Zoe Sophia's Scrapbook (2 page)

No time to write today!!! After breakfast, we went to the Accademia to look at HUGE paintings, and by the time we got out of the museum it was almost five o’clock! I never imagined I could spend a whole day just looking at paintings. My favorite was one by Tiepolo. He liked purple about as much as I do. Dorothy had a story to tell about each and every picture. Everything is fun with D. P.! She’s even better than I imagined. I am working on a scrapbook.

Today we went to the Laboratorio Artigiano Maschere—the mask shop. In Venice they have a festival every year in February called Carnevale, when people put on masks and capes and go into town all dressed up in costumes. Dorothy says they even ride around in gondolas in these getups! We tried on practically every single mask and cloak in the entire shop, but the saleswoman did not look too happy about it. Criminey!

We went shopping on a bridge called the Rialto on top of the Grand Canal. Dorothy said it was built in 1590, back in the days of Italian princesses! They have everything there—mostly miniature plastic gondolas. I bought postcards for my new scrapbook. Dorothy says the money in Italy used to be called lire, but now they use euros. The coins have a big eagle on one side with stars all around. I used two of them to buy my postcards.

On the way home we took a gondola! The gondolier sang “La donna è mobile”—an aria from Rigoletto.He almost fell into the canal taking his bow. Dorothy said he must be a professional. He told us we should go to the opera at La Fenice on the Grand Canal.

Criminey! Something horrible has happened. Mickey is lost!! I was going to get him a dog treat, when I realized that he was nowhere to be found. Dorothy said maybe we left him in the gondola. But come to think of it, he was not in the gondola! Now we must retrace our steps subito (immediately). I have sketched a map, indicating all the places we went.

Pleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease, don’t let him be gone!!!!!!!!!!!

We’ve been all over Venice looking for Mickey. No Mickey. Now it is too dark to look any further. I can’t sleep, even though Dorothy gave me milk and gingersnaps. What if Mickey fell into the canal? His doggie paddling is not up to snuff. All I can think about is poor Mickey out there all alone. He is afraid of the dark. He doesn’t even speak Italian! We have only four days left before our flight back to New York! That is four days to find Mickey. I will never get to sleep. What if I don’t find him?

P.S. I knew I should have signed Mickey up for that canine survival class on West 86th St.

Things are looking really bad. (
Orribile!
) We went to the animal shelter first thing this morning. NO MICKEY. Pip had the nerve to pick up a kitten there. CATS! Now I am really scared. Dorothy keeps saying don’t worry. She typed up a notice with ricompensa, which is “reward,” in big letters on it. She says we must post signs all over Venice, but it’s pouring rain. So she is cooking us lunch first, spaghetti al nero, which is spaghetti made black with squid ink, to cheer me up. Sounds kind of yucky, but Venetians love it, Dorothy assures me. We’ll see…

You won’t believe this! We are having spaghetti al nero (which turns your mouth black too) when the doorbell rings. It’s our gondolier, Ludovico! He’s soaking wet and holding—guess who—mickey. He saw Mickey’s silver tag with “New York” on it and bingo! He realized he must be mine. He’s also holding a brown dachshund named Aïda. Mickey licks me all over and eats a whole dish of
spaghetti al nero.

Naturally, we invite Ludovico to eat with us while his wet socks hang over the tub to dry. “
Grazie mille
!” we say, which means “thanks a million!” Ludovico is grand. He’s giving me his e-mail address and promises to get Dorothy online as well. Dorothy calls him
tesoro,
which means “treasure.” She’s inviting all of us to the opera at La Fenice tonight to celebrate. I am so excited!!! I love Venice!
Bella Venezia!

The opera was
La Traviata.
Dorothy wore her beads from Botswana. Ludovico had on a tux! It was so fantastico that Dorothy cried the whole time. Mickey and Aïda had their own
loge,
thanks to a friend of Dorothy’s who is on safari in Africa. Pip brought his date, the kitten, who is named Camille and who is not so bad. I cried too, a little, but mostly because I have only two more days left in Venice and I’m having such a good time here. Tomorrow Dorothy is taking me to a Venetian glass factory!

We got up early and took a boat to the island of Murano, which is world-famous for glassblowing. An old friend of Dorothy’s, Domenico, is a master glassblower. His family has been in the business since the thirteenth century. Domenico can make anything from a chandelier to a paperweight, and he’s not afraid to blow through a pipe with red-hot glass on the end.

But his favorite thing is making beads by slicing colored glass rods. Each bead has a tiny flower in it, and no two are ever alike. This technique is called
millefiori,
which means “a thousand flowers.” I finally chose a millefiori paperweight to bring back to my teacher, Ms. Feinschmecker. It weighs a ton.

We’ve been feeding the pigeons in front of the Basilica San Marco, which is the thing to do in Venice. This cathedral is named after Saint Mark, who is the patron saint of Venice. His symbol is the lion, and there are lion sculptures absolutely all over town. I’ve counted fifty-three, so far.

Dorothy explains that pigeon droppings are a huge problem in Venice. Luckily, she has brought an umbrella. Besides, it is starting to rain.