The Puppa Bar was our meeting place. I was excited to see Amy. From there Amy, Donna, Larry and I walked through San Polo and into Dorsoduro to meet our teacher, Carolyn, and, and our friend, Nan, at the flag pole in Campo Santa Margherita.

Carolyn is an American married to a Venetian and has lived in Italy since 1998.  We went up to her fabulous kitchen and began to first make the dessert, gatto lengua (cat’s tongue) cookies and “crema del doge” for dipping.

Pasta making was next; squid ink pasta from scratch on Carolyn’s granite counters.  We all took turns mixing and kneading.

While the pasta dough rested we prepared a bunch of crostini which made a lovely plate:

We ate the chicchetti and drank some prosecco before proceeding with rolling out the pasta.  We made large ravioli, tortelli and tagliatelli.  Carolyn demonstrated making the simple sauce of fresh tomatoes and shrimp in garlic, olive oil and crushed red pepper.

We all ate together, drank some Soave with the delicious pasta, and then ate the dessert.

Donna and I headed back home. I stopped in the soap store near Nomboli to get some unscented laundry detergent.  Perfect timing; we ran  into Ken and Andrew, who had spent the day walking all over town.  We all came home for a short rest and then walked to Madonna del Orto to see some large paintings of Venice, done by the father of Donna’s friend.

From there we walked to the Jewish Ghetto and hung out. 

You can tell the kids around town are buzzing because of Halloween.  When we were here 3 years ago at Halloween there were barely any kids in costumes, but how quickly culture changes.  Wild, costumed kids were all up and down Strada Nova getting candy from the stores.

Back at home we threw together some dinner, including a much welcomed salad.  We tried to play cards, but just didn’t get into it.

Busy day.  I’m beat.