It hardly ever snows in Venice, and when it does, it certainly doesn’t snow in November, for crying out loud. We’re all complaining because fa un freddo cane, which loosely translated means it’s just too cold, too soon. I scooted out this morning to Fondamenta Nove to meet Valentina, a Russian woman who keeps house at a friend’s B&B, and who’s also an expert seamstress. She’d altered three pairs of pants for me (I’ve lost a a few chili, or kilograms, in the last year, and they don’t appear to be coming back. Yay!)

I’ve been holed up here the rest of the day, working at the computer, watching out the window to see how white the rooftops might get, and attempting to stay warm (much easier when there’s someone at home in the apartment below me and THEY turn on the heat). I also have an American friend (who’s living in Paris and studying French) visiting, so we took the classic “Let’s see what’s in the fridge and make risotto with it” approach to pranzo and per riscaldarci, to warm ourselves up. The risotto ended up being made with radicchio di treviso tardivo (red radicchio), red wine, some strips of Veneto prosciutto and a little grana padana. Added a salad of rucola & red pepper dressed with oil & balsamic, a little Refosco sfuso and voila, a hearty lunch.

It doesn’t look like the snow’s going to accumulate much, but if it does I’ll wander out and take more photos. Vale la pena.

Happy belated Thanksgiving, all!