We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
Saw an ad for one of those Orlando places in the gym this morning with that tag line. Of course, those Orlando places are about fantasy.
My pic is the Grand Canal from a crowded Rialto Bridge a week or so ago on a rainy day. Lots of real work boats, delivery boats, some police boats, the occasional ambulance boat, etc. (Venice has no cars, trucks, or bicycles.) Being the jerk that I am, I repeatedly refused Mrs. BD's desire for a gondola trip except for one quick traverse for 1 Euro to bypass the bridge.
Tourism is basically what Venice is about. Without it, it would be a dead zone.
(One cool thing about the water taxis: Hotels have little docks on canals. On our morning of departure, the concierge got us one to take us to the airport. Yes, right to the airport dock. Luggage off boat, step on escalator and you're in the airport.)
Scenic Venice? You betcha. Food in Venice? Fugettabout it. As someone close to me who knows Italy well commented, "Great food in Venice? No chance." I even tried the Venetian classic, Pork Liver (this was made with suckling pork liver - sheesh) with onions. Barely edible: It's far better in our favorite place in NYC. Mrs. BD tried a seafood lasagna, and was not charmed by it. I tried one pasta - crabmeat. Just not good. OK, the fancy places can do a nice filet of fish.
The Asian tourists (lots of them there) seem to go for spaghetti, but I don't recommend that.
Yeah, we tried very high end, regular tourist, and local dinners (7 or 8 pm, of course). Our fancy old and interesting hotel had lavish breakfast spreads with all cheeses, scrambled eggs and bacon, tons of pastries, cakes, and salumi. I'm just not a breakfast person unless you mean a double espresso from the workingman's joint at 5 AM, watching all the boats come and go and maybe sneaking a cigarette.
I prefer NYC pizza (and maybe New Haven pizza) to Italian, so ignored it. We tried quick daytime breaks for cicchetti and, for me, beer or a spritz (Aperol is the main spritz). Beer was good. Interestingly, I could get not Bud Light. Just kidding - places only have one local beer so you only ask for the size you need. Do not go for a Grande - it's like a pitcher.
Cicchetti are little snacks presented on fried polenta, toast, or bread. They could be like bruschetti, and pretty uninteresting, but with stewed octopus or creamed baccala are ok. Pickled sardines, some pancetta. A little fried baccala makes me happy enough.
In my view, the best Italian food is in Siena. Wonderful and surprising, even in the little trattorias. Doubt I'll be back there again, though.
I'll post some pics from Venice and the Veneto over the next week, where Mrs. BD and I have been for 10 days. I think of Venice as a Disney-type place because it feels unreal, almost designed for tourism. Crowds all day and most of the night. Most lovely at night, hiking through the darkish alleys until you come across a campo with cafes and some trees, and kids playing soccer in the dark until their Moms call them for supper at 8.
Venice itself has only a 50,000 population, but 4.5 million tourists/year. Here's Piazza San Marco last week. Interesting point: that bell tower, the Campanile, was build in 1912. Yes, 1912, as a replacement for previous towers. Venice has tons of towers, most of them leaning because it's all built on a swamp. Most of Venice is 16th and 17th C - it was indeed a Magic Kingdom (but a very wealthy Republic with its own Mediterranean empire) for over 500 years.
22:15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said.
22:16 So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality.
22:17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?"
22:18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?
22:19 Show me the coin used for the tax." And they brought him a denarius.
22:20 Then he said to them, "Whose head is this, and whose title?"
22:21 They answered, "The emperor's." Then he said to them, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's."
22:22 When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
We stopped by the marketplace in Venice last week. Marcella Hazan frequently wrote about her daily morning visits to this only fish, vegetable, fruit, and meat market in town.
Singles are excellent, serious cardio. Often, people who get their singles under good control aspire to do double-unders. It's natural ambition.
Where there is some air conditioning in summer, I like jumping for cardio. I enjoy working on my variations, but I still can't get consistent doubleunders.
32:1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him."
32:2 Aaron said to them, "Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me."
32:3 So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
32:4 He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!"
32:5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a festival to the LORD."
32:6 They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.
32:7 The LORD said to Moses, "Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely;
32:8 they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'"
32:9 The LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are.
32:10 Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation."
32:11 But Moses implored the LORD his God, and said, "O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
32:12 Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people.
32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, 'I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'"
32:14 And the LORD changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.
Wind companies losing billions, 
Legendary Flatiron Building
In the Veneto, outside Venice, we stopped by a few 
Wild New Physics Theory Explains 
Image via 
We stopped by the marketplace in Venice last week.