared for the panagiri

As tradition requires, the icon arrives by boat

Archbishop brings the icon ashore

This year Greece is faced with spirit-draining problems.  The first elections were a disaster and forced delays in critical political decisions.  All official business was paralyzed and many involved in such duties sat around shrugging shoulders and twiddling thumbs.  It didn’t help that Greece lost to Germany in the European (soccer) cup quarter-finals.  Gloom, gloom, gloom.  We had our own experiences that helped us to appreciate the depth and breadth of problems facing Greece.  Seeking a two-month extension to our visitors visas, we had a three month run-around with the local authorities trying to finding someone willing to claim ownership of the responsibility.  We were shuffled from the island of Sifnos, to the islands of Milos and Syros (all three related through the municipal organization).  We were shuffled from mayor’s office to police to port police to immigration.  Everyone agreed that it should be an easy case, yet we were not successful in finding an owning party.   

Rigorous hikes rewarded with pleasing views

Meanwhile, in pursuing a case of a foreign worker who had made sexual advances on Karoline, we came to understand the plight of the asylum seeker and Greece’s porous border problem.  Fortunately, we also came to greatly appreciate the skill and competence of the local police, as well as the general public vigilence in keeping the island safe for citizen and visitor alike.  It was explained that, upon hearing he was in trouble, the culprit had very likely pursued a traditional solution by slipping away on the first departing ferry, never to return to the island again.  It was an explanation for why it is rather easy to keep the island safe.  We are also grappling with the new national procedures being implemented to convert “illegal” properties into “legal” ones through an amnesty program.  We joined every other homeowner to comply, in good faith, with willingness to pass along the related fees.  However, we came to understand the extortionist level of the fees and the lack of assurance that, in the end result, our property would be any more ‘legal’ than it ever was.  We, like others, came to see the program as, in essence, a simple act on the part of the national government to generate revenues.  Through these experiences, we now come to appreciate the everyman’s resistance to paying any taxes in this country where one is left with the impression that one pays yet gets worse than nothing in return.  ‘Tis dis-spiriting.

Day sails to other islands

We sail; they motor; together it's fun

By the end of June Karoline wrapped up her 7^th grade year with Calvert and eased into vacation mode immediately after her piano contribution to the island’s youth music performance.  She played Mozart’s Ronda Alla Turca to an appreciative standing room only crowd.  In May, during the week before Pentecost, when the island celebrates it’s patron saint Chrysopigi, the children also organized an art exhibit in the island’s one theater.  This followed in early June with a youth performance of traditional dance, in traditional costume, at the athletic center. This week the children will perform a Greek tragedy at the amphitheater that overlooks Faros harbour.    I am impressed by the quality of the performances and the professionalism of the youth program’s organization.  

We paint new roadside marquee

These past months have found both Gerhard and me busy with completing modernization and business development projects for small businesses on the island.  The municipality has loosely sponsored all of this activity.  Gerhard is assisting a construction company with expanding its business into the Middle East, where the money is these days.  He also assisted with improvements on the business of a boutique hotel—whether as simple as plumbing and electrical repairs, or by making recommendations for better promotion through web marketing.   Karoline and I also helped the hotel with a small project to design and paint new signage directing car traffic to the hotel.  Meanwhile, I have been working with an icon painter, organic food purveyor, potter, and jewelry maker on various and sundry projects such as new product line merchandising, expanding business by creating an online distribution and marketing presence, structuring a cooperative to more effectively sell higher volumes, and promoting product through event marketing.    The book I have authored, (tinyurl.com/mkgbooks) is to help with the municipality’s efforts to promote the island as a repeat vacation destination for English speakers.  We hope we leave behind a Sifnos that is better off for having hosted us. 

Schools out!  Guests join our fun.

Working the Earth

Immature pomegranate in late May

So much of our late spring and all of summer has been about harvesting from the earth.

In early April we harvested the wild oregano just before the buds bloomed and stored the cuttings upside down from our high shelves in the kitchen until the several weeks before the leaves are completely dry.  Opinions abound as to how to prepare the spice mix.  Some advocate including the bud heads, while others claim that only the leaves are worthy of retaining.  Some say to store the leaves and buds whole while others recommend grinding them to ease cooking with the spice. 

In late April we joined just about every household in planting our perivoli (kitchen garden).  I was surprised to learn that just about everyone buys starter plants from Athens.  I would have expected a more local approach.  For irrigation we are doing the local method of laying the young plants in trenches dug on an east-west axis and flooding the trenches every other day with a simple portable hose system.  We missed the chance to fertilize while tilling so, instead, we are applying goat manure tea on a weekly basis. 

Loquats ready for harvest

Come May the wild capers are ready to harvest.  Friend Ioanna calls them ‘God’s gift’ because the plant is such a beauty to the eye while also supplying a variety of tasty treats.  Besides the more common way of harvesting while the buds are still small then preserving in salt, there are the other methods of harvesting.  The young leaves that surround the bud can be pickled and served as a garnish on a salad.  Or, the more mature and larger buds (just as the flower petal begins to show) are sun dried for storage, then boiled quickly and pulsed into caper salad.  If one is patient enough to wait until later, it is possible to harvest the bigger bulbs (about the size of an olive) after the flower is spent.  These can be salted, as is done with the more common method, and served as a flavor enhancer. 

In May, with the lambs and goats sacrificed to the Easter celebrations, animal husbanders become busy with the extra milk by making cheeses.  Mizithra is a feta of a softer consistency and quick to make and consume.  Manoura is a salty hard cheese brought to maturity with a wine musk wrap and stored on bamboo shelves hung from the ceilings of kitchens. 

June brings on the apricot harvest and the end of June welcomes the first harvests of tomatoes, cucumbers, arugula, other greens, peppers and even the first of the watermelon. 

Ioanna's gift of apricots

June is also when the lavender flowers are spent and it is time to harvest and distill for the oil.  If the lavender is cut while in full bloom, then the oils can be captured in the flowers to make sachets.  These are commonly placed in closets to scare away mites, moths, mosquitoes and other tiny pests.  The oils of a lemon or rose scented geranium are also distilled at this time of year.  The oils are used to flavor almond cookies or to make a perfume.  I hear that a mix of lavender and rose geranium oil makes a lovely scent.  Through a trade-in-kind arrangement, I helped Lulu to harvest her 500 lavender plants.  This was an exchange for her 4 hours of workshop time teaching me how to use Photoshop to process digital photos for my book.  My friend Nasia and several of Lulu’s friends joined us.  We chatted while clipping or hanging the bundles from ceilings and took so many cold mint tea and cookie breaks that the time felt like a day’s worth of ‘kafe klatsch’.   By the end of the day every building in her themonia (farm), including her bedroom, was strung with lavender bundles on chains attached to the ceiling.  Now, when passing by the farm, the aroma of lavender pleases every passerby.  I will do this again, given the opportunity!

Have tools; can harvest lavender

Lavender ceiling

Yannis, our goat herding neighbor, spies on my perivoli and offers unsolicited sage advice that is much welcomed.  I think he feels sorry for us as he witnesses the slow meager development of our tiny plot.  I suspect that we started a month too late, using nourishment-depleted soil, and with a week’s worth of Beaufort 6 winds stressing our plants.  Nevertheless, we watch daily growth with amused interest and produce arugula, basil, tomatoes, onions, peppers, eggplants and melons for our table.  In sympathy of our meager results, Yannis drops off his overly abundant leftovers from his own wind-protected perivoli.  Yesterday’s bag of lusciously red tomatoes inspired a culinary frenzy to prepare Imam (stuffed and roasted eggplant) and tabouleh.  Maria, our Greek teacher, also pushes into our arms chicken eggs, zucchini and parsley from her mother-in-law’s farm.  In practicality, I see no reason to cultivate our own garden given the generosity of our friends.  But, we are not always practical creatures, are we?

Back in Berkeley I will miss this ready access to the earth’s daily bounty.  Or, is a project to replicate such in our future?

Death to Death: Greek Easter on Sifnos

Spring on Sifnos

We returned to Sifnos, thrilled to unpack more permanently and reconnect with the community.  Gerhard and Karoline arrived a week earlier to find the cottage in excellent condition.  We cannot say the same for the landscaping.  Not many of our ex-pat friends are yet on the island.  Nevertheless, we are happy to be with local friends who survived a particularly cold winter and the woes of Greece.  While Gerhard and Karoline were settling in I attended dad’s funeral services. This required six days of travel to allow for six grieving days in the company of extended family.  Now it is Easter season, the highlight of the Greek year.

Coincidentally, my own state of sadness mimics the dolorous yet, ultimately, uplifting community experience of Easter in Greece.  Schools and many businesses shut down during the two weeks surrounding Orthodox Easter.  This is a time when Sifnos usually experiences a burst of visitors who wish to celebrate in traditional island style.  However, the economic woes are distressing most families and many cannot afford even the price of a ferry ticket.  In addition, many chose to avoid unreliable ferries triggered by inconsistent weather and strikes.  While Easter celebrations are subdued this year, it is likely more authentic to the original purpose of honoring Jesus’ sacrifices and example of faithful living. 

Red dyed Easter eggs

During each day of Holy Week the village churches host two multi-hour services.  Each service focuses on a different station of the cross.  Good Friday is perhaps the most dramatic when a candlelit procession carries the epitaphion (symbolic coffin of Jesus) from the church, through the village, to the cemetery, then circles back to the church.  Participants chant mesmerizing hymns along the way.  Devote women remain in church overnight for ritualistic mourning.  At midnight on Saturday a church service culminates in a brief display of fireworks (one set per church).  Earlier in the day the flame has arrived on Sifnos from Athens, having originated in Jerusalem.  Congregants carry home the flame in lanterns where the blessing protects the family until the following year.  For older godchildren, godparents cleverly decorate candles (labatha) to encourage practice of this ritual.   Younger godchildren tend to receive a new pair of shoes.  Unique to this night, all businesses and homes are lit up in celebration.  In the wee hours of Sunday “death to death” is declared and the 40-day Lenten fast is broken.  As a game, possessors of dyed red eggs hit one another’s, hoping theirs remains the last to be fully intact.  If so, they are the one blessed with good luck for the year.  Many enjoy eating a traditional stew of lamb offal, dill, rice and egg.  Later in the day the extended family gathers for a big feast, the centerpiece of which is a whole spit-roasted lamb.  On Sifnos it is equally common to serve Mastello which is a stew of lamb in red wine.  Traditional dessert is sweet Easter bread, usually presented as a braid with a red dyed egg nestled atop.  From a friend’s veranda we entertained ourselves by watching from afar as family clusters ate, sang and danced on their own verandas.  

Spring in Kastro

To be a Greek housewife during this period requires the utmost of endurance when practicing all the traditions.   Or so I found.  I am sure that attempting to make red dyed eggs, knead Easter bread, prepare Mastello, and create a labatha for the first time required more effort than if it were habit.  Having said that, unlike the more devote, I did not attend church daily or observe the Lenten dietary restrictions.   Even so, having contentedly survived, I feel a strong need for re-energizing and de-toxing spa treatments.

A few unique Sifnos experiences along the way:

·      Yiannis the goat herder stopped by for his daily coffee and kept us abreast of news.  He says “simera”, and intones “baa, baa”, then swipes the flat of his hand across his neck, screwing up his face with a fateful look – all code for “I’m slaughtering the lamb today.”  He promises a small gift of said meat.

·      Through word of mouth I learn that septuagenarian Kateh offers for sale freshly slaughtered lamb.  In her farm store I watch with admiration as she expertly lifts the huge cleaver.  With full body force she whacks at bone and meat, repeatedly.  I receive half of a lamb, 5.4 kilos, neatly cut into pieces. 

·      Kateh also sells her son’s locally produced sweet red wine. I follow her into the farm’s kitchen that serves both family and business needs.  Moving aside layers of filled egg cartons and drying mounds of homemade cheeses, she reaches for the siphon from the wine vat to fill my plastic water bottle full of the wine. 

·      Kateh teaches me how to prepare Mastello.  It is super simple.  In a large clay pot place grape vine branches on the bottom to act like a frame. Layer fennel fronds and portion-sized pieces of lamb that are seasoned with salt and pepper, (bone and some fat included).  Pour in some wine.  Cover and bake on low heat for 6 hours, ideally in one of the island’s ubiquitous outdoor wood burning ovens.  Considering how simple the technique, the dish is deliciously rich.  It tastes better after resting for a day.  Leftovers freeze well.

·      Our rental car broke down.  While waiting the five days for parts to arrive by ferry, we walk everywhere.  Escorting Karoline home from Greek school, we stop by Flora’s farm to see how this octogenarian is faring.  Before our departure in mid-December we found her ailing and in bed.  I was fearful of the worst.  Instead, she was reigning over her farm stand, complaining only of a sore hip and leg.  Requesting greens, I follow her into the fields to help select horta, (similar to collard greens), arugula, dill and broccoli.  We also buy fresh eggs.  Shyly, Flora asks for payment and I eagerly oblige, relieved not to be paying the otherwise exorbitant store prices.

·      Being the excellent saleswoman that Flora is, I am persuaded to buy the clay pot used for Mastello from her grandson’s adjacent pottery workshop.  Her grandson Yiannis teaches me how to cure the pot:  1 cup of olive oil and water to fill the pot.  Leave in the sun until all water has evaporated.  Voila!

·      As Karoline and I take the daily hike from town to home, I forage for fennel fronds as seasoning for the Mastello.

Labatha for sale

·      On the island for Easter vacation, friends from Athens stop by for café und kuchen.  While the kids play, we peer into the dramas and stresses that are common in Athens today.  The family construction business is in dire straits.  Selling assets allows them to pay off loans that failing banks insist must be redeemed pre-maturely.  The portfolio shrinks.  What does survive is underwater.  Neighbors on Sifnos complain about the eyesore that is their half-built construction project.  The view limits tourist appeal and thus affects villagers’ business.  Otherwise healthy relationships are now tarnished.  The saving grace is investment from a Saudi family.  The only capital available is from the Middle East.  The investors expect a return so work must go on.  While building on Sifnos is cheap now there are too few buyers.  The best hope for the new houses will be to temporarily offer them as vacation rentals.  However, nether is this promising considering that there is a glut in vacation rentals.  Perhaps they can take the business to the Middle East and build where there is demand.  When income is generated, it is unclear how much is available to manage cash flow because the Greek tax regulation is in a constant state of flux.  Their three children continue with private schooling, even when the school is failing.   Most parents can no longer afford the tuition.  Ex-pats who had filled the school have returned to their home countries because they lost their Greek jobs.  If this family is forced to pull out of private school, then they will emigrate and start over again, likely in Germany.  At least, for this multi-culti, multi-lingual family, emigration is a realistic option.  They notice that the people around them are not taking responsibility for the need to change.  A common sentiment is: “This situation is not my fault.  It is everyone else who must change.  Not me.”  It would be different if there were hope.  Yet, “as thinking people”, it is quite clear that there is no reason to place faith in the country’s leadership—business, political or religious —to find a successful path forward.  We haven’t seen the worst of it yet.  But, hey, the apple crumble is delicious.

Skiing, the Ups and Downs, in La Thuile, Italy

La Thuile, near Mont Blanc

For the grand finale of our three months of suitcase travel, we skied during the days in La Thuile, as expected.  Not so expected were the evenings spent processing a severance package offered by IBM, while simultaneously arranging to attend my dad’s funeral.  The year abroad, intended for refreshment, reflection and renewal, has truly become a rite of passage.  My head is spinning.

Balcony of home exchange house

Once again, this time in the old alpine village of La Thuile, under the shadow of Mont Blanc, Italy offers finely cultivated living.  We enjoyed Spring skiing and Karoline surprised us all by achieving a new level of competence.  None of us broke a leg or sniffled from a cold.  When not skiing we were swimming in the town’s indoor pool or exploring little alpine towns, savoring the connections with history and the art of living well.  Being avid admirers of finely prepared foods, and with access to a very good kitchen, we became friends with the butcher, cheese maker, vintner, and baker.  Our home exchange hosts once again honored us with generous hospitality.  An ancient barn had been converted into their beautifully decorated second home.  We slept in what had been an animal pen.  During construction they found remnants of an 18^th century monk’s candle-making workshop in the barn’s loft.  This is where Karoline slept.

Favorite house in La Thuile

With mixed feelings, our three months exploration came to an end and we routed through Milan for the flight to Athens.  In Milan we spent an afternoon near the Central train station, coming to realize that this is the immigration hub.  Here Karoline enjoyed a much needed hair trim in a Chinese salon.  It was also a Chinese family who served us pizza and spaghetti in their very Italian restaurant and a Chinese family who operated our hotel.    The world is small, is it not?    

La Thuile tips:

Once in La Thuile a car is unnecessary.  Getting to La Thuile can be a challenge and we found the best approach to be a 4 hour bus ride (with two transfers) to return to Milano.  And then we need to take the Metro, with one transfer, to reach Milano Central station for the transfer to the airport.

Homeexchange.com #150571  :  Large enchanting alpine house nestled in an old town within walking distance to the ski slopes. 

Elegant alpine restaurant with a continental flare to local cuisine:  La Creche; +39.335.5244943; via Paolo Debernard, La Thuile

Best pizza in Italy:  Pizzeria Ristorante Du Tunnel; via Circonvallazione n. 80, Courmayeur; +39.0165.841705

Popular restaurant for pizza and more, and our host’s favorite:  La Pepita in La Thuile

At the base of the La Thuile ski lift is a large grocery store, charcuterie and cheese shop.

In the big hotel at the base of the ski lift is a lap pool and work out center (Gerhard finds the equipment old and locker room for men horrible).  I liked the pool and sauna for women.

Internet services are a challenge.  1 hour free in the afternoons at the public library in town, or, for 5 euros during your stay, from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. there is wifi at the noisy bar at the base of the ski lift, and an extension of the big hotel.  Our hosts loaned us his UMTS USB port cellular service which runs at 14 Mbps, max.

A local bus service can drop you at the full service spa and thermal baths in Pre Saint Didier (we didn’t try it find the fee a bit rich, euros 42 per person)

Courmayeur is also a charming town and worth a stroll through.  The local bus service can drop you there in 20 minutes.

Respite in Bellagio, on Lake Como

Hike affords view down onto Bellagio, Lake Como, Italy

We are enjoying a pleasant and productive visit to Bellagio, on Lake Como, a 15 minute ferry ride from Varenna, which is a 45 minute train ride from Milano.  After scoping out a tourist itinerary for Milano and investigating hotels, we made our first deviation from the original plan and decided, instead, to stay in an apartment on Lake Como. 

Shop and House in Bellagio

At this point, we are fatigued with bustling densely populated cities and too much restaurant eating.  We hit the wall with each others company the day before friend Gina arrived in Rome...two weeks ago. On that day, rather than risk the wraith of my intolerance and sniping at either K or G for very small yet consistent 'infractions', I buried my face in a book.  Gina's stay with us was coincidentally fortuitous as it gave us the excuse to find mental space from one another for ten days, while she appreciated all of our attentions.  We are also finding it redundant (to put it mildly) to load gear, decipher maps, decode transportation systems, translate menus or food labels, and wear *that one t-shirt or pair of jeans* again and again.  But, there isn't much to be done about all of that at the moment, and we have only one more destination before returning to Sifnos.  Three months fly by!

Prada Shoes on display in Milan

Fashion Week is underway in Milano, clogging up our preferred hotels.  Besides, we realized that tourists can see the city's historical highlights in one--very dense--day.  Since Lake Como is conveniently close, we took the train into the city for a day and have otherwise hovered in Bellagio.  We used the excursion as yet another *teaching moment* and insisted that Karoline take the leadership to navigate us through the Top 10 "Must See" sights of Milan.  She did a marvelous job of preparing the itinerary, monitoring the maps, navigating the streets, finding the right train on the right track, transitioning to the right metro line, buying tickets for transportation and museums, etc.  Despite her complaining and grumbling, I can tell that she is proud of her practical living skills.  I see the boost in her self-confidence.  

Galleria Vittorio Emmanuela, Milan

During the week Bellagio has been idyllic and quiet.  The apartment is perfect for our needs--new, minimally furnished, well laid out, fully equipped, comfortable, clean, and only steps from the ferry dock and awesome views.  From the apartment window we can see a church steeple.  Its bells ring prettily on the hour and half hour; 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.  At 8 p.m. each evening someone is playing a tune on its carillon bells and we have fun guessing the name of the composer.  Yesterday evening, around 9 p.m., a chorus of voices sang a hymn while the congregation streamed from the church and down the street. 

At noon yesterday, a Saturday, we stepped out the door for our jogs and were surprised to find the harbor brimming with day visitors.  The Europeans are still not accustomed to joggers:  Karoline and I had our fair share of arrogant snide comments from passersby.  For some reason, the Harley rider gangs and clusters of flashy spandex clad cyclists didn't seem to capture as much attention.  We caught up with Gerhard at an outdoor lakeside cafe where he and Karoline inhaled an ice cream sundae and we watched the glamorously clad strollers pass by the outstanding view.  

Milan has become a city for cyclists

Here in Bellagio Karoline is making satisfying progress with her studies, Gerhard and I are completing our U.S. tax return, and I am drafting a new page for the book.  We are becoming known by the local food shop owners since we do a daily run for our meal preparations.  I am surprised at how well my recalled Italian gets us through our shopping and general inquiries.  Karoline comments that the place feels so much like Sifnos during the low season--friendly casual locals have time to make pleasant conversation.

Bellagoio Tip; apartment:  WWW.BORGORESIDENCE.IT

Life is a Theater: Carnevale in Venice

Carnevale revelers on Piazza San Marco

Gina is still with us and we are enjoying civilized society as only Venetians know how.  We arrived in the snow and may depart in the snow as well.  In between it has been more pleasant to be out and about.  As I write we use the day’s rain as an excuse to get caught up on school work, correspondence, organizing photos, and detoxing our bodies after days of over indulging.  The city has been celebrating Carnevale since our arrival and it is one crowded party scene.  Fortunately, our old, lovely and comfortable home exchange townhouse is in the quieter Siestere of Dorsoduro, surrounded by all the services we could hope for.  

Our grocer in Dorsoduro

Local wine merchant

  The host family is in town, bunking with the grandparents.  The couple work together in their own film making firm that also specializes in organizing grand events in Venice, Carneval being one of them.  On the few occasions when they can break away from work, they have given us the inside scoop on what it has taken to manage this year's festivities.   Amongst other events, they are responsible for the grand finale, the vogata, which is a centuries old tradition of a candlelit gondola caravan that cruises the Grand Canal, this year culminating in a bonfire of a huge floating bull sculpture.  They convinced us to stay an extra two days to participate.  

La Vogata del Silenzio

I don't know how they do it, but the couple has found the time to introduce us to their parents, giving us insight to how old Venetian families live daily.  Both families live in inherited homes in very old palazzos full of Venetian antiques.  We are overwhelmed by their hospitality. 

Yes, we did buy masks and capes for nightly strolls along with the other costumed tourists.  We danced to a DJ in the gated VIP section on St. Mark's Square, thanks to comp tickets from our hosts.  No, we decided against participating in any of the numerous costumed balls, and we dodged the jam-packed streets between San Marco and the Rialto bridge.  Otherwise, the street scene is good enough for us!

Guess who

Venice Tips:

 

Official municipal site for all things Carneval in Venice:  http://www.carnevale.venezia.it/?slang=en

Home exchange townhouse: http://www.homeexchange.com/show.php?id=87396

Restaurants:  The following are the type we prefer.  They are local neighborhood places, casual and bustling yet with white linen tablecloth, super service, excellent cooking, served with a friendly smile and within Euros 30-50 per person for a full dinner.

            Quattro Feri, Dorsoduro, Calle Lunga | Campo S. Barnaba especially for seafood, yet good all around.  

            Locanda Montin, Dorsoduro 1147 for excellent seafood

Incognito

             

Antica Osteria Al Pantalon, Dosoduro; 041.710849, where we took Giorgia and Francesco for the very best prepared seafood I can recall

             

On Murano is very good pizza and other food at Osteria al Duomo; Fondamenta Maschio 20-1; 0415274303

Wine for the daily table is extra good, even if cheap, when buying from Mattiazzi Danilo on Calle Lunga in Dorsoduro.  He operates a low key operation:  doesn’t even make business cards and his signs are hand written.  While he sells wine by the bottle he will also siphon off any quantity you like from his huge basket-encased vats into your own bottles.  His number is 041 522639 6 or 335266574 .

Fresh delicious organic veggies are sold from a boat along one of the minor canals in Dorsoduro.  Prices are very reasonable.

Carneval masks and Murano glass trinkets are in good selection and more reasonably priced when buying in the gifts shops in Dorsoduro.

Besides taking a pause for a coffee break, also try a Ciccheto, a snack with a glass of wine at one of the bars suited for that purpose

Books: 

Death in Venice by Thomas Mann

The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt

The movie The Tourist has a terrible plot yet you can see Johnny Depp pulling stunts in gorgeous Venice scenery.

Doing the Italian Look