Mittwoch, 8. Dezember 2010

Three chairs, one theme

It's saturday morning, everybody sleeps late. ME setting the table for whoever wants breakfast. One after the other THE THREE TEENAGERS scuff out of their rooms. Normally its very likely that they want to turn on the TV and watch some cartoon or Disney movie or whatever is on saturdays and sometimes they are allowed to. But today its No3 asking if anybody cares to know what happened in the last chapter of the book she's reading. SHE and HE roll eyes but I wanna know. So No3 recites one complete chapter of "Madita".
I know SHE has to read "Der Schimmelreiter"
in school, so when No3 is done, I asked, how SHE's getting along. Of course SHE complains about all those charakters and different angles in the story, I very well remember the turmoil up in northern germany, north sea coast, and can litterally smell the wind and the sea. No3 is impressed and compares Madita and her friends with Hans Mommsen und the people he meets. HE thinks its too much to think so much about any characters in a book. He likes to read the books from Werner J. Egli and finds the heroes clear, easy to understand, very close to real life. And without noticing THE THREE TEENAGERS are in the middle of a discussion about LITERATURE. For almost an hour. Now that's DELIGHTful....

Sonntag, 5. Dezember 2010

One at a time


So what do you do, when little babies turn into smallkids turn into bigger kids turn into teenagers turn suddenly over night into young people? You try to treat 'em like that. SHE earned herself a treat and choose Venice, what a joy! In order to keep things lowkey we set off for Lake Garda the day before, stayed overnight at bf (which is best friend I learned) and left the peaceful mountain site of San Zeno di Montagna early morning heading for Venice.
Smooth 90 minutes later we turned into the parking at the airport (Darsena, not very expensive to leave the car there!) and took the ferry over to Venice, another 90 minutes drive. SHE slept most of the way. Coming this far - schoolwise - needs strength and even though beautiful sightseeing lied ahead the way was not the goal. Arriving was.
Found our recommended Hotel/Pensione in less than two seconds, a most pleasant place on Dorsoduro. Pure Delight about the tiny rooms, a slight reminisence of Paris days.
And then we walked. SHE had to agree to culture in order to equal shopping time which SHE gladly did. So we visited Peggy Guggenheim Collection, gave the most important wishes in our lives a chance and then walked Venice. Amazing to see that the beautiful city still has her impact even on facebook spoiled kids, sorry: young people. ME just following where the city lead her just smoothly trying to point out the breathtaking architecture and layout of the old place.
Lunch where not many tourists gather for the city is a pain with herds of umbrella-followers. More walking, Piazza San Marco, Basilica, and back via Ponte di Rialto. Taking the long walk back to Dorsoduro leads you through the university quarter where we took a first glimpse into exhibition for La Biennale. The atmosphere of these wonderful campusses didn't miss the target to sway a breeze of how the future could smell and feel like on SHE.
Its getting dark when we reach the tiny Hotel, it's still warm outside while hometown is wet and cold. Time for a nap and then Harry's Bar. Yes, you have to do that, take the chance while there, you never know when you will be able to make it back. Bellinis later exploring the city by night adds another dimension to experiencing Venice.
The last Pizzeria open is close to the Hotel when ME and SHE finally get our long awaited pasta and then our feet definetly deserve a rest 'til morning.

DAY 2

ME being up early takes the chance to have the first coffe outside with newspapers of the day, enjoying the busy Canale della Giudecca at start of a normal business day. SHE needs more than one wake up call and joins when the sun is already warming the pavement.
Today is Biennale day. Again we walk the distance, feeling already quite at home, passing some points for the third time since we got here. All we manage because there is so much to see is Giardini-Arsenale. Theme of this years Biennale is People meet in Architecture and its amazing to see the various approaches. Not all of it understandable, not all of it agreeable but thrilling in the mixture.
Time to say good bye, to get some souvenirs and take the boat back to mainland. Difficult to say what will last and what not. An impresson and an idea about what more there is to explore might sunk in. We'll see...