As the mornings and nights darken, and autumn leaves fill the streets, we go back to the start of the summer… twelve weeks is a long time!
So… yeah… she – La Serenissima – was taking us over, and we went to Venice.
Years of anticipation had led up to it. Money was saved, language brushed up on, research done for the day trips into the city… we arrived at Manchester airport, and the first crazy moment occurred on the way out of the toilets and Peter Beardsley was walking towards us – that Elijah was wearing the new away kit, modelled on the one Beardsley starred in for my first away match (Blackburn, September 1992, 3-2 victory) was a happy coincidence, and the little men both loved the kit.
The airport itself was a joy, with a great GF burger at Giraffe, with a loud stag do playing old school house classics as accompanying tunes next door, and despite a scare when we thought we’d lost a passport, it was off to Italy we went, a somewhat hairy flight preceding an electrical storm as we landed at the serene one for a week of Tobias Jones, Spritz, canals and some fantastic entertainment.
The standout memories of our day trips into the city were the remarkable architecture, breathtaking scenery, unforgettable gondola ride and the coolest museum I think I’ve ever been to – Creature di Gomma, replete with toys from my favourite childhood TV series (more of which later!)
Venice was what I expected and so much more. She looked as she’s appeared on screen myriad times: James Bond, Don’t Look Now, Death in Venice, Summertime, much more… and the various documentaries we watched before going, including one about the concerns over its future and the guy whose newsstand washed away in a flood, we met him and he gave me a custard pie.
Much more polite were the wonderful staff at Portofelice, our base for the week, making friends (some of whom I’m still in touch with now) and many memories, spending warm summer days by the pool reading a Gazzetta and drinking a caffe corretto… since returning, we were saddened a little by the bush crash at Maestra and the flooding of St Mark’s Square, which seems to be commonplace now.
Together, we took about a thousand photos, of the boats and the buildings and canals and that amazing fish market and Harry’s Bar (the birthplace of the Negroni) and this one was my favourite:
All in all, then, an unforgettable week.
Home, though, and back to reality. Everton losing regularly, Marine winning impressively, more new kits… nights watching TV rather than judging beauty pageants, revisiting the new series of Only Murders…, and more marvellous This is Us, including a lovely little storyline about a painting in the Met, and for us personally the anecdote of the horse & carriage ride, plus Ahsoka, the clever new Turtles and Trolls movies, and then the best thing we’ve watched (since last time) The Lovers.
Meanwhile, kids were turning ten and seven and losing more teeth, and soon it was time to go back to school. It’s always advisable to sing that Green Day song about waking me up when September ends, but amidst the tough few weeks some little nuggets brightened the mood: the discovery of Slim Chickens, reading the excellent The Descent of Man by Grayson Perry, who actually owns one of my pots after I gave it to him as his alter ego Clare circa 2004; Messi’s start at Inter Miami, the intense and ‘British Bear‘ four parter that was Boiling Point, plus some sumptuous new music by The National…
We had several celebrations, too – double golden weddings, with a This is Us themed speech after an Everton win; birthdays, new season goal sprees in new boots, me even playing football again, an ultimately failed parent governor challenge, and a much anticipated Everton defeat to continue the life affirming journey we’re on.
October came, clear signs of the seasons changing, lovely new Wes Anderson / Roald Dahl films being released, the incredible directorial debut of Misan Harriman (photographer to the stars) a short film on Netflix (The After) and an intriguing new murderous series (Bodies) and the always excellent Breeders well as arguably the best Comic Con, not least because I got to meet another childhood hero, Michael Ironside. Many will know him from Scanners, Starship Troopers, Total Recall (and even This is Us!) but he will forever be Ham Tyler from V for me and whilst Betsy was non plussed, I was in heaven having a selfie with him.
The props and sets were the best yet, too…
Half term finally came, Hallowe’en too (on which night some ruffian robbed our bucket of sweets; I hope it made them sick) and also some art: the brilliant Jeremy Deller interview, This Cultural Life; delicious Tim Spooner retrospective at The Bluecoat – I really liked the cut of his jib, and his hundreds of sculptures and drawings / paintings that filled the gallery – and then my bi-annual visit to the John Moores painting prize, impressive as ever, with my favourite offering being William Drummond’s powerful portrait of a cow (as Damien Hirst might have said about his own bovine masterpiece, it’s very moooving) all punctuated by some great chicchetti at Bacaro where they really looked after us and took us back… to Venice.
Next time: Christmas!