Weekend Trip

Michael and I decided to take a few days this weekend to run to Venice. We were hoping to find a spiffy chandelier for the dining room, since Michael had fallen in love with an over-the-top, exuberant creation that made him laugh because it's "so bad it's good again," as he put it.

We love the train route, because we left Perugia at 6.35 (meaning leaving Todi just before 6), and were in Venice by 12:00 or so. Find the hotel, dump our bags, and we were just in time for lunch and some serious vaporetto travel!

The table that I remembered

Ground floor

But first, the hotel. I was absolutely stupefied to have a memory triggered by the floor mosaics and mosaic tables on the first floor of the hotel (second, to Americans), since the ground floor didn't seem at all familiar. Adding to the disconcerting experience, I realized that I couldn't remember a Venice trip when I had actually been in the hotel. I named my trips, accounted for my companions, and identified the hotel for each. Couldn't work it out. Asked the kids to identify the table or other of the photos (had I been another time I couldn't recall?). No dice.
Later, when we got back, I asked Jeremy if I'd taken the girls and not him, and he responded readily, "yes of course, because you brought me back the cola bottle candies." Kids' memories are fabulous!

We went to a delightful, not terribly expensive restaurant near the hotel. They had an interior garden area, which of course we requested, given the nice weather. Michael and I both remembered having been introduced to a delightful Venetian fast food of mini open-faced sandwiches, but couldn't remember what they were called: "Cicchetti," responded our waitress. Turns out, there was a cicchetteria not far off, so that was planned for a different day.

They go from the sublime
to the ridiculous

We sent this to the geometra,
who couldn't believe we were
in Venice.

The chapel at the cemetery

 Next on the list was Murano. This is an island off of Venice, accessible by vaporetto (the public transit system consists of these small ferries). All the glass-making was historically done on the island to reduce the risk of fires in Venice proper. Since Michael hadn't been able to visit Murano the previous time we'd been to Venice, he got to enjoy seeing all the shops for the first time. Many shops have attached furnaces, where you can actually see the glass being blown. This is always fun, but we decided we'd rather spend the time hunting down our chandelier.

On the way back to the hotel

After much searching, we found one we thought was silly and funny and close to "right" for the space, but somehow it wasn't our memory of what had really resonated with us. We decided we should find the store where we'd seen that chandelier the first time.

We were tired and probably cranky, but we took the vaporetto back to Venice, and walked clear across the island to get to the shop. The chandelier (or one like it) was still there, and yes, it was just as perfect as Michael had remembered. End of story, right?

Wrong. It was too large. Our table is rather narrow, and our dining room is rather narrow. The chandelier would be about 10 cm (4") wider than the table. Gah! The next size down just looked diminutive and pitiful and had nowhere near the vavoom of the first one. We talked to the shopkeeper, who called his factory. They said that they could squish the framework down by 10 cm to make it the maximum dimension the room can support. Problem solved, right?

Wrong. The next morning, we were greeted with an email from the first shopkeeper where we'd found a pretty good chandelier (and with whom we'd been quite descriptive about what we were looking for). She thought she'd found just the one for us, and would we come take a look? Yes, we would.

So we hared off back to Murano, only to find the most fabulous wedding cake confection of a chandelier that certainly had enough pizzazz for one lifetime. The price was right, and the dimension was right. We were ready to close on the deal, particularly since I'd had nightmares and anxiety dreams about too-large chandeliers.

But. In the interest of due diligence, we decided to check back on our first choice just to see how it felt. And we loved it all over again.

We bought essentially the chandelier that Michael would have bought a year ago. Of course, it's a special-order assembly, so they'll have to ship it. I cannot wait to see our electricians' faces when they see what they get to hang up!

We were amused by the speed trap (the officers in the
blue boat had a full set-up to catch speeders)

You're never far from a bridge

The intriguing thing about Venice
is, despite the crowds, it's never hard
to find a deserted alley. There are
many of these "underpasses" throughout
the city.

This chimney I'm guessing was
a communal oven back in the day

Venice is an interesting blend of
old and new (post-War)

The wood carvings were extraordinary in this shop

We enjoyed a few minutes in the park

It wasn't raining, but the weather was "soft" on Sunday

In Umbria, you can tell that clay
is cheaper than wood: the decking
above the beams is always terra cotta
tile

A somewhat crowded street,
but we weren't there in high season

Sunday morning, we wandered through the alleys and thoroughfares. And Sunday afternoon, it was back to Todi! We got back in time for a somewhat late dinner with Jeremy, and then bed on time.

Love,

Alexandra

Anatomy of a Shoe

I haven't posted on this, because I wanted to surprise Jeremy (!) with a brand-new pair of shoes. This time around, I told Signor Zoppini that I wanted to build everything by hand, including the soles (which is usual for him) and heels (these are mostly purchased, and are plastic).

So, from leather to finished product, I offer you Jeremy's shoes!

I didn't show cutting the pattern out, so you'll have to imagine
the full sheet of leather. Each piece is hand cut individually
using a paper pattern created by Signor Zoppini

Because the leather was really thick (Jeremy likes his things
to be durable), I had to grade the leather with a rather dull shiv,
created by the maestro himself

One piece done! You can imagine the rest. Each piece took 10-15
minutes to grade and was pretty tiring on the hands

The edges are then turned under and glued. I then sewed
the back seam, and added a ribbon stabilizer to go around
the top of the shoe

These are the little tabs
that go on the back of the shoe,
also graded before gluing
and sewing

First pieces sewn...incorrectly...I think I had to take it apart,
but time has blurred that memory.

Lining sewn

Stabilizer at the eyelets for the laces

Inserting the lining

More lining details

Upper sewn (more) correctly now. 

Eyelets inserted, top-stitching, back heel flap sewn on prior
to lining insertion

This is the fun bit: adding a very HARD leather reinforcement
at the heel. It has to be soaked overnight, sanded to grade it,
and then manipulated into place for gluing. It's a great way
to get rubber cement up to your armpits.

Lining tacked to the form.
If you look at the top right of the
green leather, you can see a bit
chewed out.
That was because Zoppini was mad
at me...said I'd cut out the pattern
wrong (I hadn't) and there
was "far too much" leather so he
hacked it off precipitately
when I wasn't there. Yeah, turned out later
that that part was somewhat lacking in
leather....

The laces have to be put in to help everything retain its shape
as the shoe is stretched.

The grey bit under the heel is the sole into which everything is
nailed and/or glued. It's a composite with the green piece at the toe

First look at it as a shoe. The
bubble in the center is because
I didn't sew the pieces together
quite right. We were never able to get
it out, sadly, but we made it
a bit better.

Second shoe done to this point!

We also provided toe reinforcement, which is often done, as well

Again, the toe reinforcement is a very heavy, stiff leather
that must be graded using the sanding belt, and then glued onto
the lining

You can just see the tack holding
the correct height.

From this angle, it looks like a shoe!

The lining is glued to the insole, then the upper is glued to the
lining. Then the nails are hammered down to make everything
nice and tight while the glue dries for a while.

Nail removal!

Prior to the next step, all the areas with bunched-up leather
(primarily toes and heel) must be graded with the shiv and
then sanded

The sanding and grading is done, mostly. More work is
required on the toes.

This is like a bias tape to provide the border. The zigzag section
is actually lower than the outer edge, so the shoe nestles into
the bed.

This is the top view of the edge binding

We also needed to cut out a preliminary sole shape.
The leather is actually damp still.

Binding is glued but drying for a minute before the next step.

Putting the sole on. This involves putting glue on the entire base
of the shoe, on the entire sole, and letting both dry. Then
the sole is hammered on firmly all over to prevent bubbles and
to provide a firm grip.

Post hammering. Next step is to pull out the shank and trim
to the edge of the binding.

Starting the heel cup. These are
done by hand because the
edge binding has the higher part, which
we don't want. This allows some
air space and consequent cushioning
in the heel.

Again, this is the tough leather.
I can testify that the cutting
is no joke on this part! Yes,
I was only allowed to do one of them.

Awaiting the heel addition

While I was gone, Signor Zoppini used his magical machine
to sew the insole to the sole.

Here's the first part of the heel. You can see the cup here.

Drying...

First layer of the full heel. Note that there are two because
it will be two thicknesses high.

The glue is drying here.

Hammering on the first layer

These are square nails that have
a propensity to bend. In this
case, it's a desirable trait.

You nail the heel into the cup and the insole on top of the
metal support. The metal makes the nails bend beautifully
on the inside of the shoe so they don't poke into feet.

At this point, it's all uneven and ugly, but a good sanding
job will take care of that.

Did I say a "good" sanding?
Yeah, his sanding belt was
worn out. So not that easy...

Time to cut the (very necessary for Jeremy) Vibram soles

A little carving with our favorite implement of destruction,
then some sanding.

Vibram toe piece

Looking good! The edges are dark brown because the
sander burned rather than sanded the leather.

A lot of blacking on the soles, cutting an insole, and putting in
the real laces!

Voilà! Perhaps not Beau Brummel's
standards, but cute nonetheless.

Love,

Alexandra