Burano, Italy

Here are my photos of Burano.

And here are all of my Burano Reflections photos.

A Short Visit to Washington DC

It was a scorcher today! About 98 degrees. Tony had plans to meet some VMI buddies for lunch in Washington DC, so I went along for the ride and hopped on a metro to the Eastern Market on 7th Street SE. I hadn't been there before and I do enjoy visiting markets.



This is an indoor market filled with wonderful foods: Seafood, meats, fruit stands, a cheese stand, a lovely flower stand, and a place with delicious looking pastries and pies. There were even foods that were vacuum sealed, such as the pollo asado. One meat stand had a variety of sausages: Italian, Argentinean, even Mexican.



I enjoyed a tasty crab cake sandwich at Market Lunch. The line was long with people waiting to place their order. There was a nice variety of seafood to choose from, as well as burgers and BBQ sandwiches. There's a long table with bar stools for the diners. I bellied up and ate my sandwich while talking with a couple of guys next to me. One had just moved to the area after living in Japan for 20 years. Navy guy.

I understand that this market is quite packed on the weekends along with vendor stands outside, so today was fairly quiet. I'll have to return on a weekend...on a cool day.

I walked up 7th street and headed over towards the capitol. Along the way I passed some very beautiful homes. I also saw a small garden with hibiscus the size of small dinner plates. I had never seen them this large!





Nearby I saw this squirrel trying to keep cool in the shade by laying flat on its belly with legs and arms spread out on the dirt. He didn't move at all. Another squirrel was rolling around in the dirt.

I headed to Union station where I knew I could cool down, window shop a little and wait for Tony to pick me up.


We don't get to Washington DC that often and being there today made me realize we need to take advantage of its offerings: The museums, a visit to Chinatown, the monuments, and the Eastern Market...but next time we'll go with a cooler in the car so we can bring home some meats and seafood. I saw some fresh octopus - that would be tasty on the grill!

PS: I was in bed awake at 5:00am this morning and felt the earthquake (5:04am). After the occurrence, I thought to myself: Big truck in the area? No. Airplane? No. Earthquake? Here? Hmmmm. Had to be. Lying in bed, it shook me side to side along with a low, long rumble. The news this morning confirmed what I felt.

Burano Reflections

I wrote an article for the Italian Notebook website, a great web site that provides daily notes on Italy. The photos taken were from my recent trip to Venice. A friend purchased two of them!

http://www.italiannotebook.com/local-interest/burano-reflections/

Monica

Venetian Masks

In Venice Italy, there are many shops that sell Venetian Masks, many which can cost hundreds of euros, as it can take many hours to make by hand. Masks sold at souvenir stands, such as the one in this photo, aren't of a high quality but are definitely a fun souvenir to bring home. These were in the 10 -15 euro range.

Lunch at Hinode's

Today I had lunch with my dad and we dined at Hinode's located next to Carroll Creek canal in downtown Frederick.

It was too hot to sit outside under the umbrellas, as the temperature was rising to the high 90's, possibly hitting 100!

Hinode's has a nice selection of Japanese foods including sushi, sashimi, tempura and teriyaki dishes, and even lunch boxes.

We started with the Gataguri shrimp, which is wrapped in noodles, deep fried, and served with a sweet and spicy sauce,
and pan-fried beef gyoza.

Both were delicious, although the portions were small.

I had the sashimi lunch box, which consisted of a bowl of miso soup, California roll (although I asked for fish roe to be included), shrimp and vegetable tempura), rice, and three types of sashimi (tuna, white tuna, and flounder).


Dad ordered the pork Katsu, which is lightly battered and fried, and is served with a thick sauce; along with a side salad (not pictured).


For dessert we shared the creme brulee, which was one of the best I've had in a while (very creamy and light).


I thought the sashimi pieces should have been thinly sliced, rather than served in thick chunks; and the tuna wasn't of the best quality. Also, were served our main entrees when we were still trying to enjoy the appetizers. Overall, lunch was tasty and filling.

Gondola and Flowers

I took this photo on my second day in Venice. It was a beautiful day!

The Color Purple

Today my friend Beth and I went to a lavender farm in Pennsylvania. It was a beautiful but hot and humid day. We lasted just three hours before we began to wilt. We took many photos and picked lavender to take home. The smell of lavender is wonderful and soothing. There were about a dozen or so of vendors selling various products, including items from Provence (which they jacked up the price).

Here area a bunch of photos I took from our visit.






In addition to the two fields of lavender, there were some pretty flower beds and herbal gardens.


After, we headed back to Frederick to have lunch downtown at Acacia. Delicious caesar salad and spinach stuffed ravioli with a Bolognese meat sauce for me ...


...and a beet salad and fried chicken with mashed potatoes for Beth.



A great day despite the humidity.

7 June 2010, Time to head home from Venice

7 June, Monday

I got up at 6:10am and got ready to head to the airport.

After breakfast at the hotel and paying the bill, I left at the hotel. The streets were very quiet, although some people were around. I took the #1 vaporetto to Piazzale Roma. On the way I snapped a few last shots of the Grand Canal.

I caught the #5 bus (A1 stop) to the airport. It was a hazy morning, so I knew it would be a very hot day. It was time to get out of Dodge, although another day in Venice would have been great.

Check in was fast since I got to the airport early. Security was tighter than in Philadelphia. I was asked to have my bags inspected. One camera and my itouch were in the carry on bag. Of course, it took a few minutes for me to put everything back neatly so I could close my suitcase. Flying with only carry-on is great but you do have to pack perfectly.

The flight home took a little over nine hours. We took off 30 minutes late but still arrived on time. I watched a couple of movies, read my book, and talked to the flight attendants who treated me to a few goodies.

It took about 40 minutes to get through immigration. I guess I got in the wrong line! I talked to two guys behind me for a bit. They lived in Towson, MD. One security worker had her cute beagle and he went around sniffing the luggage in the area.

Just as I got out of the customs area, I called Tony. I knew he had been working and was calling to see where he was. He said, “I’m just outside.” What a nice surprise! He was just around the corner from the customs area. He had finished working around noon and decided to fly to Philadelphia to meet me so we could drive home together.

On the way home, we stopped for dinner and later he did the rest of the driving. At that point I was pretty tired.

It was a great trip that I really needed and Venice is one place that I can go to anytime and enjoy. I can never get tired of exploring the many streets, canals, and bridges. There's a photo to be taken around every corner.

The weather was beautiful overall with the exception of two very hot days and some rain. I had the opportunity to meet old friends and new friends; and chat with waiters and hotel owners.

I'll be back to Venice again someday soon.

Now it's time to wait for my next trip: Another transatlantic cruise from Rome to Ft. Lauderdale!

Day trip to Verona, Italy

6 June Sunday, Verona

Last night I had decided I would spend my last full day in Venice. I woke up early and decided I would go to Verona even though I hadn't bought any train tickets in advance. After a quick breakfast (nice spread of food at the hotel), I took the vapporetto to the train station and got in line to buy my tickets. The line had about a dozen customers in front of me, so I knew the line would go quickly. Four or five windows were open. I was lucky and caught the next train, only 10 minutes after purchasing my tickets.

It took about 1 hour, 20 minutes to get to Verona. Another hot but sunny day, I walked all around the city. Verona is a beautiful city with fabulous architecture. The lines were long at the Roman amphitheatre so I decided to visit it in the afternoon.

Along the pedestrian street, via Mazzini, there were lots of expensive shops with beautiful window displays. There was no market this day but I got to see the piazza Erbe without all the vendor's umbrellas covering the entire area. The piazza was once the forum in Roman times. All of the streets were small and so colorful. Many of the buildings had wrought iron balconies.


I took the easy way (elevator) to the top of the La Torre dei Lamberti (tower) for some great views. Not one cloud in the sky! The tower was first built in the 12th century and later restored I the mid 1400’s. A large clock was added in 1779.


My friend Anne gave me some restaurant suggestions but I ended up at Osteria Verona Antica. If I didn't have to worry about catching the train back to Venice I wouldn't have minded the slow service. I had a polenta and mixed mushroom dish and pasta with chinghiale (wild boar). I’ve had better.

I walked by Romeo's home...or at least that's the story. Juliette's home was nearby but didn't think about it at the time. I had been there several years ago.




I walked along the river, stopped in a two church’s (one with some fabulous frescoes that had been discovered at some point and unfortunately discovered when the workers used picks to tear town the stucco, which heavily damaged the frescoes). It was sad to see such damage. The other had a fabulous ceiling.

Next I walked to the castle but didn't go inside - I had seen one castle/fortress already and that was enough for this trip. The afternoon was very hot, close to 90 degrees.


In the center of town there was some sort of sport street festival and a stage with musicians.

There were lots of cafes in the area with people having afternoon drinks and dessert. At the amphitheatre, I discovered the place had closed at 2pm. I wasn't sure if it was for just the one day; however, that night I did see a concert on tv and I was 98% sure it was at the Verona amphitheatre. I also saw a sign for a Rod Stewart concert for June 21st. Too bad, as it would have been great to see him in concert in such a fabulous place.

I headed back to Venice on the 4:40pm train. It was a nice visit to Verona, as my last time there was back in 2001. It would have been nice to spend a night or two there. Back at the hotel, I had printed out my boarding pass. The hotel has one computer next to the front desk for people to use and a printer set up as well. I had Tony check me in since I couldn’t do it during the day.

I was back at ai Tre Spiedi around 8pm. The restaurant was empty when I arrived, but a few people did come in soon after for dinner. It was a slow night, but then maybe a lot of tourists left the city. I had a delicious bowl of mussels and clams in a light red sauce (like a soup), and then a pork cutlet with potatoes. The water treated me to a shot of cold limoncello. Yum!


I walked along the streets towards St Marks and took several photos. I bought a pretty purse in one of the shops that was still open. It was marked 25 euros. He knocked it down to 23 and I offered 20. He was quick to accept, so I imagined I could have started lower.

Back in the room, I finished off my local white wine, packed my suitcase, and went to bed.