We seem to have an affinity for old ladies and they for us. We opened our front door one day and greeted an old Venetian woman walking by with her shopping cart with “Buongiorno.” She stopped, surprised, and asked us in Italian if she knew us. We said no, that we were just friendly. She smiled and came over to talk to us. She was born in Venice and had children and grandchildren here. We chatted awhile. She seemed very happy for the encounter. We’ll probably see her again in the neighborhood. Perhaps she’ll stop by for another chat. There is a small “supermarket” across the street where she was headed. I put this in quotes because I was introduced to a real supermarket just around the corner that we will probably use for purchases other than produce.
We were at a concert with our friend Bruno and an old woman was sitting next to him. She engaged us in conversation before and at the end and was just delightful. She was very interested in Abby. During the concert was was a man singing whose voice sounded like a woman’s. I kept watching him and pairing the sound with the movement of his mouth. At first I thought it must be a duet and I just couldn’t see the woman from where I was sitting. We were in pews at the side of the church. We didn’t know you needed a reservation, but we were able to convince them to let us in. (Gabriana is good that way.) The woman told us that a man singing with a woman’s voice was a special thing here and that it took a lot of muscles in your neck and chest. When she said goodbye, she called Gabriana “cara,” which we remember fondly. We walked out together and expressed our delight with each other, kissing on both cheeks, the charming custom here.
We met two Australian women at SoSu gelato and when they seemed confused by the variety, we helped them decide which gelato to order. We told them our favorites. They thanked us outside where we were leaning against the building enjoying our treat. We never make it too far away! They were going to get on a cruise, but were sopping up as much culture as they could before leaving, unlike their cruise mates who they complained only wanted to shop. They told us about the opera nearby they were going to see. We went by afterwards to check on it for ourselves. They also loved Abby and said they missed their dogs at home.
Giuditta in Italia 