I can’t tell you what a delight it is to get a Google alert from out-of-the-blue, notifying you that someone has said something nice about something you’ve done. Alison and I worked very hard to make France: Instuctions for Use a useful pub, and a worthy follow-up to Italy: Instuctions for Use; according to Cherie Thiessen of January Magazine, we succeeded:

I’d have bought the book for only this one piece of advice, which I happily learned before the plane’s wheels smacked the runway.

… always to be the first to say bonjour… anything else is unfathomable, and will be considered downright rude.

What great advice this was! Time and time again we saw dour faces transformed by a mere “bonjour madame,” and helpful suggestions offered in response to our “Bonjour monsieur. Pouvez-vous m’aider?”

We are very flattered. Merci, Cherie.

€6,50 Single water bus fare.

May be purchased in advance or on board. This ticket is good for one 60-minute journey on the Venice network (does not include Alilaguna airport transport or the Fusina or Clodia lines). It can be purchased at any ticket booth or on board. Do let the attendent know you need one as you board, to avoid the possibility of a €30 fine.

• €14 - 12 hours
• €16 - 24 hours
• €21 - 36 hours
• €26 - 48 hours
• €31 - 72 hours

• €18 - Three-day Youth card, issued only upon presentation of the Rolling Venice Card (€4, ages 14 - 29), for purchase from any HelloVenezia vendor. See Venicecard.com for complete info.

Conference Card, Student, and organized groups - special requests.

Discounts for groups of various types. Reserved in advance through the offices of HelloVenezia, +39 041 2424. Valid from 1 to 8 days.

CartaVenezia

If you are a frequent visitor to Venice, you might consider the CartaVenezia, or long-term pass. It’s a significant investment if you’re not a resident of Venice or the Veneto (€40), but you can save money in the long term for individual tickets and pass prices, although they’ve risen, too). See the ACTV site for complete information (scroll down to CartaVenezia).

For complete info on transportation and events, contact HelloVenezia at +39 041 2424 from 8a to 8p daily (English spoken). There’s a website too, but it is in Italian.

Actually, they will be Line 1, Line 2, and the new Line 3, with Line 3 being reserved for use by those in possession of a CartaVenezia or Tessera di Abbonamento. Either of these will now set you back a healthy €40 for a new issue, with tickets and passes to be purchased in addition to that. If you hadn’t picked up yours for the original €10, you have unfortunately missed the boat. I wonder whether this is in reaction to too many tourists opting for the Abbonamento instead of the VeniceCard or regular hourly passes (I’m just gossiping, of course; I have nothing remotely official to support my suspicions). With this rate hike, though, it’s certainly no longer economical to opt for an Abbonamento unless you are truly a frequent visitor or here for a long stay.

There was a ridiculous lamentation for “the poor tourist” over this new line recently in the London Herald Trib. Macchè. The “poor tourist” will have at least one vaporetto departing Piazzale Roma every ten minutes, certainly enough to get them where they want to go. It’s just that now, when a group of travelers’ enormous luggage blocks the front seats that are meant for the elderly, the former will be spared the disapproving looks of the Venetian vecie (and perhaps an accompanying schiaffo or two delivered by same. Manca mal).

Don’t forget, if you have any questions about the vaporetto, lines, tickets, and All Things ACTV during your visit, never hesitate to call HelloVenezia at +39 041 2424.

If you’re a frequent visitor to Venice or are coming for an extended period of time (a month or more), you may want to look into applying for the new imob smart-card pass with a tessera di abbonamento.

Here are some to-the-best-of-my-knowledge application FYIs.

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Track the installation progress of the new bridge via the nearby hotel webcam. Mille grazie, Marisa…

If that link doesn’t work, try this one.

. . . and not only can you drink it, it’s quite tasty, actually.

The other day, I was on the way to the San Marcuola vaporetto stop, following a traveler down the broad rio terà that runs behind the Ghetto. He was outfitted for the day with a medium-sized backpack filled with, oh who knows, traveler stuff; but on opposite sides of his sparkling-new, expertly-engineered pack were hoisted two 1.5 liter bottles of water, pronte to relieve his thirst at a moment’s notice. They made my packless back hurt just looking at ‘em.

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I am forever being asked for suggestions on where to find non-tourist Venice. My usual reply is that unfortunately it can be very difficult, especially if you don’t speak Italian. However, if you’re willing for an evening to go outside your Four Seasons comfort zone…

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Addio, paper vaporetto tickets, the ACTV is adapting the most advanced smart card ticketing system in Europe, according to the announcement: one magnetized pass will take you anywhere in the system, land or sea, depending on the options you’ve purchased, and can be topped up at will. We won’t show them to anyone as we board, we’ll just be sliding and beeping, like the Paris Métro without the stairs. And it won’t be just for transport: they have plans to include options for museum entrances, events, and more.

The name’s Imob.venezia, thank you very much, and was introduced with much fanfare last week. The system will be phased in little by little, operational from November and paper eliminated by the end of March, 2008…it can’t come too soon for me.

Of course, this doesn’t make figuring out how to get from the Zattere to San Zaccaria without going to Giudecca any less confusing…but it’s the little things. Bravi, bravi.

Read Italian? Check out the article in the Gazzettino.

Just listening to a (welcome) announcement on the BBC that said roaming with your Euro-cell within the EU is set to be reduced by as much as 70%! Do you know what this means? At least telephonically, Europe is that much closer to being a Union. Bravissimi!

So, if you’re traveling with a French cell, an Italian cell, a Spanish cell, and so on, you’ll no longer suck the life out of your pre-paid SIM by calling your friend in that other country who’s coming to meet you tomorrow. Or, if you’re a writer living in Venice and traveling to France to check out travel information, you won’t pay as much to stay in touch back home by phone as for the entire round trip airline ticket (economical as myair.com is).

Oh, this is SUCH good news…even if we may have to wait till 2009 to have it completely implemented. For more info, here’s the Businessweek article that explains it all for you.

How long has it been there? Forever. Who knows about it, who goes there? Everybody. What’s its real name? Al Mercà, as a friend noticed recently when she reviewed her scontrino (receipt). Ma come mai, what’s up with that? (In a world of incessantly shifting truths, I like to pin down certainty whenever possible, especially on trivial details. Makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something.)

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The works that comprise this Faces of Art exhibition span 500 years, and are all by artists we’re familiar with. There’s a unique theme, though: each work is an autoritratto, or self-portrait. What’s more, although they’re part of the Uffizi permanent collection, you won’t see them on a normal gallery tour. Read all about here:

SELF PORTRAITS. FACES OF ART FROM THE UFFIZI COLLECTION

The Palazzo Franchetti, by the way, is that stunningly-renovated Venetian gothic on the Grand Canal (just off Campo Santo Stefano) that houses the Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti.

What a treat this is going to be.

The best thing about this announcement is the one-page, almost comprehensible price summary that you can download and keep on hand: here. (English is below the chart).

For complete Venicecard info (in English) is at www.venicecard.com.

It’s still unenclosed, and is only operational around market hours, but they’ve finally ceduto and added a new fermata on the Grand Canal at the Rialto Market, appropriatly named Rialto Mercato.

Venetians ladies of a certain age always preferred meandering from the San Silvestro stop (stopping for a caffè and brioche along the way) to walking across the Rialto Bridge in order to shop the famous market. Now, the vaporetto will deliver them quasi quasi to their favorite frutariol.

Line 1 makes the stop, located halfway between the Rialto and Ca d’Oro on the opposite side of the Canal, below the market and the Santa Sofia traghetto. The pontile jutts out from the porticoes of the Tribunale, halfway between Campo Pescaria and the Erbaria. Line 1 times for other stops are adjusted up and down the Canal when the Mercato stop is operational - I can’t imagine how this is going to be compensated for on the timetables themselves. I do wish they’d leave it running after the market closes, though; it would come in handy more than a few times a week.

I won’t hold my breath. Took us long enough to get the fermata itself…

A sgroppino is the famous Venetian after-dinner (of fish, traditinoally) disgestivo, although Giovanni says (a phrase which could frankly be the title of its very own blog) it’s too strong and tart, wipes out the delicate fish flavors, and in no way contributes to successful digestion.

I enjoy a sgroppino in the summer, which is about the only thing that can keep you cool around here when AC is scarce. I would think it would be a great addition to a beach party or relaxing on any given veranda, so just in case you might be looking for a recipe to try on your own. So while we’re waiting patiently for a change of seasons…

The classic recipe is 1 part lemon vodka, 1 part soft lemon sorbet, whipped. I think this comes out too watery and too vodka-y. So, try

• 2 c lemon sorbet, softened
• 1 oz vodka (lemon vodka, if you want)
• 2.5 oz prosecco

Have some sorbet in reserve if it starts to get watery. I would use a hand mixer as opposed to a blender, which will instead pulverize it and make it too watery.

Tcin-tcin!

I am in no way a cook or connoisseur, but I certainly do like to eat, and swoon regularly (accompanied by numerous umm’s and ahh’s that friends tease me about incessantly) over the sumptuous dishes that I’ve the good fortune to consume, in-house and fuori. My singular culinary claim to fame, however, is my pasta. I love making it, having learned from my favorite cooks, Mimma and Giuseppina, and I scramble to to whip it up whenever I have the occasion…and the time.

When I first told Giovanni about my enthusiasm for pasta-making, he scoffed. (Keep in mind, being Venetian and therefore skeptical by nature, combined with having certain bear-like tendencies, he scoffs at most things, especially when they’re proposed by un’Americana.) E come la fai? So how do you make it? I had a feeling this was a set-up, but I started to explain. “I start with Farina 00…”

…and that was as far as I got.

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If you prefer an ad-hoc visit, the audio-guided tour lasts 45 minutes, and costs €7 per person., and is available any time the theatre itself is (see below). To get the most out of it, you could review the History of the Theatre section offered on the Fenice web site (in English) before you attend.

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I was just at the Venice Marco Polo airport, and am delighted to report the return of the shuttle service (although no longer free) from the airport terminal to the docks. (The dock area is itself in the process of being revitalized and is looking very snappy, with new wooden decks, a bar, and more.)

The new shuttle service consists a comfy, climatized motor coach, with space underneath to toss your luggage before boarding. It departs every ten minutes from terminal ground transportation for the two-minute ride to the docks, and vice-versa. The fare is 1 euro per person, payable as you board.

I got to know Isotta when I first moved to Venice and would visit her mom, Eleonora, who has a B&B near where I was living (we also traded English for cooking lessons for a time). We hadn’t been able to get together nearly as often once I moved to Cannaregio, but when I did finally get by recently, Isotta (not the shy type) came out to say hello. Eleonora and I sat down with a caffè and began catching up, but Isotta disappeared…shortly before emerging in this stunning outfit, obviously a favorite of hers. Couldn’t resist recording it for posterity, so the rest of you wouldn’t have to miss out.

If you’re interested in getting to know this young lady, and it suits you to lodge in San Marco just behind the Teatro la Fenice, feel free to consider Eleonora Agostini’s Bed and Breakfast al Teatro. (Isotta’s blue plastic pumps do make a bit of a clicking sound as she scoots about the terrazzo flooring…but in the end it just adds to her charm. This, and the fact that all the rooms overlook the Fenice canal, makes a stay there very special in my opinion.)

Otherwise, feel free to keep Isotta’s photo handy should you need an effective pick-me-up during your day.

Did you know that once you’ve rinsed fresh asparagus, if you then throw it in a sink full of water with a little salt, any remaining sediment will filter into the water and to the bottom of the sink? Ergo, out of the asparagus.

I’m sure all the super cooks among you are already aware of this. I found it fascinating…and the resulting risotto was buonissimo, as always (I’m not complementing myself, by the way; but when I get really good at making risotto, vi faccio sapere, I’ll be sure and let you know).

A little note: Andrea Zanatta’s show at the Galleria dell’Occhio has been extended. I’m not sure for how much longer, but if you’re sauntering between the Salute and the Guggenheim (you can’t miss it), you’ll enjoy taking it in. If you’d like to call first, the number is +39 041 522 6550.

Then, Google filled me in on this wonderful review …I’m speechless. Martha Bakerjian (of goitaly.about.com’s Italy for Visitors) has just chosen Italy: Instructions for Use as #1 of her Top Ten Guidebooks for Italian Travel. Gosh, it’s been a pretty good week so far…

There are so many Italian words we use every day, from pizza to paparazzi, that don’t cause us any trouble at all. The word for pine-nut, however, is not one of them; we sprinkle chopped perfectionists into our pasta sauces in continuazione. Here’s what I mean:

pinolo (peen-oh-lo) is a pine-nut

pignolo (peen-yo-lo) is a perfectionist; a painstakingly meticulous, hair-splitting, persnickety sort of person; you know the type.

So you see, there’s a difference. It’s best to stick to pinoli when you’re cooking, and with the pignoli, well…abbi pazienza. And while we’re at it, it’s bru-SKET-ta, not bru-shet-ta; this is another ubiquitous error that drives me crazy! Please help reverse the trend.

(Now who’s the pignola?)

When I first encountered Baccalà Mantecato over ten years ago at the Cantinone on Rio San Trovaso, I refused it, because in my ignorance, I thought the white, fluffy, creamy stuff had to have been made with mayonnaise, and I don’t like mayonnaise. (Let me say it, OK? I am the best example of Culturally Uninitiated you’ve ever met, so there.) Baccalà Mantecato, however, is not made with mayonnaise, as I discovered not long after. Instead, it’s the pulverized codfish that makes it all white and creamy…and it tastes like buh-dah.

Of course, if you’re already a Vene-phile, this is not news to you. It’s an common delicacy served throughout the bàcari and eateries of Venice, as cicchetti and antipasti, but far too easy to overlook if you’re not adventurous, or tuned-in. If you haven’t tried it, do partake, you will not regret it.

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I forgot to mention, there’s a marvelous exhibition on at the Palazzo Querini Stampalia until March 5th: Rubelli Interprets 18th Century Venice. The painter Pietro Longhi is well represented in the palace, and Rubelli, the historic fabric design company (whose studio is in Venice), has pulled the fabrics right out of Longhi’s paintings (in the Ca’ Rezzonico and Accademia as well) and into the palace. The meticulously-detailed full costumes are displayed on mannequins (damasks, brocades, et.al.), even draping bolts of fabrics across furniture in various stanze, reflecting the fabric portrayed in the painting nearby. Visit the exhibit, then stay for the 30-minute concert in the palace at 5p and 8:30p, included in the price of your ticket.

Rubelli Interprets 18th Century Venice:

• Exhibit closes March 5
• Palazzo Querini Stampalia, Campo Santa Maria Formosa
• Daily 10 - 6p; Friday and Saturday, 10 - 10p. Closed Monday.
• Entrance: 6 €, reduced 4 €

It’s a brilliant day here; it’s also -3, or about 25 degrees Fahrenheit. I just looked out the window to the canal below, and noticed a film skimming the surface of the water surrounding the boat where some workers are loading materials for a massive garden they’re refurbishing. What, I thought indignantly, is that some sort of detergent residue oozing out of their boat?

No, it’s ice.

People sometimes ask if the canals ever freeze over. Well, I certainly have never seen it myself, although I know they have from time to time…but not often. There’s a depiction in the Querini-Stampalia of people skating on a solid-surface lagoon, so obviously, it’s gotten a lot worse than a skimming of ice! The lagoon is fairly shallow where the ice is showing up in the above photo, so I don’t imagine we’ll be frozen over here anytime soon. Supposed to snow on Thursday, though…

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The only two modes of transport in Venice are your feet, and a boat. The ACTV operates the public water transportation system in Venice, and practically every line they operate, along with a marea of gondolas and water taxis, can be found at the San Marco San Zaccaria stop, located on the Riva degli Schiavoni just beyond the Doge’s Palace and the Bridge of Sighs. It’s a convenient stop, but inevitably over-crowded, attracting every day-tripper, tour group, street painter, and t-shirt, postcard, and gondola hat vendor within 10 nautical miles. Throw in a little non-stop construction as the Comune restores the drainage infrastructure underneath the molo and the piazza, and you have a unique form of chaos that only Venice can offer.

Map of the five departure points in the expansive San Zaccaria stop. Check for updates as seasons change and work along the Riva progresses and affects what’s running, what’s not, and what line leaves from where.

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For whatever reason, understanding how and when to tip is one of the Top Ten concerns for Americans as they plan their trip. As I state in Italy: Instructions for Use, the guidelines are the same as for so many things Italian: dipende…it depends. [The contrast to us Americani is endearing: I'd wager that we are the ONLY culture that wants these rules so clearly defined before we head out, determined to be good guests and do exactly the right thing in as many situations as possible...an attitude, of course, that mystifies Italians, who will consistently forgive us and everyone else, whenever necessary, for just not being Italian.]

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I recently installed Fastweb for broadband internet service. As I was giving my information to the representative over the phone, she asked, “Indirizzo?” My address is San Marco, 1662. “E la via, Signora?” She wants to know the street name.

There’s not one, I tell her; it’s Venice. I live on a piscina — once a stagnant pool that’s since been filled-in — but it’s not my address. My official address is San Marco, 1662, and although the postino will be able to find it easily with this notation, no one else could.

She seemed concerned, but we got through it.

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There are only two forms of transportation in Venice: your feet, and a boat. The public water transportation for Venice, the lagoon, and to the terra firma is run by the ACTV. Vaporetti, motoscafi, motonavi, etc., navigate the city and the islands beyond, including Burano, Murano, Torcello, and more.

There are also private water taxis, providing point-to-point luxury transport, with rates starting at €55 for city-center transfers for four people and luggage. Taxi transport from the airport is €85-€90. The privately run traghetti, operated by the gondoliers, located at various points along the Grand Canal that will ferry you across for €,50.

Of course, there’s the gondola famosa, the transport of times past, now more of a pleasant than practical experience.

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The new Venezia Marco Polo Airport is on the mainland, north of the city. It’s only a few years old, relatively small and quite navigable. The city of Venice rests in the middle of a vast lagoon, however, so arrival there from the airport involves a bit more understanding than another city that’s planted squarely on terra ferma.

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To always reach the person you’re calling, no matter what type of cell you’re using, who you’re calling. in what country or from what country, always dial or program your cell phone number with the plus “+” sign first, followed by the country code and complete phone number:

+ country_code phone_nbr

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