Nocciola

Day 3, hazy, 2013 A.D.
lazy, because I slept till noon
Stick to the script, give a great read
lone wolf ,break free
Don't misconstrue
I still bless the platoon
It's just I've gotta do me, never stress
you do you
God gave my Dad wings and said
It's best if you flew
Not best dressed but I don't give a F.U
C.K, walking to San Maria's is what I'll do 
today
Got my Pandora on, no Songza
walk along so smooth like the cruise of barca longas
Got to stay calm, give a cheers
Don't sing O Sole Mio like only one gondoleer
Emotion jerker, fondle tears
here's the swan song for my peers
Keep your beef, 
I'll just serve you with some wontons full of fear
Or tagliatoni, I laugh at you phonies
You're more far-fetched than a little girl's Christmas
asking for ponies
The reasoning for my seasoning, pepper/salt flow
is to connect you with the past like the bridge of Rialto


Here's the third installment of my "Italian Soundtrack by C.A":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIzBQA2F0E8


As I scrawl this in my notebook, I rest my bony ass on a nameless bridge in Rialto. it is the unassuming nature of this locale that attracts me; it's perhaps a slightly more authentic slice of Venezia. Chris A. is a fairly low-key mudasuckah. Therefore, hanging out somewhere is perfectly suitable. Plus, I can only walk fast and the amount of waddling dawdlers tends to irk me. And so , I relax.

I

 If you don't have full use of your legs, don't visit Venezia! the amount of stairs and uneven cobbling would make for the club-footed's worst nightmare. It's damn sure pretty though. The further I get form Per di San Marco, the more the city opens itself, revealing dozens of idyllic corners and crannies. I'm sitting in a dog park as I write this. Beautiful view of the lagoon, translating people watching to boat watching. It makes me want to buy a dinghy and island hop.

 I've started to pretend I'm a Frenchman. Since my shift in nationality, I have taken photos of six couples, all enquiring "Pardon, could you take zis peektour?" Once I reply with "oui", they smile without fail. It's fun to play the overzealous photographer in conjunction with my Marcel. "Un otre, un otre", I bellow, and again without fail, my energy level is matched by dramatic poses and beaming grins that I can feel tickling my soul. This is a place where people come to be happy. It's been that way for about five hundred years, ever since Venice lost it's military prominence and the silk road stole Venetian economic superiority. Magic Kingdom of history, Epcot of...Epcot, Hollywood Studios of fresco mosaics. Despite my compulsion to further humbug that's o.k. The source of it's mystique is not the architecture, but the sense of adventure a foreign locale brings and the camaraderie that comes with sharing that experience.

Camaraderie

My absolute lack of Italian has made me realize the true significance of my basic Spanish and French training. In either of these countries I'd be passing most any test with flying colors but I'm only managing it because of the level of tourism. Lanterna di Marco Polo is where I had lunch today. A simple panino and a cappucino really did the trick. Plus, I broke down and bought a Sprite.

Today's history lesson is on the gondola, as our group took a brief jaunt upon one. Gondolas are remarkably uniform. They weigh 1,500lbs , have 280 components and use eight types of wood - lime, larch, oak, fir, cherry, walnut, elm and mahogany. All have an oar  and a walnut forcola, or rowlock, each carved to suit individual gondoliers and designed to allow eight distinct manoeuvres. All are exactly 35ft' 6in long and 4ft 6in wide, and all have one side 10in longer than the other.

This last anomaly came late in the gondola's evolution, in the 19th century. Added to compensate for the weight of the gondolier, the imbalance lends the gondola its distinctive lean and lopsided appearance. By 1562, boats were so encumbered with decoration that the authorities issued a special law banning ostentation of any kind.

Thereafter, gondolas were a uniform black and their exteriors restricted to just three flourishes - a curly tail, a pair of seahorses and a multi-pronged ferro, or prow. These are still the gondola's only metal elements.

Definitely check out the iconic symbol of Venice but don't com into it with very high expectations. It's like a Disney ride for year olds and younger.

Today's gelato flavor was nocciola or hazelnut. This paired with a simple cioccolato was quite delicious. A nice hazelnut garnish plus a few strawberries and the picture was complete,