There is a common misconception about Venetians, and that is every single family owns a boat. After all, goes the common thought, the city ’streets’ are actually waterways, so there is no way of getting around without a water craft.

In reality, not every family owns a boat, whether it is a small speedboat for two, a canoe or one of those mid-size family outing boats. As for the gondola, there is a special permit required for owning it, and for driving it. This license is usually passed down within the family, from father to son and so forth. If someone wants the license without inheriting it, there is an extremely challenging practical test, and upon passing, there is a hefty 1,000 Euros to be paid for ownership of the license.

All these are not apparent to the general public, as postcard and pictures of Venice have always included a gondola on a water way. No one wants to see another street, especially if it is located in the water city of Venice; too common and definitely not a tourist draw.

Indeed, the reality of the gondolas was something that I found difficult to change my thinking about, when the S.O. first related it to me. However, the fact that not every family owns a boat is not surprising: boats of any type are very much like motor cars – expensive to purchase, and even more hassle to upkeep.

Yet cruising along the water ways of Venezia, on the boat belonging to the S.O.’s long time friend with his family to some islands around Venice, one is given the impression that a lot of people in Venice/Venezia own a boat.

Different sizes and colours of water craft either passed us on the opposite side or headed in the same directions as us while we went past Venice, Murana and Burano to arrive in Torcello. There were young and old couples, groups of three male buddies, two to three generation families, friends, and four legged companions.

Colourful buildings on Burano, with a leaning bell tower in the background

It was not enough that the people were dressed in seemingly expensive beach wear and had a pair of expensive shades perched on their nose bridge. The boat they were on was named and looked as if it had been scrubbed down for the occasion of heading out to sea. In summary, a boat outing was yet another chance for Italians to show their well-groomed selves to others.

Not one to be left, I had on cool RayBan shades and a pretty top. After all, it is not every day that I could go on a boat trip, so I made the most of the trip!

If there is one thing that I can commend the Italians for, it would be that they do not dress badly. From an old lady or man of 80 years old to a baby in the pram, everyone is well-put together before they step out of the house.

Not everyone is decked out in the most trendy items and most probably cannot claim that they are fashionable. However, they were not seen combining two prints or colours that clash, having white socks under trousers, wearing an ill-fitting shirt or jacket. If the season called for sunglasses, the shape of the frame would suit their face shape. If warmer clothing was required, the scarf and boots would match the jacket.

According to the S.O., Italians are a proud bunch and are very aware of how they present themselves to the world. Some people would rather not have money to pay the rent or the heating during winter than to go without a that deep tan leather belt that matches all the jeans and trousers in the wardrobe.

Taking that even further, people can wail about how little cash they have each month for groceries or toiletries, yet they can proudly show off their two-month old car and declare it a worthy investment, despite its steep price.

Perhaps the Italians think that paying 99 Euro dollars (approx. S$200) for a pair of Italian-made sneakers – that is not even Nike, Adidas or Coq Le Sportif – or 199 Euro dollars (S$400) for a pair of Italian-made jeans – not Armani or Roberto Cavalli – is normal.

However, in my mind, paying more than S$60 for a pair of sneakers to walk around town is already insane so you can see how I cannot fathom this thinking. My trick has always been to buy clothes that look like they cost a bomb, but do no necessarily have to burn a huge hole in your tiny pocket.

Yet while clothes are expensive, fruit and vegetable are cheap. If you know where to get them.

On our way home after our usual round of grocery shopping on Thursday evening, I picked up a female voice repeating “cinque euro”, or five Euros, over a loudspeaker. The S.O. told me that it was probably a farmer selling his daily stock of fruit or vegetable, and everything was going for only five Euros each.

Only five eEuros each? I thought that one apple or orange must surely be worth only 1.50 Euros each!

Turns out that a ‘cassetta’ of fruit or vegetable costs only five Euros. For those of us that are familiar with Cold Storage or Fairprice, a ‘cassetta’ would be equivalent to one tray of apples/oranges/pears etc.

There were cassette (plural of ‘cassetta’) of strawberries, artichokes and some other vegetable, plus a couple others containing oranges. We aid 10 Euros for una (one) cassetta each of strawberries and oranges. That meant 10 punnets of strawberries and approximately 40 or more oranges.

Some of you may wonder whether the low price was because the items we bought were turning bad or were already spoilt. ACtually, the strawberries and oranges were sweet and juicy!

The S.O. figures that what we bought could have been the remainder of the daily stock that the farmer sells at the market. At the end of the day, whatever is not sold will be thrown away. Thus, selling the goods at a low price would be better than throwing them away. At the end, whatever price the produce is sold at, the farmer still makes some money.

At the end, the reasons are not as important as the fact that I had a whole plate of fresh strawberries for myself, instead of having to share a small punnet with someone else. Ah, the little joys of Italy!

When we arrived in Mestre three weeks ago, I was too tired from the travelling to notice my surroundings. The Italian – and probably European, too – concept of ‘curtains’ only came to my attention when I awoke the next day.

The room was still dark and without any clock or watch, I assumed that the sun had not risen. Imagine my surprise when the S.O. announced that it was already 11am! At this point, he walked over to the window and pulled a cord. This action instantly caused light to flood the previously pitch dark room.

“What an ingeneous thing,” I thought as I watched the S.O. skillfully pull the shutters fully up. Later, he explained that that the shutters had two purposes: firstly, they kept out the cold during winter or chilly nights; secondly, the kept out the light during long summer days when the sun rises by 4.30am and does not set until 10pm.

So in these conditions, is there ever a night when the shutters are not employed. “Only two nights in a year,” the S.O. said without missing beat. “One is when the warmest night in winter and the other is the shortest day in summer.” For 2007, these two nights will be May 17 and December 17 (just do not ask me which is which).

Right. Now all we have to do is wait for these two nights to come around so that we can leave the shutters up during the night.

We spent Wednesday evening at the Theater Toniolo, watching a performance by Limon Dance Company from the United States. The night was a collection of experiences.

Firstly, while a ticket for the performance would have cost Eur22.00 each, our tickets that cost only Eur0.10 each. On top of that, we did not pay for the tickets as they were complimentary.

Secondly, I was the only Chinese in the theatre. This did not strike me as unusual as theatre performances in Singapore are a mixture of races. It was the long looks and curious stares from some audience members in their 70s that made me realise how strange it might be for the older generation. Perhaps they find it strange why Asians who have previously not attended any shows at the theatre are now turning up. Even if it was only one, it meant an anomoly to what they are used to.

Third, the performance was an excellent showcase of technical ability from the dance troupe. The demanding choreography of each piece required precise execution of movements between strong and gentle strokes. Watching the dancers cover the stage space, I was reminded all the moves that I learnt during jazz and ballet dance lessons. While the technical background of the dancers was undisputable, the performance failed to entertain on the level of emotions. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable showcase for me.

Fourth, I finally tasted what I would call good pizza more than two weeks after being in Italy. We stopped at a pizzeria called Garibaldi and took home a zucchini, mozzerella and tomato pizza. The thin base sliced easily yet held the ingredients well. It was not too dry or too moist. In short, it was pizza done to Italian standards.

Lastly, it was during our walk back when I realised that the weather had been gradually warming up over the couple of days since Sunday. The sun shone bright as usual, but the winds are less chilly and I could feel the humidity even during the night. Spring is really starting now and with it, my mood lifts in the hope that better things are going to happen soon.

There is such a thing as Singapore Fried Noodles at Chinese eateries.

There is no such thing as al fredo (whipped cream) pasta.

Risotto is eaten with a fork.

Fusilli is eaten with a fork.

An authentic cup of coffee has to be made either using an espresso machine or with the following coffee maker (easily bought from Ikea), which is not washed with soap so that it retains more coffee flavour for future cups of coffee.

While you wait for your order to be served in a eatery, do not pour olive oil in a saucer and dip bread in it. This is not an Italian thing to do.