La Seconda Casa

There are two inescapable features of italian life - food and history, and this weekend in particular, I have experienced both in abundance and with great pleasure. Most importantly, I have mastered the art of ordering a cappuccino and cornetti at my local pasticceria, and like a local, consume both standing at the bar. The coffee is small, hot and strong and the cornetti, small, sweet and soft - so perfection! It is amazing how such a thing can truly put a smile on one's face and turn an uncertain, grey morning into something far different.

This weekend the weather has been cloudy and grey but fortified I 'go forward' and open to how the day unfolds - and this weekend has been truly joyful. The Rialto Market has been in operation since 1097 but the majority of the buildings date back to the 16th century. Here on Saturday morning I discovered the vegetable and fish market in full swing! The path underneath was wet from the overnight rain and the hosing down from the cleaning of fish and squid, rapid italian spoken haggling over orders and price surrounds me while I try to stand to one side and take in the activity.

The produce is indeed fresh and the smell of the lagoon water fills the air - but I turn to the fresh vegetables, the dried tomatoes and herbs and along the colonnade the meat and cheese stores busily trading. Is there nothing I can bring back to Aus with me?

I awoke Sunday to the sound of rain and the noisy swish of canal waves splashing outside driven by speedy canal boats hurrying somewhere....I figured Sunday would be a quiet day, especially for the locals. Lying in bed, tea at hand, I soon heard church bells echoing out across the piazzas of Cannaregio. A slow start and a grey day became something different as the day progressed. Venturing out, umbrella at hand and rugged up to keep out the drizzle, cold and to try and keep my cough at bay, I found the locals were like me, out and about....another coffee! this time a cannoli! oh joy! The vaporetto to Accademia and for Sunday, my journey back in time began.

The Accademia gallery focuses on art of the Venetian empire and is housed in a building dating to the 12th century. What intrigued me was how Venice has been depicted through the ages and how little it has changed. Gentile Bellini shows a procession in the Piazza San Marco in around 1500AD - and it looks very similar to my view of it today! Cafe Florian has been serving coffee in Venice since 1720-a gilded rococo confection inside, it is an institution that drew me to it today! Harry's Bar, that other renowned drinking hole of Hemingway et al was crowded and the reviews un-enticing, however Florian's beckoned today. From the cold and windy top of the Campanile with its views over Venice ( and where Galileo demonstrated the voracity of his telescope to the Doge of the day) I headed to Florians not for coffee but a hot chocolate. It arrived thick and delicious, a little packet of sugar to sweeten the consistency and I was transported! Worth the 10 euros! As I left Florian's the sun came out and I stood in St Mark's Square enjoying its warmth. I smiled as the band set up in front of the cafe began to play-such a moment I realised will never be repeated but what a joy to experience it today in this city, my italian 'seconda casa'.