Up on a cliff top

I like this chipper little busy bee shopping list.

There are no problem deciphering this one.

Thank you to the host of this blog.

The Shopping Lists - A Collection of Found Shopping Lists

I found this list by a bench high up on a cliff on the Dorset coast.

There was a scrap of folded paper laying on the ground which I opened up and low and behold it was a shopping list.

It is a rather short shopping list. Maybe breakfast essentials for some holiday makers in the area.

Blue biro, roughly torn and folded into four.

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Yahoo, another shopping list

I had just about given up on blogging, when a friend who lives in Venice sent me this wonderful contribution. Thank you, James Jr.

He found it in the Eurospesa supermercato  on the mainland, which probably means in Mestre, the city that you go through when you leave from, or arrive at Venice by train, bus or auto. 

Just a tiny Italian lesson before I proceed: the ‘spesa’ part of the name of the supermarket refers to shopping. The phrase ‘fare la spesa’ means to do the shopping.

I can take a punt at deciphering some of these, but will depend on James (and others) to help with the rest.

I will list those I am fairly confident of, and see how many of them you can translate. Then, we’ll wait for the help with the rest. Is that a deal?

arancia

fette

pasta pasticcio (I think I know what this is)

verdure

vino (for you, Susie)

prosciutto

scatolet.. soffitio  ?? (this one needs plenty of help)

aceto

Vorrechine  (no idea, sounds kind of medicinal)

acofi ..  (more of no idea!) Maybe these last two are one item?

Venice, in the Philippines.

Thank you, Robin.

I had no idea that there was a Venice so much closer to Australia. 🙂

Robin Saikia

As anyone who monitors their dreams will know, it is amazing how similar one place can seem to another. Take, for instance, Megaworld Lifestyle’s Venice Grand Canal “lifestyle” mall in the McKinley Hill township of Taguig City in the Philippines. We learn from Wiki that it is “pet-friendly”, and “home to an array of shopping brands, a supermarket, lifestyle stores, bookstores, services shops, novelty shops, and wellness and fitness centers”. In these respects it is identical to the Italian Venice. Also, like the original, it was designed by Italians. It seems churlish to nitpick about superficial differences rooted in dusty old history, when these essential up-to-date core values have been so meticulously set in place. A significant point is that in common with Italian Venice, the Philippine counterpart has real residents, those who live in McKinley Hill. I wonder how long it will take them to develop the embittered sense…

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Answer to: Just another mystery travel photo

Because I always assume my readers are a bit like me, and tend to forget stuff, here is the recent photo to refresh your memory.

 

That fellow was enjoying a time of meditation and hope on the banks of the Bisenzio River in Prato. Prato is a city of about 190,000 in the Tuscany region of Italy. It’s about 30 minutes by train to Florence, so that was convenient. 

An article from 2020 comments: “In the Tuscan city of Prato, Italy, there are nearly 5,000 workshops run by Chinese entrepreneurs turning out cheap clothing for the fast-fashion companies of Italy and Europe. Many of these workers sleep in their factories and work more than 14 hours a day under sweatshop conditions.” 

https://riverdalepress.com/stories/china-finds-new-way-to-invade,71607

So, not the most pleasant of cities to live in, perhaps. 

18th Century Venice: Sewage

A little piece of Venetian history, for those who love that city.

Make sure you read the linked article, but not at breakfast perhaps.

Thank you Robin.

Robin Saikia

Zompini’s engraving shows a workman, the Cura gatoli, deferentially greeting two immaculately-dressed toffs. The image is very much à clef, as only a Venetian would immediately grasp how disgusting the job really was. In the accompanying rhyme the workman describes his task in Venetian dialect. “Co xe l’Alba per tute le Contrae / I gatoli curemo dal sporchezzo; / E se mantien le strade ben netae.” My translation: “At dawn we trudge round all the lanes / Unblocking all the filthy drains / And keep the streets clean for our pains.” The word gatoli means not only drains for rainwater but also the labyrinth of conduits channeling human waste out of buildings and into the canals. It was critical to keep these in good order at all times, and the draincleaner’s job was as important as that of the canal dredgers mentioned in a previous post…

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Just another mystery travel photo

This tranquil scene is from a place in Italy I hadn’t visited before. The city I stayed in seemed relatively industrial, but that might have been down to my choice of the area I chose to rent an apartment. But, it was close to the train station which allowed me to explore further afield, and I did discover some interesting historical places in this city.

Something strange is going on with my newly refurbished laptop. Some of you might see the previous paragraph all in capital letters. I swear I did not type it that way; I am NOT hollering at you!

Happy Birthday, Minx

My cat, Minx, adopted me about 7 and 1/2 years ago. When I took her to the vet for “the” operation, he estimated her age and then set her birthdate as 14 February.

So, Happy Birthday to my special Valentine. ❤

 

Mad Hatter’s hat?

So, you were presented with this elegant chapeau, and it didn’t  take long for you clever folks to zero in on Venice, Italy as the location.

The photo was taken during Carnevale, about 7 years ago. While not clearly obvious as a Carnevale item, the hat could have been easily employed as an accessory to  a few costumes. Aside from the Mad Hatter, do you have other suggestions?

Mystery travel photo. I don’t know what number!

A very groovy window display, for an important event on the calendar in this city.

Sunday funnies

Good old BoB never fails to amuse me!

bluebird of bitterness

An archaeologist was digging in the Negev Desert and came upon a casket containing a mummy. After examining it, he called the curator of a prestigious museum.

“I’ve just found a 3,000 year old mummy,” said the archaeologist. “It’s a man who died of heart failure.”

“Bring it in,” said the curator. “We’ll check it out.”

A week later, the amazed curator called the archaeologist. “You were exactly right about the mummy’s age and cause of death,” he said. “How in the world did you know?”

“Easy,” the archaeologist replied. “He was holding a piece of papyrus that said ‘10,000 shekels on Goliath.’”

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