Being back in London with a headcold, perverse bus drivers on the 344
and the air being so grey you can taste it has convinced me -
stangely - that I want colder weather.
I thought that I would be yearning for the blue skies, tranquil green
waters and chin-wetting gelati of an Italian Summer but I am not.
Instead I find myself remembering Venetian Winters and my heart is
aching.
A memory so clear I can play it like a film before my eyes. A smell so
sharp it’s rememberance stirs even my thickened nostrils to inhale.
It is December 2001 and after studying in Siena that year I hasten home
to Venice for a birthday treat - and to try to get over a recent
heatbreak - accompanied by my good friend Sproot. We are renting a tiny
studio on the Guidecca and every morning stroll to the Zitelle
vaporetto stop along the Fondamenta, our hands warmed by short cups of
macchiato and gaze at the wonder of the Palazzo Ducale across the
Bacino. The shadows are long, heavy and mist filled. The air crackles
with ice as the intense low winter sun tries to break through. The days
are blindingly sunny and cloaked in fog by turns. The nights are
blackest velvet black and wrapped in heavy pre-Christmas anticipation.
One night, around 6 and velvetly dark, we are shopping for pecorino,
honey figs and pinoli in the cheap student supermercato on the Campo
Santa Margherita in Dorsoduro. Giggling, and wearing knitted woolen
hats, we exit the shop clutching our priceless purchases.
Time slows down at this point.
I look up into the winter sky and see a thousand pin sharp stars. I
inhale deeply the musky spicy scent of burning logfires and it’s
attendant smoke emerging from those distinctive Venetian chimney pots.
The cold Winter air feels magical against my face, it almost has
weight, like a strangers fingers. I hear at the nearby “bridge of the
pugilists” the green thick waters of the lagoon slap against the moored
barge of the vegetable sellers. Life is perfect.
The chimes of a bell near Campo Santa Barnaba break the moment. Hardly
aware of what has passed until afterwards, I shake my head and linking
arms with Sproot hurry off to meet people in the Rio Terra degli
Assassini.
I long for winter.
September 30th, 2004 at 2:01 am
Aaaaaaaahhhhh….
Lovely.
1 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 2:01 am
Aaaaaaaahhhhh….
Lovely.
1 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 2:01 am
Aaaaaaaahhhhh….
Lovely.
1 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 3:05 am
That’s fantastic Bobble. Too good in fact.
0 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 3:05 am
That’s fantastic Bobble. Too good in fact.
0 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 3:05 am
That’s fantastic Bobble. Too good in fact.
0 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 6:01 am
huge. Bravo. clap clap. No more words, silence ! clpa clap ! bis !
1 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 6:01 am
huge. Bravo. clap clap. No more words, silence ! clpa clap ! bis !
1 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 6:01 am
Thank you. It cost me a bit to write that. Some memories are bittersweet.
Too good?
0 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 6:01 am
Thank you. It cost me a bit to write that. Some memories are bittersweet.
Too good?
0 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 6:01 am
Thank you. It cost me a bit to write that. Some memories are bittersweet.
Too good?
0 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 6:02 am
Yes - as in reminding me of something better than the bland greyness cloaking this country right now.
0 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 6:02 am
Yes - as in reminding me of something better than the bland greyness cloaking this country right now.
0 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 6:05 am
Fantastic indeed!
1 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 6:05 am
Fantastic indeed!
1 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 6:05 am
Fantastic indeed!
1 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 4:01 pm
SO beautiful, you have to hold on tight to memories of those pefect moments. Somebody told me once they’d been in Venice when it snowed and that it was the most magical thing ever. I can only imagine..
1 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 4:01 pm
SO beautiful, you have to hold on tight to memories of those pefect moments. Somebody told me once they’d been in Venice when it snowed and that it was the most magical thing ever. I can only imagine..
1 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 4:01 pm
SO beautiful, you have to hold on tight to memories of those pefect moments. Somebody told me once they’d been in Venice when it snowed and that it was the most magical thing ever. I can only imagine..
1 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 5:01 pm
What a beautiful image. I long to return to Venice and you’ve made me want to go in the winter now.
0 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 5:05 pm
Absolutely gorgeous, Bobs …
1 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 5:05 pm
Absolutely gorgeous, Bobs …
1 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 5:05 pm
Absolutely gorgeous, Bobs …
1 Sweetie(s) given
September 30th, 2004 at 8:02 pm
Lovely stuff. I can almost taste that blog.
0 Sweetie(s) given