Italy calls me home, part II

I hope you all made it through this shit storm of a month. Solar eclipse, full moon in Scorpio–my power-packed rising sign–and mercury retrograde for like 265 days. Sheesh! I almost didn’t make it. Plus, my family had about 8-10 doctors appointments–teeth cleanings, physical therapy for both me and June (don’t ask) and talk therapy–it was no joke. Not to mention TCAP testing at school (ughhhhhh so much pressure, so much stress for these kids), new high school open house (so excited to start this new chapter in June’s life at this amazing school) and lots of infighting in our household. Taking sides, arguing, parenting mistakes, long, hard challenging conversations about the future. Dang, communication was a bitch. But I think we’re over it now. I already turned the calendar to May. These last three days will be gravy. Forward momentum is the name of the game and I am on a train that is not stopping. Except when I go to my yoga classes, fun dinner parties with friends or to my new (old) massage therapist for a somatic massage. I can’t explain it but to say it’s a combo of normal, light massage, psychotherapy, reiki, pressure points like acupuncture without the needles and psychic images (on his part) and pure magic. Sorry, he’s so in demand he’s not taking any new patients. But hit me up if you want more info.

I wanted to continue the Tour of Italy, Joy’s history edition, but I think I will leave it to my memory bank for now and move on. Literally and figuratively. I have to find a way to stay present, here in Nashville, my home. I need to stop pretending I can live in Europe right now. I do live there in my mind sometimes. I make a few espressos a day and try to linger over dinner as long possible, even when it’s just me at the table. But I live here (now). Enough. Do I find ways to hate the new Nashville every single day? Am I a cynical, negative, rage-driving asshole much of the time? Yes. But I also love East Nashville, love my sweet neighbors and community of friends, the new and vibrant food scene and all the things, good and bad, that make up the city I’ve called home for nearly 20 years.

Re: Venice. I’ll just leave you with a few pictures thoughts and a poem by one of my favorite 20th-century Italian poets.

The gondola sliding – Eugenio Montale

The gondola that glides in a flash

of tar and poppies

the insinuating song that rises

from the mass of rigging, the high doors

that close above you and smiles of masks

that flee in swarms –

an evening in a thousand and my night

is deeper still! A dull rope writhing

in the water awakens me

layer by layer and I am one with that fisher

of eels so absorbed on the bank

Don’t let anyone tell you that Venice is a gross, overcrowded Disneyland, a mass of ugly (mostly American, but from all over the world) tourists descending from massive cruise ships into the tiny calle to snap their selfies and gorge on mediocre panini while rushing through its buildings, bridges, canals and courtyards. That’s Venice in the summer, and now in spring, fall and maybe during Carnevale, unfortunately. Tourism has always been a problem in that tiny island in the Adriatic Sea. But Venice in winter, or the last few weeks of it–early to mid-March, when we were there, is a meraviglia. A magical, unique, beautiful, and sometimes, quiet splendor. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. How could it not be? La Serenissima it is called, the most serene one. As John Julius Norwich put it in the forward of the little pocket-sized book, Venice: A Collection of the Poetry of Place, “Venice is by far the most beautiful city in the world. But she is also one of the saddest: never, never would I recommend a Venetian honeymoon.”

Just today in the New York Times I read an article about how Venice is trying to mitigate overtourism by charging a 5 euro fee for visitors on busy days. It went into effect today with mixed results. There are a lot of exceptions to the new ordinance. For example, overnight guests are exempt from the fee. It’s an experiment, and there is a lot of local opposition claiming it’s a bandaid on a much larger problem. To their credit, city leaders are trying to stem the tide of the “20 million visitors who descended last year on the city’s beleaguered residents, who number fewer than 50,000.”

I learned of cool new initiative in Venice started by a young brother and sister following in the footsteps of their father (the Romanelli family is like Venetian royalty) and writer, photographer and author Valeria Necchio (@valerianecchio). Funded partially by grants from the Veneto region, these young and talented Venetians, frustrated with the bad rap their city has been getting, created Inside Venice, a really excellent collection of experiences, projects, activities and even a hotel and a few residences available to rent. On the website you’ll also find an E-Boutique: “a curated series of products and capsule collections created in partnership with our favorite Venetian artisans and artists.” Branding-conscious and Instagram-worthy (isn’t everything “curated” these days?) young Venetians are perfect for this, but this Gen-X-er wanted to buy everything. We stayed in their Hotel Flora and absolutely loved it! The little butter cookies with dried fruit made by a local bakery and left in our gorgeous hotel room were so delicious I took them home and wouldn’t share them with my family. The rates in the off-season were comparable to all other hotels we considered in Rome and Venice. Everyone who worked there was someone I’d like to hang out with, including Ms. Romanelli, who greeted us and gave us a lengthy introduction to her family’s endeavor and the surrounding neighborhood. She was obviously very proud of her Venetian roots and unexpectedly humble.

Thank you for reading my 19th-century travelogue lol. Happy Friday! Here’s to a much better month ahead.