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Sometimes you have to visit a place because of the person that is associated with it.   The Maglio of Breganze is such a place.   A maglio is a mechanical hammer used to temper hot  iron into different shapes, invented to save the human wear and tear caused by pounding on an anvil. 
 
Bruno Tamiello’s father had a shop, just like his ancestors before him, and Bruno has lovingly restored it and  brings history alive at this remarkable place.   As you walk through the wooden double doors, you are plunged into a world  of semi-darkness.  The walls are lined with old farm tools, all of which were forged by Bruno’s kin.  Tamiello’s blue eyes light up as he explains what it was like to be a boy at his father’s side, entranced by the open flame, never tiring of watching his father at work on the hot iron.
 
When Bruno yells:  “Via l’acqua”, loosely translated as “Pull out the stops” something amazing happens:  he pulls on a long wooden handle  and with a loud whoosh , water starts to flow through a canal, moving  water wheels both in and outside the building.  These in turn move a series of a half dozen long pulleys, used for operating a lathe and generating energy.  (imagine Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory..).  “ Now, stand back”, says Bruno, “we are working with really hot iron here-” as he moves to the open flame pulling out an iron rod that is red hot on one end. 
After cooling the shovel , Bruno goes to the next station, the grinding stone.  He uses a special stone found only in this area, and particularly adapted to this job.  When shovels started to become mass produced, Tamiello’s business faltered.  One trick of the trade he used to convince customers his shovels were superior was by clanging them against an anvil.  The mass produced shovels made a dull clang, while Tamiello’s rang like a bell.

Yet, modern technology was no match for slow craftsmanship, and the shop closed its doors in 1978.   Bruno  couldn’t bear to see the place deteriorate, so he began the long  task of restoration, doing much of the work himself, and the maglio was officially designated as a museum in  2001.
 
The shop is located in Breganze, just 20 minutes from Bassano del Grappa.  Bruno accepts groups
7 days a week, as long as you make a reservation. 
  

I've been to Venice quite a bit lately.  Last Sunday I went with my husband to have lunch with Mauro on his boat  Eolo on the island of Certosa. 

We decided to walk instead of taking the vaporetto, and we ended up in Piazza San Marco at noon when they were having the biggest event of the year- connected with Carnicvale:  When the “girl/angel" flies down from the bell tower into the Piazza.  But this year the angel was male— and black!  The rapper Coolio!   In the middle of this spectacle we found ourselves literally "stuck” in the hoards of people and had to wait at least 15 minutes before we could physically move.   

We hopped on a vaporetto to Certosa and walked through the amazing park to his boat, where we met two of Mauro's friends. Sergio is a wine dealer and he hit it off with my husband immediately.  Marta was lots of fun and we ate drank and laughed away the afternoon.  Mauro cooked a risotto with radicchio and dark beer, then we had wild boar- so tender it was unbelievable.   As you might know by now, I am a serious foodie,  and it’s so nice to have a meal with people that really appreciate it.  Mauro's boat is compact but he only uses the finest silver, china plates and the best blown glasses for his wine, and you know what?   It really DOES  make a difference. We had such a good time that our new friends us to their house next Sunday, near San Marco and we immediately said YES! A meal on Mauro's boat always puts me in a happy frame of mind.  Certosa is so removed from the rest of Venice, so peaceful and quiet…. There are some important plans for this special island, and I am witness to the little changes each time I visit.  Luckily the changes are respectful to the area.  The island’s site is called ventodivenezia.  

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Venice, staying in an over the top glamour hotel right across from the Rialto fish market. What a view! On Tuesday night I had the grand privilege to see St. Mark's by night - only allowed by a few people.  They turn out all the lights and you are in complete darkness.  Then, little by little the lights come on and you are astounded by the gold mosaics overhead.  I was breathless.  I also discovered a restaurant to die for… exposed brick walls, cozy,   su-perb food (I went with Mauro and if he likes it…..) Not cheap, but not unbearably expensive either.  And the owner's wife is Texan!  

I saw an art exhibit of Paolo Spiga  at Cà Pisani hotel and it was…..   well more about that in a separate blog.   

I also met Mr. Cosulich on Wednesday, who just opened a hotel in a quiet area of Venice behind the Zattere and whose grandpa owned a shipping line that at one time had four ships sailing in four different seas.  He promised to introduce me to his dad who is 87 and has written 6 books!  

I have been to Venice at least a hundred times, and I know it, yet still don't know it.  It's that mystery that it holds for everyone that makes it so beguiling.  It's so much more than Piazza San Marco and a gondola ride.   If you are truly interested, someone will talk to you, and little by little you learn Venice's secrets, but this old dowager doesn't give it away easily. Thank goodness.    

Carla

Read more about Carla

December 28 rolled around and we still hadn’t decided what to do for New Year’s Eve.   Our apartment is tiny and we wouldn’t be able to invite more than a couple of people. Besides, we hadn’t done anything special at all during the holiday.  

“What about celebrating on Bluesiana?” I tentatively ask my husband, referring to our sailboat.“Yeah, let’s do it!”  

I began the phone calls.  Let me just say that the temperature was rigidly cold, below zero, so most of our friends were a bit noncommittal at the suggestion. Until we called Mario and Silva.  They also have a sailboat in the same marina and they immediately said yes.  

So, on the morning of the 31^st, we packed up everything we needed for a New Year’s Eve feast and piled in the car with our teenaged (and not so thrilled) daughter. 

There we met with our friends and their teenaged nephew (no hope of romance—ever! says my daughter!)  For the next half day we ate drank and cooked our way into a frenzy. With the help of a reliable oil heater, we also stayed toasty warm.   

At the stroke of midnight, it was time to go outside and pop the champagne, so we bundled up and quickly had our frosty toast to 2008.  There were even fireworks we could view from the chilly comfort of our deck. Back into the cabin for a rousing game of bingo and lots of laughs.  We decided to make it one big pyjama party and everyone stayed on our boat for the night.  

Next morning after a nice breakfast, it was cool to think I had never set foot on land yet this year.   As I shook the tablecloth into the water, I found the crumbs bouncing off the surface—the water was iced over!  None of us has ever spent New Year ’s Eve on our boat… or any boat, so it was a great way to start 2008. I think it would be a great tradition to start every year this way.. but hopefully sometime soon, from a much warmer place! 

Light Off Limits- The Osteria of emotions 

was the sign posted on the door to the city hall of Asolo.  Curious about the event, I walked in with my daughter Marina  where we bought our tickets based on the menu we preferred.  We went for the tasting menu, with salamis and cheeses, some bread, some micro-brewed beer and digestive.   

Daisy led us up the stairs to the waiting room, ushered us into the pitch black room and quickly closed the door behind us.   

“Hi, I’m Dario, a strong voice says.   I stick out my hand toward the voice and it gets shook.  “I’m Andrea”, says a voice with a lilting “r” , and… “I’m Antonella”, a soft and gentle voice.   I am really bad with names;  I have to write everything down, but here I can’t; I’ll just have to remember.  

Dario, Antonella and Andrea are blind, and will be serving us our dinner tonight. The event, planned by Tiflosystem  is to raise awareness for the blind, and to offer the sighted a glimpse into their special world. Tiflosystem is a company that creates technology for the disabled  and  the brainchild of Davide Cervellin, who lost his sight at the age of sixteen.  Cervellin is also an accredited journalist and author of two books as well as a member of numerous Italian and European advisory boards for the blind and handicapped.  

We are led to our table by Giusy, who has a sweet voice and wonderfully supple hands.  She shows us our chairs and explains how the table is laid out:  A rectangle with place for six.  There are four of you, two in front of each other.  This is Marisa and Ido.   “Hello, we say”.  Conversation  focuses on Ido’s glow in the dark watch.   Ido says it’s hard to talk when you don’t know who you’re talking to.  I find it kind of relaxing and feel more talkative than usual. Our dinner arrives and we are careful to place our glasses in a precise spot so they don’t spill.  I start with my fork and taste a piece of salami, then a piece of cheese, in my fingers.  After a piece of bread, I grab another piece of salami but I forego the fork. (Who’s looking anyway).   Marina doesn’t want to eat because she doesn’t see what she’s eating.  As I finish my  meal and ask Giusy a few questions:

What do you do for a living?   “I work in a bank in the administrative office;   I love to help put at these events, it’s always lots of fun”. What kind of reaction do the guests have?   “First of all, they are very familiar, they don’t use the formal “you” form ( in Italian)  in the dark.  They have fun, touching and bumping in to each other. We have a helper tonight, Sabrina, she’s just 8 years old and started out for fun, but she’s gotten used to  the dark and moves around like we do. She’s great”!  

The other two helpers are sighted and wear an infrared light on their head that allows them to see us but we can’t see them.  After our meal we chatted with Andrea, a physiotherapist , as is Francesco.  Dario works as a telehone operator, but al so teaches computer science to the blind. Antonella lives at home but one day wants to have her own apartment. Her parents are pretty protective of her, but she usually gets what she wants. Antonella is the only one with a seeing eye dog. Andrea tells me he is fine with his white cane.  We talk about the train station and the rubber guides for the blind in the floor .  “ So much money is wasted.  We don’t think they consulted any blind people when they installed these things”.  

After about a half hour in the dark, the lack of stimulation is relaxing. I wonder why I keep my eyes open, since there is nothing to see.  It’s fun to concentrate on peoples voices, and the feel of their hands.  I hear bells and ask Guisy to tell me where they are coming from .  “Come with me”, and she leads me to a court  jester.  He was in the piazza for a pageant and is decked out in a velvet costume, which Giusy invites me to touch with its padded points and bells. 

As we get up to leave, we decide it’s better to wait for some assistance, and Giusy is there in an instant, as she gently leads us to the door.  

Davide Cervellin’s  next adventure may be a culinary one.  He knows about the restaurants served by the blind  in Berlin and Zurich and would like to create one in Italy.  Based on the turnout at the event in Asolo, he might be on to a good thing.  Hey Davide, let me know—I’m ready for another blind date when you are.  

Our blind waiters explain the placing of objects using a clock analogy, so that you can act in the dark. The spoons are found at twelve o'clock.

A swim in Meganisi, Greece- near Corfu - is a real treat.  Especially on this 100° F  (and then some) day, we three ladies of the boat made a beeline for the beach.   We soothed our sizzling bodies in the sea and swam until we eyed a bar across the bay.  A nice cold beer?….   Hey Michele, do you have any money?   No—You, Marina?   “Not me”. 

I fumbled in my backpack and dug up 3 euros and 20 cents.  “What do you think we can get for this?”  I asked my pals.  “Not much… they groaned.” 

“Well, I have a plan”, I told them, and we donned our sandals and towels and trekked over to the bar.   As we sat down I slapped my coins on the table and told Jannis, the young guy serving us:   “Here’s what we have to spend, what can we get for this?”

Jannis calmly replied.  “Don’t worry about it, order whatever you want”.  

We looked at each other, shrugged and ordered two beers and a coke.  A hour and lots of girltalk later, we reiterated our financial situation to Jannis.  “Really, I meant it”, he insisted.     

When it came time to leave, Jannis was nowhere to be found so we left our money on the table as a tip (the least we could do).   Of course we would simply go back tomorrow and pay our bill. 

It so happened that we left rather quickly and Jannis and the bar faded from our memory.  

Fast forward to 3 weeks later, back in Meganisi.  This time there were only two ladies, but I was determined to make good on our debt.  We marched over to the bar, I showed my crisp 10 euro note and reminded Jannis of our previous visit.  “We’d like a beer and a coke please, and we even have the money this time!”   Jannis frowned slightly and said,  “Yes, now I remember you;  you left money on the table when I said you didn’t have to….” 

After our drinks this time we went to pay Jannis at the bar and he very sternly told us:  “I told you : you didn’t have to pay and you left money anyway, now this time you don’t pay!”  No amount of insistence would budge him.   I don’t think I will ever have the courage to go back to see Jannis, if I come and try to pay for a meal, he might punch me out!    

Anyway, Efharisto (thanks) Jannis!

That’s one of the most frequent questions heard at the Bolle, the futuristic structure found at the Nardini Distillery in Bassano del Grappa.  It’s a fascinating place, and Nardini hosts private tours so you can see this work of art designed by Massimiliano Fuksas, the world class architect contracted by the Nardini family to commemorate their 225th anniversary of grappa making. The structure houses a conference center, laboratory, auditorium with film on the grappa making process, tasting area and store.

I happened to be there the day the cleaning crew came and I saw them up on the top, with a harness clipped onto a steel ring right in the center of the glass bubble.  From there they use their bucket and sponge, cleaning as they move across and down the sides.   The crew manager is Letizia, a 33 year old woman, and I asked if I could take a ride to the top.   Sure, she offered and I hopped in the little basket with her.  I can tell you 30 meter is HIGH!   We get to the top and I say hi to the workers.  “Are any of you mountain climbers?” I ask. Nope, not one.   

Most of the crew find this job fun, also because they don’t have to do it every day.  “It’s pretty rough in the summer”,  they remark  “ we have to work at dawn, because when the sun starts beating down  the water evaporates too quickly and we get poor results”.

We slowly start to navigate our way down as Letizia works the joystick.  We hear a dull THUD and we jerk to a stop.  “The cherry picker has been acting up today, we’ll get it working again, said Letizia calmly, and I kept repeating to myself how many backup systems there must be on this machine.  Time was ticking away, though, and I was on my lunch hour to boot… 

Tarsillo, the man Friday at Nardini got in the truck and started working another joystick down below and we started to slowly descend.  I’m sure everyone could hear my sigh of relief from the ground below!

I sure have new respect for the cleaners’ job, and … two days later I found myself in Milan at a fair in Rho in a structure created by Fuksas, only about 100 times bigger and guess what I saw?  A cleaning crew harnessed on top with buckets and sponge!     

Late for an appointment, I quickly park my car in Viale delle Fosse (translated: street of the ditches), the main thoroughfare of Bassano Del Grappa.  After 20 odd years living in Italy I had mastered this art of Italian parking; or so I thought. Forward, now back….  oops!   Too far to the right… I get out and found one of my wheels all the way down in the ditch- there’s no way I would ever get myself out… Well, I’m late, I’ll worry about it later… as I rush off to my appointment in the center of town. 

An hour later, back to the sad reality and my problem to solve. I slowly make my way through the piazza towards my poor car, thinking about the tow truck I would have to call, the time, the expense and above all the embarrassment …  Just then I see a group of Albanian-looking men walking by and I impulsively approach them. 

“Come with me, I want to ask you a favor”.  The four men follow me. My inside voice says, “Are you crazy, you’re soliciting four Albanians!”  But I march determinedly through the piazza trailed by the men. I show them my predicament. 

“Can you lift it out of the ditch for me?”  They look at the car, at each other, and say, as only Albanians can: “OK”. 

Just as the guys were rolling up their sleeves to lift my car, a policeman passes by.  Alarmed, I tell my men with a series of looks and gestures to “stand by” until the coast is clear.   We spend a few minutes of trying to look nonchalant, (not easy to do for a middle- aged woman and four Albanians at her side) but our patience pays off and the police are on their way.   I know we have to work fast.   “OK, go ahead…” I tell them. 

The four men grab my car in unison and in a matter of seconds it’s lifted up and safely of the ditch. I slip them a nice tip and could scarcely believe I’d solved my problem so quickly and efficiently. 

“What a wonderful place to live” I murmur, as I smile to myself.

I splurged on a first class train ticket and was so glad  I did; the train was jam packed. As I squeezed by way through the overflowing  corridors of the train I got to the dining car where I found some two 40 -something  American women laughing and  playing cards with some Italian men. 

"You're not playing strip poker are you?"  I quipped as I passed by. " Yeah!  C'mon, play with us!" This was too much to let pass by, so I said I'd "observe"  a hand or two. "Ok you lose Patricia… Salvatore, what does she have  to do?"" I get to kiss you" says Salvatore to the American who lost this round.   Salvatore is a white haired Neopolitan man about 70, and he puckers up and plants a big one on the lips of the American women. This was too much!  

There was  Erica, a young Mexican girl who was also playing and she did the translating for everyone. I decided to play (as long as I didn't have to kiss Salvatore)  and they deal me in.  

This time Patricia won– she  gets to command  Antonio, the young man at her side with a playful glint in his eye.  "OK,  take off your shirt!" "Sure", he replies, and he strips down to his white T-shirt.   "Oh, excuse me", he says as he quickly puts his shirt back on.  "I have  a customer".  You see Antonio runs the bar on the train (when he's not playing strip poker)! I thought I had heard everything but this was unbelievable.  

The game continues and the ladies tell me how they met each other a week agon in Positano and started traveling together; they were now on their way to Venice.   Salvatore talks about his little dog in the next car with his wife, and the two ladies want to see the pooch, so the game is interrupted while Salvatore takes them to his compartment. They take the little dog out of his bag  and start petting and cooing over him just as the lady conductor walks by.  Do you have a ticket for the dog?"Uhh",  sputters Salvatore… "OK  that'll be a 25 euro fine". 

The ladies try to explain-  "NO, please don't fine him, it's our fault he brought the dog out.. We'll pay the fine for him… "One of the ladies runs back to ask Antonio if he can help intervene, but he says," That's out of my hands, I can't do anything."   But with my knowlege of Italians, and how a no is NEVER final, a bit more cajoling, and he sets off to try to help. A few minutes later, the ladies come back all smiles, having charmed the condctor out of charging the fine.

Later the conductor, Antonio, Salvatore and the whole gang have a nice little chat in broken English.  A stripping barman, a 70 year old Casanova  and two very rambunctious ladies…That was the quickest Bologna to Padova train trip I ever took! 

Ciao ciao from Carla Cassano