Why--Talking Trash in Venice

Bear with me please, I am having a moment here, I have to get this out of my system.  This is just plain wrong and totally unbelievable for me to witness.  I walk around my native city in a state of utter disbelief, a city that has seen years of splendor is now crushed by tourism and carelessness, ironically a city that once used capital punishment against pollution. 

I woke up early this morning so I decided to take an early walk so I could take photos with few tourists around.  What I ended up photographing instead was a much uglier reality.

When you come to a city that looks like this,

how can you trash it like this?

Romantic or plain stupid?

Smoke kills

The irony of the photo above is that the sign says that it is forbidden and punishable with a fine to abandon trash outside the cans.  Not only there aren't enough cans around town, but the law is rarely enforced.

 

Aftermath of students drinking in Campo Santa Margherita, 

using an ancient well as their trash receptacle, 

what is not visible are the olive pits left behind for someone else to deal with

 

Aftermath of college students graduating,

  eggs, ketchup, and flour

No need for an explanation

 How can someone think that their message is more important that an ancient stone?

 No explanation needed

This reminds me of the movie "Spirited Away"

 

Sting in Venice

 Is the Englishman in New York aware of the aftermath of his concerts?

Dear turist...your trash doesn't just plain disappear 

even if you stuff it behind the column of the Basilica

Plenty of trash containers around, 

full but at least meant to contain trash

I hope this person enjoyed the morning coffee

All this trash didn't just happen to fall into the fountain

When I saw this lion underneath the Ducal Palace, its expression seemed to symbolize the way I feel when I walk around Venice nowadays.  

 

Clean, waiting for another night of drinking 

and for the graffitti crew

Venetian Sky

I had forgotten the beauty of the summer skies in Venice.   The Bay Area doesn't have the same clouds I have seen here in the last few weeks.  The weather has been really weird, chilly, with few storms that have brought unbelievable clouds.  I am not complaining since it can be really hot and unbearable in Venice, plus I can't complain about these views, can I?

And a little later, with the sun at a different angle, the light was completely different.  No matter how many times I have seen the view of Saint Mark's square and the Ducal Palace from the water,  it takes my breath away every time.

On a cute note...this is Thor, my friend Anna's dog, super shaggy and sweet.  Isn't he adorable?

Tomato Bounty in Venice

Another month that I will not be able to join the Daring Bakers' challenge.  I have to say I am happy being where I am though, spending time with my family and old friends.  I apologize for the lack of posts, I will resume shortly and hopefully show you some pictures when I will be able to sort through them.

Particular of a little statuette my dad has in his house

I spoke a little about my dad before, a tough man with an avid passion for food.  In my opinion he would rank high as a chef is he had gone that route instead of working as a chemist, everything he makes tastes amazing.  He is not scared of unusual ingredients and because of his experience with WWII and his mom's upbringing he cooks a lot of so called "cucina povera", simple cuisine based on humble ingredients.  

My dad's other passion is gardening, especially when it comes to growing ingredients for the kitchen.  His "orto", or vegetable garden, gets bigger and bigger every year, slowly taking over what was my beloved grandmother's garden.  

There are lots of gold fish in this little pond

I used to spend hours gardening with my nonna Anita, mostly weeding when she was too old to plant anything new, so this space is really dear to me, even though it resembles very little the manicured garden my nonna used to tend.  

 

 

This year my dad must have planted more than 50 plants of tomatoes, which I just picked since he is away for few days.  What a treat!    

The varieties all have Italian names but one is clearly a San Marzano and another a Beefsteak.

  Ready to be turned into tomato sauce

I leave you with a picture of one of the most breathtaking sunsets I have seen in my life, taken from a terrace in Radicondoli, a stunning little Tuscan town near Siena.

Happy Summer!