It’s lunchtime in Venice, Italy. We left the crowds in Piazza San Marco and roamed the back streets to find a nice place for lunch. It didn’t take long. We settled in at a cozy restaurant situated on a quiet canal. If I had wanted to, I could have put my hand in the water while sitting at our table. (I didn’t want to).
Ora di Mangiare
We had a great lunch. I don’t remember what we ordered, probably some kind of pasta with something good in it. In nice restaurants in France, you remember the food. In a nice restaurant in Italy, the food will be wonderful, but you might be just as likely to remember the ambiance.
We had a leisurely lunch, Italian style. Some wine may have been consumed. Then we found our way back to the hotel to conk out. We still hadn’t recovered from the time change or the exhausting trip to get here from California.
Let us take a moment of silence here, as we conk completely out, even though it’s early in the afternoon.
Shhh…
Shhh…. Everything is quiet. We’re sleeping, dreaming. I’m smacking my lips in my sleep, dreaming about the big plate of lasagna I’m going to have for dinner. Then I hear….
‘O sooooooh le mio … Sta ‘nfronte a te!…
In my dream, a tenor is singing at the top of his lungs, as if he’s performing in an opera. His voice echoes all around. Then someone else starts singing. This singer is accompanied by someone playing an accordion. I remember thinking in my dream that this singing is unusually loud for a dream.
Che bella cosa e’ na giornata ‘e sole….
Then the next guy hit a super high note, causing us both to sit up in bed. What’s happening here? Had we fallen asleep on the stage of an Italian opera? I went over to the window and found the answer.
The canal behind our room was filled with gondolas! Gondoliers were poling their craft down the narrow canal, taking tourists for rides and providing entertainment in the process.
They’d belt out Italian songs that echoed off the surrounding buildings. No sound system needed here – that’s for sure. People waved to us from the gondolas and we waved back. Everyone was happy happy happy.
O Sole Mio
“O Sole Mio” seemed to be the most popular number. It means “My Sun.” The singer isn’t talking about the solar system. This is Italy. He has something more romantic in mind. Here’s the first verse and the chorus
Che bella cosa e’ na giornata ‘e sole
(What a beautiful thing is a sunny day)
N’aria serena doppo na tempesta!
(The air is serene after a storm!)
Pe’ ll’aria fresca pare già na festa
(The air’s so fresh, it feels like a celebration)
Che bella cosa e’ na jurnata ‘e sole
(What a beautiful thing is a sunny day)
Ma n’atu sole, cchiù bello, oje ne’
(But another sun, that’s brighter still)
‘O sole mio sta ‘nfronte a te!
(Is my own sun shining from your face!)
‘O sole, ‘o sole mio sta ‘nfronte a te!
(The sun, my own sun shining from your face!)
Che bella, eh? (Beautiful). Could anyone but an Italian have written that song? I don’t think so.
This scene became the highlight of our Venetian afternoons — standing on the balcony watching gondolas full of tourists go by, listening to the entertainment provided. Some gondola’s had guitar players or other musicians. Many had a singer, or the gondolier was the singer.
Recovery Time
We had an uneventful rest of the day, and by the next day we were almost back to our normal selves. We decided to head off for a walk in the opposite direction from the way we went the day before, with the goal of finding the famous Rialto Bridge.
This would be the perfect time to make a terrible pun using “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” but on this rare occasion I’ll resist temptation. I must still a bit jet-lagged.
To be continued…
