marginalia de Venezia
Spending two weeks in Venezia with an overflowing schedule (from running “the” bridge back and forth every morn to rushing to the Sant’Alvise pool, to rushing back to the talks, to keeping preparing my own food, not to mention the forced intermission in the ospedale) was both exciting and exhausting! But mostly enjoyable in retrieving former routes and strategies to bypass tourist hordes, especially people walking abreast in narrow calli and sotoporteghi, like these four young women holding hand near Ponte Sant’Antonio (!), or standing in lumps in busy passageways, the epitome being Ponte degli Scalzi I had to X at least twice a day to get to the Ca’ Bottacin campus, where the Ocean retreat was taking place. I particularly liked Xing each (swimming day) the Campo del Ghetto Novo early enough to mix mostly with locals, including the police and army people guarding the synagogue. Not a major feat with an 800 people conference, but I came several times across friends at unexpected spots (as well as a perfect stranger in Calle Crosera asking me in German if I had just seen a blond woman?!)
Beside a feeling of a scaling-up invasion of the (industrial) cannoli, I (fortunately!) discovered on the day before last that the traditional pasticceria Tonolo was still open, contrary to an impression gotten from before- and after-hours passages, and indulged in tasting their artisanal cannolo.
Still on the food scene, I ended up most tragically (!) missing a dinner at trattoria Da’a Marisa (the best osterie of Italy!) as it had been reserved without us being aware of it, while suffering half of a mediocre copy by San Trovaso (with half-frozen folpetti without sauce, salmon and imported prawn in the antipasti, and a horrifyingly crunchy risotto..!), while enjoying a few good dishes like tagliatelle with squid and elaborate vegetarian ravioli. And celebrating my exiting the hospital and its two-day fast with a latte machiatto and (outlandish) pain au raisin!
Xi'an's Og 
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