One Thousand Days

1000 Awesome Things is a book written by Neil Pasricha.  I've never read it, but I read a few of the things Neil thinks are awesome and I agree . . . like

Driving by the house you grew up in.

Someone picking you up at the airport.

The other side of the pillow.

Thousand Day Promise is a drama written by Kim Soo-huyn about a woman who is losing her memory and the loving man who stands by her side.  I've never read it, but I may one day.

Anne of a Thousand Days is a 1969 movie about Henry VIII of England, his second wife, Anne Boleyn and their thousand days together before her eventual beheading in 1536.  I've never seen the movie, but it's history so maybe I will some day.

The 1,000 Days Partnership promotes action for improved nutrition for mothers and children in the first 1,000 days between a woman's pregnancy and her child's 2nd birthday.  Their mission is to help break the cycle of poverty.  

We are approaching our 1000th day in Belgium.  That's 2 years, 8 months, 27 days. It has changed our lives completely and it seems like a milestone of some sort, I guess.

I've had a link for a fundraising website for Kelli Richmond on my blog for a couple of months now. We felt blessed to share in her hope.

About a thousand days ago her life changed completely too.

And on Tuesday, the first of May, her family said goodbye to her and began a journey that will last far more than a thousand days.

The website link will come off, but before it does . . . if you haven't clicked on "Read More", I wish you would.

Even if you didn't know Kelli, her blog and this newspaper article will make you wish you had.  

  

Arrivederci

This is the island of Giudecca.  This photo is taken from the shore in Venice.

Here it is on a map.  It's that long island south of Venice.

The building dominating the island is Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore (Church of the Most Holy Redeemer) and commonly known simply as Il Redentore.  It's a Roman Catholic church built in thanksgiving after a major outbreak of the plague in 1575 in which approximately 46,000 people died.


I'd say a weekend is certainly long enough to see Venice, but I could have stayed longer and I hope to go back some time.  The weather was nearly perfect and it really is a fascinating place like no other we've ever seen.

One of the highlights of our trip was attending this concert . . .

It was fantastic.  We were so glad we made the decision to go. There is an opera or concert nearly every night so if you're ever in Venice and have the time, I recommend it.

The concerts are held at the Chiesa San Vidal (Church Saint Vidal).

This group of musicians, Interpreti Veneziani, has been playing together since the 1980's and it was obvious how much they enjoyed their work and making beautiful music with each other.  

As we walked to catch the very early shuttle bus to the airport, the streets of Venice were very quiet.  These risers lined the streets so they are ready to assemble into a makeshift sidewalk in the event of rising water.  

Venice is covered in water from time to time.

I found this photo on the internet.  It is San Marco Square under water in 2010.

Here's my picture of that same area.

I also found the following video on YouTube.  It's a portion of the same Interpreti Veneziani concert we attended and a nice bonus video of Venice.  Enjoy!

Arrivederci Venezia!

Salute

As the Italians say . . . when life gives you lemons, make limoncello.

We tried this digestif recently and realized what we'd been missing!  Authentic limoncello is to be made with lemons grown in the Sorrento region of Italy only.  

The rind is the part of lemon used to make the liqueur, not the juice.  I read that the rind of this particular lemon is different than most lemons so we bought one and tried it. The rind was really thick and it had a mild taste, not bitter or sweet really. 

I must assume that huge cardboard sign, in English, was for us :) 

Limoncello is best served straight from the freezer - remember liquor doesn't freeze - in little aperitif glasses right out of the freezer too. Our dorm fridge freezer is now a chilling station for limoncello and aperitif glasses.  You can make limoncello yourself, but don't.  Just buy this one if you can find it.

Quick FYI - an aperitif is a "before dinner drink" like champagne or a liquer mixed with sparkling wine and a digestif is an "after dinner drink" and is usually sweet.

While wandering the streets of Venice we noticed at least one or two tables at each cafe' with a pretty orange cocktail.  Naturally we had to find out what it was and try one for ourselves.  It is called an Aperol Spritz.  If not ordered at a restaurant, you can make it yourself at home.  I assume Aperol is available everywhere.  I hope so.  Here's the recipe:

Aperol Spritz

3 parts Prosecco

2 parts Aperol

1 splash of soda or seltz

ice + half a slice of orange

In addition to good Italian drinks, these cookies are delizioso as well. They are called pane del pescatore or "bread of the fisherman".  Similar to a scone, they are not too sweet with a few nuts and raisins.  I may try making them because they are so good.  If you'd like to try making them, here's the RECIPE.

Salute

aka Cheers

Untitled

On May 1, Kelli Richmond's battle with cancer ended.

I don't know what else to say . . .

Canalasso

That's "Venetian" for Grand Canal (Canal Grande in Italian).

The Canal runs through Venice in an "S" shape and is about 2 miles long.

These boats with the wooden upper half are taxis.

They are really beautiful.

The water in the canal is very clean and a wonderful blue color.

Most of the traffic is public transportation, but since there are no cars in Venice, a boat is the only way to get around besides on foot.  There aren't enough streets without a bridge so no bikes either.

Buildings along the canal are from the 13th to 18th century.  This picture is taken as we are sitting at one of the many cafes along the canal.

Since there are zero cars and trucks, we saw a lot of things that you would normally see being delivered by car or truck -  like this boat full of fruit and vegetables.  We saw 2 boats filled with household items - tv, plants, bed - Moving Day!

Three bridges cross the Grand Canal. The most famous is the Rialto (above), built in 1588. Notice the width of the whole thing and that arch in the middle.  The bridge looks exactly the same on the other side.  The middle is open and all those windows are little shops.  

You can see the boat in the foreground is delivering a load of "something" in boxes.  

This is the interior of the Rialto Bridge.  Since there are two identical sides, you can walk up and down either side looking out toward the canal or use these steps in the middle with shops on both sides.  It's a total of 75 feet wide.

There are plenty of gondolas to tour the city.  At 80 euro per person (that's over $100 each), we decided this was not so important to us.  This photo is also taken while we were sitting at another cafe'.

We had lunch at two different "touristy" restaurants along the Grand Canal and the food was really good at both places.  This is not by my standards because I'm happy with a hamburger, but by Jim's standards and he knows good food!

The traffic gets congested from time to time and there didn't seem to be any organization to it all.  Best we could tell, there's no right lane or left lane and traffic goes both ways and in the middle!  Those large vessels are their equivalent of a metro and called a vaporetto.  They were always crowded and we stayed off them for a variety of reasons, not least of all the security of our wallets.  It is Italy!

The gondolas are moored for the night. Sunset on the Canalasso.