Fammi una Domanda May 2025
Cambio stagione, Biennale buzz, friends & fast trains.
Signs that winter is over; I have washed and packed away my heaviest sweaters. I organized to have my duvet, that I purchased in Harare in 1998, picked up to be cleaned and refurbished (yes, I was influenced by an Instagram ad 🤞) I have booked my trip to Ponza next month for San Silverio. I made my summer reading list (Here is the bookshop.org one.) We have even had an early in the season beach day complete with a spaghetti alle vongole and post-lunch nap under an umbrella.
My quiet neighborhood is busy again with opening of the Architecture Biennale. It runs until the 23rd of November. The beginning of the month was a flurry of activity with gallery and pavilion openings. I love getting to peek inside palaces and spaces that are rarely open to the public.
A good part of this month has been focused on being with friends and a lot of time on fast trains. We shared our quiet corners of Venice with people we have known since our days in Niger. We had a few fun days in Florence celebrating a good pal’s birthday and I went down to Rome for a whirlwind trip to see with college pals and a girlfriend who made a detour so we could while away endless hours in favorite cafes and piazzas, browsing aspirational jewels and solving the unsolvable over pasta and coffee and cocktails together. I plan on staying home in Venice for the next few weeks to catch my breath before summer really gets going. I found Florence crowded but manageable (we didn’t do any of the big stuff and generally stayed on the edges of the center of town) and Rome, even on the day of the new pope’s inauguration was only slightly more chaotic than usual.
What are your summer plans? Do you rent a car or take the train when you are here in Italy? (Mark passed his road test so we can do both!) Paid subscribers can ask me questions in the comments and read about a terrific permanent collection of contemporary art in Venice plus my monthly round up of what I have been reading and watching including a lively discussion about tipping in Italy.
