Birthday Kisses and Character Profiles

          I think I have finally come out the other end of my culture shock and discomforts surrounding travel in Italy. It only took me about three weeks, but I figure given the rough start to things that this is permissible.  After a week at Nuova Terra everyone for the most part was done trying to figure each other out and what exactly is going on. I’m getting to know a lot of the people better, even the ones I had misgivings about, and am finding that I like pretty much everyone. The people here have put forth a lot of effort to make us comfortable and to help us learn. My birthday was August 24^th and my new friend Mariagrazia made tiramisu for me!! Tiramisu in Italian means “pick me up”. I can’t think of a better way to describe this delectable treat other than by staring off into the distance while drooling happily. I also can’t think of a better way to celebrate my birthday. Of course, there was a catch. The spirits suddenly decided that it was time for everyone to fast in the evening and not eat eggs or milk. Soooo….a bunch of hungry people got to sit around while I ate my birthday tiramisu while feeling so guilty that it did not “tiramisu” (pick me up). Sounds to me like the spirits are dicks!      

However, there were many highlights to my day. The little girls who stay at the farm while their parents work made me some beautiful birthday cards and gave me kisses. I also received a lot of kisses throughout the day which started off as a big of a fiasco since I’m not really that familiar with the cheek kissing except for in that obnoxious overzealous way I sometimes do with friends. It was morning, my brain was not yet functioning, and suddenly five Italian men are telling me happy birthday and approaching me for the kisses. I went straight into grabbing the shoulders and loudly proclaiming “MUAH” in their ears before I realized what the hell I’m doing. Then I was so embarrassed that I blushed and avoided eye contact for the remainder of the morning…..but I regress.  At least it is perfect that my birthday landed on the weekend since there’s usually not much work for us to do and Alayna and I had Saturday evening completely free for wining, dining, and hitting the town; quite different from our everyday routine.

The work has been hard but satisfying. I have planted zucchini sprouts, helped set up irrigation, picked and weeded vegetables, and even helped make tomato sauce. Consequently I am tired and hungry…all….the….time. It was nice to have a break to enjoy ourselves and indulge a little bit more (I say MORE because we still partake in the consumption of gelato and espresso on a regular basis). Daniele, whom I describe further below, suggested the restaurant that we went to which features cuisine of the Friuli region (where we are). Perfecto! We ate prosciutto on Italian bread, pasta in meat sauce and eggplant parmesan lasagna, and then we had frico which is a cheese and potato cake, heavy on the cheese. We washed it all down with the house red wine and were thoroughly satisfied with the richness and deliciousness. We even got a free shot of blueberry grappa (That strong wine liquor) after our meal which had us feeling all the toastier. What a night!

                Beyond my birthday and my ranting, I think it is necessary for me to describe a few of the primary characters that have graced me with their presence so that everyone can get a better idea of how they have brightened up my life in Italy.

Daniele: He has been my personal guide since I started at Nuova Terra and right from the beginning I have come to enjoy his twisted sense of humor and his Engliano (English and Italiano mixed). This is the man that when we were locked out of our house, told us we would have to do something a little bit “nasty” and showed us how to break in through the kitchen window. He is also the guy who made a joke with the children about cooking up Donald Duck and eating him. HA! He’s a little awkward, but I think that makes me like him all the more. He answers any questions I have and helps me figure out what to do with myself.

Claudio: Someone who has become a fairly good friend to me. He has lived half his life in Canada and half in Italy, so both his English and Italian are amazing and make him an invaluable resource. He conveys to me a lot of the important details in the work we do and I am able to speak as my natural eccentric self and be understood! Well, at least more understood. I’d say he’s in his fifties, but his smile suggests younger. He has taught me about transplanting, irrigation, planning, and the spiritual aspects of their work. Unfortunately since he understands me better than most of the others, he is also quite quick to pick up on my skepticism, but that doesn’t stop us from being friendly. I appreciate that a lot.

Franca: My new adopted Italian grandmother. I knew from the moment I met this woman that I liked her. She’s probably a seventy-something and works harder than anyone else around the farm. She is constantly moving yet has the energy and patience to deal with me not always understanding her directions and to help me learn by speaking to me like a child (but not in a demeaning way). For my birthday she gave me the biggest hug. That meant the world to me.  I work with her and another woman, Roberta (who is also quite lovely), picking vegetables and weeding.

Tulio: Another, older, WWOOF-er whom speaks limited English, but what he knows he uses to entertain us. He immediately won over my heart when he invited Alayna and me over for a desert consisting of ricotta cheese, cocoa, sugar, and cookies. Apparently this is his regular breakfast which I think is so very fabulous. He refers to me as Mr. Hyde because I guess it helps him remember my name since it sounds like Jekyll. Or he was just really quick to catch on to my double personality. Clever clever Tulio

Manuela: On a fluke I got to work in the kitchen with Manuela one day making tomato sauce and came to really like her! She speaks Spanish as well as Italian, so it was a bit easier communicating with her and making jokes. She has beautiful five year old daughter named Desiree. I can tell Manuela is tough, yet kind and we have remained on friendly though sometimes very quiet terms. (My brain has difficulty with the switching from English to Italian to Spanish and tends to just kind of fizzle out) She is a whiz with woodwork!

Elanora: Another WWOOF-er from Bulgaria whom it seems we were destined to meet no matter what. She was also supposed to stay at Gionni and Zahra’s, but ended up at Nuova Terra like us! She probably would have fared better since she speaks perfect Italian, but she is also a genuinely gentle and kind person who is easy to like in general. She shared with us about her home and her conflicting love of Italy. She has been learning Italian for 20 years and has visited at least ten different times, so her insights were of great value.

These are just a few of the more prominent people in my affections. There are plenty of others that I interact with on a regular basis who are wonderful, perplexing, and even a little aggravating. People are the most difficult and the most wonderful creature to deal with.  My boundaries and my self-identity have been tested at every turn and it’s hard not being able to play by my own rules, but I’m sure that the struggle is worth it (at least I am a lot of the time when my patience is intact and I’m not succumbing to my own self-indulgence). I hope that they think similar things and feel enriched through their interactions with me as well J. Whatever I do there is no way I can give back what I have received. I’ve planted some heart strings here and this time and place will always strike a chord with me. 

A Nuova Beginning

Codroipo and Nuova Terra:

                Well…we managed to stay at our first farm/my personal purgatory for about a week and a half. Alayna and I made contact with a farm that we communicated with before leaving for Italy and they have graciously delivered us from awkward, stressful suckiness. It was an especially awkward couple of days after telling our previous hosts that we were leaving. They left for the whole day with Johanna the French WWOOFER without telling us where they were going. In a way it was a blessing to have the place to ourselves, but still nerve racking. We hadn’t felt comfortable since we arrived, and it wasn’t just the mosquitoes. Later we found out that they took this epic boat ride around the Adriatic Sea without us while leaving us to pick tomatoes in the field. ..Awesome. Whatever, we escaped and have found a comfortable new WWOOF farm in Codroipo. It’s a very cool little Italian town with all the rustic flair of Italy and a giant villa that once belonged to the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, Villa Manin. Very cool! The best part is Nuova Terra. First day we get there we are welcomed by the group with great hospitality, given personal bicycles, a room in a nice apartment, and spectacular vegetarian cuisine! This is what we had been waiting for! What Italy had promised in our fantasies! This farm is much more organized and you can tell that it is truly a community of caring, supportive people who want to help others learn about natural living and food cultivation. There is, however, one catch. They are sort of homeopathic fanatics and …Catholic.

On the issue of philosohpy...again:

                Don’t get me wrong, I think everyone is free to their own beliefs and that different spiritualties suit different people. This however does not stop me from stating my opinion and criticisms on the matter. Homeopathy is primarily pseudoscience that acts as nothing more than a placebo. You think it works, so you see it working. This mixed with the Catholic faith is a whole new genre of weird for me. Religion and I tend to knock heads, and their reverence for some celestial beings leaves me a bit….unnerved. It is like they are living only to please these beings and to get rewards from them for their insubordination; living for the rewards of tomorrow instead of reveling in the here and now. In my opinion, the here and now is the only thing that is guaranteed to us. This does not mean that we can act however we please and be destructive; instead it means that we must act as our best selves because we don’t know if we will have the chance to later. I can sense a bit of disturbance in the community because of my free-wheeling attitude which does not coalesce with theirs and I recognize it from being part of other religious communities. I simply cannot be satisfied by dogmatic means and this has come to displease many people.

I have really come to be endeared to some of these people and I love working with them, but I can’t buy into the whole spiritual aspect of life with them and the unrecognized daily toil that comes with it. They use symbols to promote harmony and dispel bad energy, but I think this takes away from what good effort brings. You depend on the powers of symbols instead of empowering yourself. Maybe certain shapes, proportions, and geometry really do bring about harmony. I know that with architecture certain angles and shapes provide a stronger structure, so why couldn’t that be applied elsewhere? But people here speak in more mystical than practical terms. One example is when Silvia, one of our personal guides, was telling me about asking the “knomes “to do good works for the plants. I revere nature and love soaking it into my veins, but this kind of belief sets you apart from it. Mystical beings bring about the works instead of your relationship as part of the whole.  Consequently, my approach and feelings towards the work have been quite different from how they are trying to run their organization. It is not only difficult to express myself because of language barriers, but because of intellectual barriers as well.

Being a transient wanderer has its pluses. I can live and be part of this for a little while, appreciate it for what it is, and then move on to the next place. Sometimes I wonder though, if there is something to this cosmic, religious mumbo jumbo. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing to believe in something ridiculous if it brings harmony and peace of mind. I have some beliefs that stray towards the hippie-ish, but I’m no zealot. My personal Daoist-like philosophy means I may never be settled into a community, but when you stop moving and changing all that’s left is to deteriorate. Still I try to approach the matter with respect towards all persuasions. I am simply a wanderer blown by the winds while the people here are seeds rooted into the earth and trying to grow strong. We each choose what gives us the most satisfying advantages and receive their corresponding shackles.

Where the tourism ends and the torture begins!

Fossalon-The First Farm Stay

Alayna and I arrived at our first farm this past Saturday, August 4^th, not really knowing what to expect. We had only barely been in contact with these people and now were going to be staying at their home. This is also where I currently am and it is quite the isolated little slice of paradise! Just kidding! The few days I have been here I have gone back and forth wondering if this is my personal purgatory or some big life lesson to be learned. It was a pleasant surprise to find that there are other WWOOF-ers here to spend time with. There are two guys from Italy, Francisco and Alessandro, a girl from France, Johanna, and there was a couple from Poland who left because they did not like it here. I don’t exactly blame them. We live in a luxury housing development…and by that I mean a couple of campers with no electricity placed so strategically in a wood festering with mosquitoes that get their kicks by constantly buzzing in your ears and sucking you dry. We work six hours every morning, and even by then it is hot and sunny enough to soak you through with sweat while tediously weeding overgrown vegetable plots; not exactly the life I was imagining in laid back Italy, but the hard work is rewarding. On the other hand I sometimes feel as if we WWOOF-ers here are only a means to an end.

The hosts, per se, have not been so welcoming. Their names are Gionni and Zahra. They have given us little in the way of instruction and insight into organic cultivation. We just showed up unceremoniously and started working. For some reason they believed that we were going to be German, but upon learning that we were Americans their attitudes flipped like a switch. Now it is very hard to do right since we are already condemned. I knew we should have said we were from Canada! Not having received a proper introduction to the farm or the family, though Gionni speaks perfect English, I was very uneasy and did not know what to do with myself. This seemed to insult my host even more. The evening which we arrived I was quickly swept away in a windowless van by Zahra, whom speaks very little English and kept saying something about picking peaches, and taken to the neighbor’s house where a noisy argument in Italian about la dona Americana (American girl) commenced. Thoroughly confused, I just stood there dumbstruck until the conversation ended and we were dismissed. I got the impression that they were trying to hand me off and get me out of their hair for a little while or punish me for my insolence. Then soon at dinner several of the others were speaking to each other in Italian and I again heard “Americana” in a sneering tone from Gionni’s lips. Though I could understand very little, I still got the gist. Maybe it was something I said? I still don’t know to this day.

The next morning to atone for any misgivings, I set straight to work doing dishes after breakfast. This seemed to placate Gionni somewhat, seeing that I wasn’t just some useless or arrogant American. He actually conversed with me some and asked if we were planning on staying for the month. On that I couldn’t give him a straight affirmative. Both Alayna and I did not enjoy the overall predicament and we soon began plotting an escape to another farm or at least another city if need be. While relations with the hosts have somewhat warmed, the comfort of our accommodations is still daunting. I enjoy the hard work, but it does take a toll on me since I’m not accustomed. At the same time I’m trying not to come off as a useless American. It is very difficult here, but I feel like it is teaching me a lot. I feel as if I should devote myself more to language studies since it is hard to get well acquainted with people when you cannot properly express yourself and it is very one-sided when someone has to speak to you in your language while you cannot in theirs. I am still learning how to balance sensitivity to others preferences with maintaining my true personality, which can be a little abrasive or avoidant at times. While it is difficult to get to know people of different cultures, especially for me with being shy, I think it is good to put ourselves outside of our element every once in a while. I think it gives one a greater appreciation for home. I tend to get wanderlust and having a wake-up call like this reminds me of all the wonderful things waiting for me and how no circumstance devalues them. I will have more on my travels as things develop. Until my next post, ciao!

Miss Understood

                No, my post title does not refer to a pageant of sorts where we parade around being comprehensible; it is quite the opposite in fact. So much has gone wrong is such a short time that I’m not sure that my world was ever not turned topsy turvy. First I am suffering from my usual travelling ailments and more, secondly my host couple hates or hated me, then I learn that their grandmother was on the brink of death and has finally passed away, then a trip to acquire an internet connection went absolutely wrong causing Alayna and I to go missing through the funeral. So much akward….so little time. Let me start from the beginning. No I will not go into detail about my bug bite, gastrointestinal , and sleep deprivation woes, but as I have explained this first stay started off on a wrong foot. Now it has continued its convoluted tango of twisted meanings, mistakes, and misunderstandings. I understood that their grandmother lived with them. I did not understand that it was because she was on her death bed, so I may have acted in a way that seemed callous. Gionni does much in the way of philosophical lecturing, but little in the way of explaining what the hell is going on. She finally passed away and now the house is constantly full of loud Italians wondering what’s wrong with the mute American girl intruding on their family. Alayna and I made a bus trip to Monfalcone to connect to the internet and see about visiting a nearby town called Trieste as well as other farm opportunities, but things took a turn for the fucking aggravating (pardon my French).

                Alayna and I had not understood when we left that the next morning we were going to be taken to attend the funeral. We knew preparations were going to be made to have family over to celebrate their grandmother and nothing more. That’s not the worst part. The family knew we wanted to plan a trip to Trieste the coming weekend but said it was impossible to get the days off. So to take care of our arrangements for in the future we went to Monfalcone. We had to run to catch the last bus back, but little did we know, it was the same bus line but heading in the direction away from “home”. Its destination just so happened to be Trieste. We soon realized we were heading the wrong way but there was nothing we could do but finish the trip. When we got there the bus station was closed, we didn’t have our passports or much money, and we were basically screwed. The train station stayed open 24 hours, but whatever we did we would have to sleep somewhere strange that night. We decided to wait for the bus that morning and stay in the train station. To lessen our anxieties we wined and dined at a late night bar where cheeseburgers were relatively cheap (we hadn’t had meat or cheese since we got to the farm). We found some late night gelato, and tried the café corretto which is an expresso shot with a shot of potent wine liquor. It was the perfect way to energize our sleepy minds to last the night while further suppressing our anxieties.

All was not a loss, but once there was no more night life, there was only the long wait at the station where, so very conveniently, only the bathrooms closed at night. We stayed vigilant and read our books (both of us are reading Jane Eyre, but not intentionally) while safely, if not comfortably, waiting at the station.  We got our bus that morning at 8:00 AM, which dropped us at the wrong stop, walked 10km to where we were supposed to be, and then finally rode bikes back. We left around 4 PM the day before and arrived around 11:00 AM the next day to learn that we had missed the funeral and much of the preparations. We told everyone of our mishap, but given that we intended to go to Trieste before, I’m not sure they believe us. We had tried to call the house beforehand to explain what had happened, but wrestling with the pay phone proved quite a task and of course no one was available. What measures we took to avoid misunderstanding were still foiled. I believe in karma and that doing good brings good and bad brings bad, so I’m left wondering if the universe is trying to send me a message about some cosmic imbalance that needs remedied. I’m starting to fear that my heart is not truly in this project. Where I am now has not inspired me as I had dreamed it would, and motivation is hard to come by. A change of scenery is going to be necessary. Much weighs on my heart, but I trust an answer will come. Ciao for now.

So, we made it to Italy....

Hectic beginnings

                Though I am starting my reflections a little late in the game, I believe my experiences have left enough of an impression on me that I still might retain the more important details and musings. It is now August 7^th. My good friend Alayna and I left for Italy on the 31^st of July and have since seen all variety of things. First some background explanation is necessary. While we were roommates our junior year at Central College, Alayna and I hatched the plan of WWOOF-ing in Italy. WWOOF is an organization that connects people with organic farms all over the world. You arrange stays with different farms you are interested in and they provide you with room and board for your work. This idea was inspired by several of our professors who have enjoyed WWOOF-ing in the past. Being somewhat seasoned travelers, we were eager to take on the new and different experience. Also, we have a great interest in sustainability, which is heavily tied to our relationship with food and our relationships with others. We hoped that such an experience would open up new avenues and understanding in these areas.

                Having communicated with many farms, we carefully selected two and were looking for a third to span a total length of three months. We were feeling fairly secure as our departure date approached, but suddenly our first stay cancelled not more than ten days prior. This had us in a panic as we were doing the normal arrangements before travelling alongside our jobs and then having figure out where the heck we were going once we got to Italy! Fortunately we came in contact with a couple of farms and acquired a beginning destination. We were also able to reschedule our first stay as our last since they were the people we had been most in contact with and were most eager to meet. Unfortunately it was too late to change our plane tickets for a city closer to our farm, so we had to get creative. We were first flying into Bologna, Italy in the region of Emiglia-Romagna. We decided to stay there for one night and then travel to Venice for two more nights before taking a train to our first farm along the northeastern border of Italy.  To better explain what has happened so far, I will divide the rest of this post by destination since each place we have been, though relatively close, has been extremely different.

Bologna

This was a wonderful city in which to start our travels. It is full of the antiquated architecture that tends to just blow your mind. Everything was of stone. Buildings were lined with grand elegant archways and the sidewalks lined in marble. All the sweeter were the gelaterias around every corner. For those of you who do not know the joys of experiencing gelato (a sad existence indeed) it is like American ice cream only with less air whipped in. This gives it its intense flavor and dense creamy texture. Alayna and I partook at least once or twice a day, but it was of no consequences since we walked EVERYWHERE. I don’t think I’ve ever done as much walking in my life as I have in Italy. No wonder so many Italians are so skinny! Another thing to remark upon is that I have also never in my life seen so many attractive people all in one place. It must be something in the water….or the gelato (probably not the gelato).

I got to practice a little Italian while asking for directions from the airport and from our bus stop which made me feel rather savvy. After finding our hotel we set out on the town. We did a walking tour of the many beautiful cathedrals and climbed an ancient tower that gave you a view out above the city. There used to be many more of these, but many are inaccessible because they are now leaning (like the tower of Pisa) or are completely gone.

After all that walking we were pretty sweaty and tired. (Actually I don’t think I’ve stopped sweating since I’ve been in Italy, but we won’t get into all the gory details) We retired to the hotel and napped till later that evening. We washed up and sexified ourselves to head out for dinner and to check out the night life. Upon our wandering we encountered a quaint little restaurant called Café Bolognese. Here we got our first taste of true Italian pasta and wine. It was all we could do not to kiss our fingertips and shout “BRAVO!”. The food was FANTASTICO. I got thick flat noodles in mushroom sauce while Alayna went with classic Bolognese sauce. The house wine was the cheapest and still quite magnifico. We each got a nice little pitcher full (about 3 glasses) for 2.5 Euro. I was feeling nice and toasty after dinner and in good spirits. I didn’t even realize that my feet hurt anymore (h_h). 

It was about 9:30 when we finished and then went to the main square where to our surprise there was a live orchestra and people crowding in bars. We of course stopped for Gelato and sat and enjoyed the ambiance. We wandered about while window shopping and people watching until about midnight and finally returned to our room to succumb to sleep so that we might be prepared to leave for Venice the coming afternoon.

Venice

 Bologna was not much of a tourist city, but we knew once we saw the hordes of people coming from the train station at regular intervals that Venice would be a different story. It was easy to see why since the city was so stunningly beautiful. Narrow and winding streets led you in circles and neighborhoods were lined with canals (as the city is famous for). When we first entered our quaint, canal adjacent hotel room, we were already being serenaded by a man with an accordion on a gondola. It was pretty much magical. We resumed the walking marathon that we started in Bologna as soon as possible so that we could drink in all that was Venice. Though we were there only two days, I think it is fair to say that I have passed through the majority of the streets of Venice at least twice. You cannot hold still when you are surrounded by so much gloriously enthralling stuff! One of the most visually striking places was San Marco square which looks out upon the Adriatic Sea. The grand marble buildings were so ornately carved and painted that you wouldn’t believe. The attention to detail is almost excruciating. What is wonderful is that when you walk amongst such fine things you almost feel like everything else in the world is fine as well. You enter a new reality.

                That night we continued our adventure, though we had been warned that Venice shuts down early. We thought that strange for such a bustling place, but as we came to find out also very …..neat. We found a bar that was mostly locals and grabbed a drink. After chatting and people watching for a while as I drank my Americano, we came across another foreigner about our age. His name was Mark and he was from New Zealand. We all got to chatting and were glad for the easy conversation. Unfortunately the bar closed too soon for our tastes (around midnight). And the three of us decided to look for another spot to hang for a while. We came across a tiny little pub that was still open and got a round of beers. They were 8 Euro each, which may have been because of the late night service, but it was also one of the most kick ass beers I had ever tasted! Unfortunately I was a little bit toasty at that time and forgot to ask the name of it. I think the owner said it was a sort of Venetian beer….anyways. An hour or so passed and we were kicked out, but not before the owner gave us some great advice on where to go the next night (Lido Beach!). We were wandering around the empty streets again with a couple beers to go, trying to come up with a game plan when we encountered another group of English speakers looking for late night entertainment. That was when we all headed to San Marco square.

It felt very surreal as we sat at that infamous square that had hours earlier been nearly impassible due to tourist traffic. It was almost as if for those couple of hours that the city belonged to us. As we sat in some café chairs near the water we reveled in how astonishingly quickly you feel endeared to other foreigners abroad. Under any other circumstances, the group of us may likely never have spoken. But at that time and place we were friends. The additions were Ben from New York and Hayley from Alaska. We chatted and got to know each other and decided to go to Lido beach together the next night like the bartender had suggested. Eventually everyone headed back to their respective hotels to retire for the night, but Alayna, Mark and I decided to watch the sun come up since it was only a couple hours till sunrise. At first we sat on a tall bridge near the train station but we decided we wanted to head to the coast. I lead the way as we chased the sunrise. I really should have known better than to trust my sense of direction, but I trudged forward with other two in tow sure I just needed to head where I saw the sun. As it turns out we went in a big circle and ended up right near where we started. So….we didn’t get to see the sun come up over the water, but I guess you could say we got even better acquainted with the city. Eventually we turned in to the hotel to have breakfast and commence sleeping till 5PM in order to go out the next night.

We prepared for our night at Lido beach and then met mark at Rialto bridge, where we left him the night before, and went to grab some drinks. We then met with Hayley and Ben at San Marco square to take the boat taxi to Lido. It was a long, beautiful beach where many young people went to have fun. We walked up and down the sand that was smooth as silk and then went to grab some pizza. Italian pizza is the stuff! We learned that there was a night club just down the beach, so we followed the sand to where we heard the thumping music, but there was a problem; there was no way to actually get to the club from the beach. We attempted surmounting a wall to get to the street to no avail, except for Alayna and Mark who persevered. Ben, Hayley and I walked up to some ritzy beach-side hotel and quietly ascended a side staircase unseen. We made it to the club and were suddenly surrounded by people in white clothes. I’m not sure if that is regular going out attire for young Italians or if it was a theme of sorts, but it definitely made us stick out even more. We stayed and danced until late in the night when nearly everyone was cleared out of the club. We decided to head back to the beach and put our feet in the water. There we met even more travelers enjoying the cool water and smooth sand. We messed around in the water for a while and were thoroughly soaked when we decided it was time to head back, once again with new acquaintances in tow.

Our night ended up in San Marco square again where we found a pizza place open late and partook in another slice before chilling at the tables. We chatted till the sun came up and there I said farewell to my Venice friends and headed back to the hotel: still soggy and very tired. We did not sleep much before our train to Monfalcone near the eastern border, but it was worth it. Venice rocked my world and I’d like to think I rocked it a bit too. ;D