"OVER 3 1/2 YEARS--- In Italy" painterdave's Profile

Sometimes you just find the right light, bouncing off the water onto a wall, and you catch the gondola passing through at the right time. This was one of those moments. Ten minutes later would have been too late.
I have been in Venice when it is raining, snowing, windy and bitter cold. This was a perfect day for me. Now that I live here I look forward to finding more of these special days. I plan to go to Venice and Chioggia to paint in the Spring and Summer.

You beat it, you cook it, you eat it!

Remembering two weeks in Greece in the Peloponnese. The food was a 10, the beaches we found were also awesome. The people were the best, and we got to finally meet a friend from VT that has been writing for 4 years.
Too bad vacations only last a short time.
Now Crete will be visited in August, 2012.

Tamales and Corona!

I never learn enough about cooking, the history of cooking and creating dishes that I have tasted in other countries. It has become my second hobby and because of that I have met some very nice people who have the same interests.
It is enjoyable to cook for my Italian friends who visit, and it is always interesting to watch their reaction to foods that have some spice or taste that is new to them. We make a lot of Mexican food, and we have given lessons in sushi making. If I were younger maybe I would have opened a restaurant.
We belong to a cooking forum called Coquinaria, and I made tamales for a get together near Vicenza.

Hungry? Those are prosciuttos hanging up.

Voted the most Prosciuttos in a small bar! Also voted the best smelling bar in Sevilla for the 10th year in a row.
We ordered one in the Fall and it arrived with a stand to set it on while carving.
Spanish prosciutto is quite different than Italian, but I do not have a preference now that I have had the Spanish type to share with my friends.

The whole family and others

Where did I come from? Well, this is some of the story. My great great Grandfather took part in the Cherokee Land Rush, while my great great grandmother drove a team of mules. The gun fired and he rode his horse to where he staked out his claim--and while two men fought with each other over what they thought would be theirs, he rode back and filed. A few years later this farm was hit two years in a row by a tornado, and after that they sold out and moved to Longton, Kansas.
Look at the photo and notice.... no trees. Bare land. We think we have it hard today with all our modern conveniences.
My uncle tells me that this house is still standing along a road near Tonkawa.

Benefits of Getting Lost in Venice

Wandering around Venezia one finds all sort of interesting things. There is a shop that has a boat inside, for instance. There are shops that make masks, others bind books with wonderful binding materials crafted by hand, these kinds of places are fascinating to me.
One day while doing my usual meandering, I stood on a bridge hoping to spy a picturesque spot for making a watercolor, when I heard the gondolier say to his tourists, "this is Marco Polo's house!" I turned to look and he was right, there was a plaque that proclaimed this fact to all wandering and lost people.
So take a look at Marco Polo's home, much better than the prison he was locked up in later. I am sure he must have missed this quiet corner of Venice.

Miss Piggy

WHY NOT?
I llke to joke with my Italian friends that I want a boar's head for my home. Most of the stuffed heads in salami shops look pretty worn, but this one in San Gimignano was in good shape. I asked the owner how many euros would it take to part with it, but he said... no way.

Wild boar is served in many restaurants in Italy. So many of them feature this meat that I wonder if there are any "wild" boars left in Italy. I think they must secretly raise these "wild" boars on a farm somewhere. I want to see this farm. I think this would be a dangerous job, raising wild boars. They are kind of mean when threatened.
There are wild pigs in the hills above Padova, but you only see their signs, you never see them.
I llke to joke with my Italian friends that I want a boar's head for my home. Most of the stuffed heads in salami shops look pretty worn, but this one in San Gimignano was in good shape.
If you plan to buy a salami, make sure you ask to see how much fat is inside. Some are more fat than meat.

Old Fingers Never Die!

I am out of the closet! Yes, I play the accordion, and I am, like a lot of older folks who put it away a long time ago, now back to having some fun. The squeeze box and I spend an hour a day or so. My parents paid a lot for those lessons, and now I enjoy that investment.
The one you see here is a 120 bass, which was purchased on Ebay and it came from Canada. It is so old that the wind from inside is not so fresh. I like to think that it adds to the atmosphere a bit when I play old Irish and French tunes. A dusty and musty atmosphere at best.