• Celebrating La Festa di San Rocco

    Celebrating La Festa di San Rocco

    Another mid-summer feast, celebrated on 16 August, and it has a special history: This red baldachin called TENDON DEL DOGE has been waiting for the past couple of days for today’s FESTA DI SAN ROCCO: So yes, summer feasts in #Venice continue throughout August and well into September, and La Festa di San Rocco comes…

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    Late Summer in the Lagoon

    Late Summer in the Lagoon

    September is considered summer in Venice with a bonus: It’s harvest time and the flowers and vegetables in the Lagoon enjoy a “second spring”. That means they are ripe and lush again after the hottest months of the year and the grape harvest, la vendemmia, is taking place.

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    Come & Have Breakfast with us in Venice

    Come & Have Breakfast with us in Venice

    I call these days of late summer le giornate balsamiche.  They are so calm and the light is different as the angle of the sun rays is changing. You notice there’s more dew (rugiada) on the blossoms, otherwise the flower beds are rather dry here. It looks dry and will remain so until mid-autumn when cooler weather sets…

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    Our Flavored Cappuccino Recipes

    Our Flavored Cappuccino Recipes

    I love cappuccino with delicious add-ons. This sunny Saturday morning I flavored my cappuccino with Campari :-) Flavoring coffee is a habit of Venetians that goes back until the late 17th century when the first cafes opened in town. Grandmother is very strict with her morning coffee but she does like flavored milk with her caffé…

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    Mousse All’Anguria – Water Melon Mousse

    Mousse All’Anguria – Water Melon Mousse

    When it gets really hot in Venice there are a few possibilities to cool down,  I mean culinarywise. One of my favorites during these really hot days called  le giornate di solleone is a slice of anguria (water melon). Did you know that anguria grows right around the corner ? The Veneto is the third largest…

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    Five Things to Do in Venice during Ferragosto

    Five Things to Do in Venice during Ferragosto

    Ferragosto is an ancient Roman holiday called “Feriae Augusti”, the holiday season inaugurated by the Roman emperor Augustus in the year 18 BC.  Originally it was celebrated on August 1 but was shifted to August 15 by the Catholic church to co-incide with the feast Assumption of Mary. Feriae as a plural noun indicates that not just one…

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    Our Breakfast Cake for Ferragosto

    Our Breakfast Cake for Ferragosto

    It’s Ferragosto week in Venice and a long weekend is ahead of us. Many Venetians have left Venice by now while others spend their days on one of the beaches, either in the Lagoon or on the Lido. With summer comes the need for easy and quick dishes and and festive ones for Ferragosto. That’s why…

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    A Venetian Summer Day in the 1950s

    A Venetian Summer Day in the 1950s

    In this post we take you back into a world of which many of us in Venice aren’t even aware. Imagine summer without lots of tourists. No cruise ships and a time when Venetians were actually swimming in the canals !! The idea for that post came when I walked along Riva degli Schiavoni and…

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  • Venetian Flower and Fruit Waters

    Venetian Flower and Fruit Waters

    Here I’m telling you about flower waters whose recipes I found in books of the 13th century. All we need to make these drinks is citrus blossoms and / or summer fruit, cane sugar or honey and tap water. After all, the Lagoon climate makes citrus groves thrive. Sometimes they are mixed with olive trees…

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