My Adventures with Giulio Menossi – To Udine and beyond – Chapter 1

 few years ago, had the good fortune of being able to travel to Italy. I have been to other places, but never Europe. Needless to say, when talk of this first started, I went into overdrive to make it happen. I nagged my husband non stop (don’t do this ladies, they don’t like it!) and I gathered in all the bits of outstanding cash. I also made mosaics day and night and, as luck would have it, a nice big commission came my way. So, the husband, debtors and commissions all came together and in January 2009, I booked my ticket. First I impatiently counted the months, then weeks and ultimately days. The time came closer and closer. I was filled with anticipation at the classes, the sightseeing, the shopping, you name it, I even got excited about the cheese! Yes, I know, who the heck gets excited about cheese, but I like cheese and at this stage everything even remotely connected to Italy held special appeal. And what could be more Italian that cheese and wine. The trip ended up being everything I expected, and more. I met some great people, saw some very old places, made some art and learned a few new tricks. All the while, I kept a journal of where we went and what we did. Unfortunately, my journal decided it wanted to carry on travelling and remained on the plane when I landed in Dubai for my return stopover, and despite my best pestering and harassing efforts of anyone who was in a position to have found it or had it handed in, it was lost forever. So, I am writing this to my best recollection. Luckily I have photos of places that have been date stamped, so it will be fairly accurate but, the main aim is to let you feel what I felt, see what I saw and experience the excitement and the beauty that is Italy.

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29th May Friday

Today started like any other day. Nah!!! It absolutely did not! Today, I fly to Italy. And there is nothing ordinary about that. Packing has always been an interesting thing for me. I always take too much stuff and create many lists, and, well, this time, whatever I packed, it needed to be very little because I intended to come home with a suitcase full of smalti, hammers and hardies. Ok, not quite full, but containing some of aforementioned items. I was allowed 30kg on the plane for my checking luggage and 7kg for my carry on. By the time I had trimmed down to the bare essentials, I was down to a surprising 18kg. Which I discovered later, was still almost double what everyone else had. And, needless to say, I had the biggest suitcase. Hmmmmm. But, I was packed and my husband and son took me to the airport so that I could embark on my great adventure. I was excited and sad and then guilty at leaving them for 3 weeks, and then excited again. When we finally said our goodbyes, and my son chased me all over the airport to have the “last touch” (he is 9), I made my way to the departure lounge and before I knew it, it was time to board. Now, I am not one for flying and, while I am not at all suggesting anyone else do this, I greatly appreciate the marvels of modern medicine for providing me with excellent methods of putting myself to sleep for the entire duration of the flight, waking just in time for breakfast. What a pleasure. It was just like being in my own bed at home. Only difference is that tomorrow, I wake up in a new and exciting place.

 

30th May Saturday

We landed in Dubai at 05h40 and set off again on the second leg of the journey at 09h50. I almost missed the flight because at the last minute, they changed the departure gate to one right on the other side of the terminal! A bit of a panic but, once settled in, I went straight back to sleep and arrived in Venice, Marco Polo Airport at 14h20. I flew Emirates and must say, the food and service was very good. Once there, it was ultra quick through passports and immigration with hardly any wait for my luggage. From there I took a ACTV bus for 3.50E to the Mestre Train station and then a train to Udine. I arrived at the station at something past 5 and took a taxi from Udine Station for 5E to the Ambassador Palace Hotel at Via Carducci, 46. Surprisingly, it was not at all difficult to find my way around. My journey has started well and I was terribly excited. In two days I would be one of eight students to attend a Portraiture course with Maestro Guilio Menossi. The first he would give and, I considered myself extremely lucky to be one of the fortunate ones to be there. When I got to the hotel, it was a lovely surprise to find that my roomie, Annette Brenner had also just arrived. We got on well right from the start and after settling our things, we decided to explore. We went down to the little corner coffee shop and had two coffees. The atmosphere was great and if filled up quickly, but, we would not visit this coffee shop again because it turned out to be very trendy and so, also very expensive. But, it suited the moment and we enjoyed being there. Later on at the hotel, we were happy to find Pam had arrived also. Our hotel was very smart with beautiful floors and white leather couches in the lobby which were to become Annette’s favourite place to sit after a long walk. She even threatened to stuff them into her suitcase and take them home!!

We had supper together and it was a very different from what I was used to, from the waiter’s expert deboning of the fish to the theatrical dressing of the salad. And, memorably, Pam introduced us to a little thing that the Italians like to refer to as Sorbetto. Needless to say, we would taste it many times again and we were completely hooked. For all of that, I must say, it was truly an experience, dining at the Ambassador. We all went to bed early and that night was to be my first sleep in Italy! Well, my first sleep in Europe for that matter. What an exciting time lay ahead. My journey had just begun. Tomorrow, the rest of our group were arriving. I could not wait to meet them all