Oh Where Oh Where Have I been?

On Friday, September 25, 2015 I will attempt to broadcast my 117th show. The topic will be related to an extraordinary day I sent with some of my friends in Tuscany. The 116th show on an amazing bead store in Venice is currently being edited and may be published soon; who knows. The 115th show is permanently shelved as far as I am concerned due to the dissatisfaction the participants in that show had with the finished product (see my previous blog post). Alan's Italy is still alive, well, with a very strong beating heart. I have not gone away, yet.

The challenges of Public Access Production as opposed to getting easier seem to be getting harder for a variety of reasons. We are still in the makeshift studio instead of our new digs in the refurbished community center. My engineer continues to have difficulties with the broadcasts. Our desire to produce as close to a perfect show continue to haunt us. My time is even more limited than before, but I feel an obligation to my very loyal fan base, and my mission to present a watchable version of Italian adventure from my point of view.

I have many new shows in the very elementary stage of planning. They are very good ideas based both on my personal experiences and my fertile imagination. I do not know what the future will bring. We will close up shop probably soon to move back into a regular studio. Based on past experience the hiatus should last a couple of months at least. That will be a blessing in disguise as it will provide the time to create several new shows. Stick around.

As always, thank you for your support!!!

What If Someone Hates the Show? The "real" Alan revisited. Sigh.

Those of you who regularly read this blog may notice that there is something amiss here. Where's the previous blog post? Those real fans of Alan's Italy may also have noticed that the last show vanished from Youtube. Hey is Alan going bonkers? Well, do me a big favor and do not answer the last question because there may be ample evidence of that happening from quite a ways back. Only kidding. Actually here is what happened; you deserve to know.

I never had a show which the people in the video, i.e. hotel owners, restaurant owners, etc, did not like the content. Actually I came close once but we solved that problem before the show went on the air. The last show I did regarding a certain person who owns a restaurant in a certain place we visited was removed because the people did not like several aspects of the broadcast. Well, ok, I never claimed to be Ken Burns or anyone for that matter. In fact I have gone out of my way (several times early on in this blog) to point out the amateurish nature of my productions, all the imperfections, etc. In fact I do that almost every time I do a show - the "what went wrong" segment of the blog. You know this. Hey, I am not a producer of TV shows. I am a trained, educated, licensed and recognized educator of note in the field of remedial mathematics at one of the largest (if not the largest) community colleges in the world!! I pride myself on that as I cherish the air I breathe. You know this. I have indicated that many times.

So despite telling the person who wanted a show about his endeavors exactly what I just wrote here, the person nonetheless wanted me to do the show. I even made counter suggestions for that person to not only save him money, but also have a better production. I have a witness to that effect. The person wanted ME, and got what I am capable of producing. Then I was told there were too many flaws, and that I needed to change it. Fine, but I have few methods of editing that I am capable of. I could teach anyone basic mathematics, but I cannot edit a broadcast except in small doses. So I removed the show from Youtube and the associated blog. Very simple. Alan's Italy is really very simple, and easy to get along with.

Several years ago I did an interview with a hotel owner. The person had a bad cold and hated the way he looked, so we did not broadcast that interview. The show went forward without that aspect and it was a fine show. So what happened here with the last show I did? Honestly I am not sure. True I have only a 142 IQ, so there are obviously things I don't know; otherwise I would have a 180 IQ like Thomas Jefferson. It could have been a language thing (but this never happened before), or just a misunderstanding. I do not know. I apologize to the person for not delivering what was expected, but once again folks, when you appear on Alan's Italy do not expect a CNN broadcast!!!! I have made this so abundantly clear to people that I am getting tired of it. Before I do a show about a hotel or restaurant or anything, I tell the people to go to my Youtube site and watch my shows, especially about commercial establishments with interviews. If they don't like what they see, then fine, no problems. I move on as I have with 115 broadcasts. So one last time......hello out there......Alan's Italy is a hobby, like model airplanes or stamp collecting. By profession I am a mathematics educator. If you want a broadcast about you or your projects, go to Rick Steves. If you want advice about learning mathematics, send me an email.

A Great New Hotel in Venice: Palazzo Sant'Antonin

It was my original intention to return from Venice and immediately do a show about the Hotel Palazzo Sant'Antonin. I should have known that it would be impossible to organize all the photos and get everything ready before about two months. This broadcast actually took less time than that from the day we returned from our trip on June 9 to yesterday, July 31, so excited was I regarding the extraordinary experience staying at this amazing hotel. Also, whenever we are graced with a video interview of such quality that just adds to the excitement. So I worked very hard to create the perfect show given the great material I had and, of course, the subject.

As I indicated during the show, staying at this hotel came by surprise as we decided was to stay close to the Biennale at Arsenale and Giardini with no idea of where we would choose. After some research on the Internet, I found this treasure and immediately emailed them reserving a room. I read all the wonderful comments people had made about it, and just knew that this (and oddly not visiting the Biennale) would be the best part of this stay in Venice. I was correct. The title of the show, Oasis in Castello, Venice, was suggested by Elena Scarpa, the hotel manger and daughter of owners. I actually added the "Venice" so that people looking for a hotel in Venice would immediately been taken to the hotel in a google search. Very few people, I would assume, look for Castello as a place to stay unless they either wanted to also stay close to the Biennale or knew the fact that this is a wonderful, charming, and peaceful neighborhood in which to stay. We came upon Castello during our last trip in 2014 with another hotel which at first did not have a room for us this time, but then "relented" a few days after I had already booked the Sant'Antonin. Incidentally the name derives from the church of the same name which is nearby; I do not believe we even got to see it, as we were so busy with three days at the Biennale. Seeing everything  at the Biennale is a huge undertaking, and probably impossible. The temperatures were very high during our stay and after several hours of seeing the amazing art in extremely uncomfortable circumstances, we happily would have a nice lunch somewhere and return to our special treat, a twenty minute stroll from Arsenale and a bit longer to Giardini. Coming back to the hotel was such a wonderful experience that when we left Venice, all I could think about was returning soon to stay there once again. Also, after many years of staying in Dorsoduro, I believed that we had found a new location in which to spend time. We also made contact with two lovely people who owned a beed store near the hotel. That experience will be the subject of a future show.

The actual broadcast did not go smoothly. What else is new? First of all because the air conditioner always makes so much noise, we usually turn it off just before going on the air. The studio became stifling hot. I thought about opening the front door, but I realized that someone was mowing their lawn somewhere close by and making loud noises. I did not want to take my sport jacket off, so I did the show feeling quite uncomfortable. Second, just before going on the air Ellen, my engineer, had trouble with the mouse which did not permit her to do her work on the tri-caster. Third and most disturbing, the video interview with Elena was not being broadcast properly with voices not in sync (a common problem), and also a lot of static. Needless to say by the time the show ended at about 5:45 PM, I was a physical and emotional wreck. I told Ellen that if the video was not viewable, we would do it all over again as soon as possible. When I got home and watched the DVD, everything was absolutely perfect!!! After 114 broadcasts I should know by now that public access is just such a challenge that I can never expect a smooth ride.

Once again, I would like to thank Elena and her family for their amazing hotel and kindness towards us during our stay. Their story is so sweet and charming that I hope everyone who watches the show will wish, as we do, that the Scarpa Family not only succeeds in their venture for many years to come, but flourishes as well!!

In Dry Dock for a While

Just as I was about to spend Sunday preparing for the broadcast of my next show on Alan's Italy, I was informed by my engineer that work would begin tomorrow (Monday, July 20) to relocate the equipment from the makeshift studio we had been using since the renovation of the regular venue back to our new studio. The show would have been # 114: Oasis in Castello, Venice - Hotel Sant'Antonin, focusing on the wonderful hotel in which we stayed during the most recent trip. We would have included photos of the area in which the hotel was located, closeup shots of the hotel, inside and out, and featuring the interview we did with the owner's daughter and hotel manager, Elena.

If past performance is any determining factor in this type of situation, then we can be pretty sure we will be out of action for at least three months, bringing us to at least late October at the earliest. Things could be different this time around, but I am not optimistic. I feel badly since I was getting ready, not only the hotel show, but many others related to the last trip and several others. I feel especially badly to disappoint Elena and her father who treated us with great kindness. I will prepare a show immediately with the expectation of returning to live broadcasts as soon as possible; however, fans of Alan's Italy will have to go with the previous 113 broadcasts for now.

Thank you for past interest in my projects.

The Most Amazing Sculpture Museum in Florence, The Bargello

For the second show in a row I attempted to analyze art. This time it was the amazing Bargello, National Museum of Sculpture in Florence. I have been to this museum about 8 - 10 times, and with a bit of research of my favorite pieces was able to do a pretty good job. The preparation was quite challenging considering I am working 4 days a week, full days, a lot of travel into NYC and very little time to do anything but my job at the college. I squeezed in a few moments here and there with the expectation that I would be able to create a show. It is important that things move along, since in not so distant a future, I am certain the makeshift studio in the trailer will close and the broadcasting equipment moved back into the new studio. Who knows how long the studio will close, but if last time is a guide, it could be several months. Meanwhile since I have promised several people in Italy shows, I do not want to disappoint them for too long a period. I now have all the photos and videos from our last trip and the show on the Hotel Sant'Antonin leads the list for future broadcasts. First, of course, I wanted to finish up the Bargello show which has been on the drawing board for probably two years. I kept seeing "Bargello" on my list of albums, and never gave it a second thought until recently when I was starting to run out of shows. Then I started to put together something serious, and wow, it came out good. Ellen engineered as perfect a broadcast as she ever did with no glitches at all.

The only down part (ho hum) was my reference to the number of sculptures by Michelangelo which still remains in Rome. First I said two, then corrected myself with four and when I got home realized it was really five forgetting the Risen Christ in the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minvera near the Pantheon. Probably nobody will notice that, but once again perfection eludes me. I also began the show by discussing one of my previous errors when I referred to the Adoration by Botticelli in the room of his name at the Uffizi with the theme of three centuries of Medici, instead of saying three generations. I almost did it again during the correction phase of tonight's show. Nonetheless, I was pleased, so do not get me wrong and assume I was dissatisfied, although it bewilders me how I can never do a perfect show, but I could teach a perfect mathematics lesson which is probably just as hard. In a 4 1/2 hr lecture, I could go straight through without any problems, but perfection in a 50 minute show doesn't happen that often..

Now the stage is set for me to work hard and produce the hotel show for the wonderful family using the outstanding interview I did with the manager and daughter of the owner, Elena. She is excited about it and I am eager to do a good job. So off I go to start creating the new albums for the new season. Please tune in.

The Italian Renaissance in New York City

I felt very uncomfortable doing tho show last evening. Part of the reason was that I was very, very tired. Another thing was that I was very hungry and hadn't really eaten much that day (always very bad for me), and thus felt weak in addition to hunger. I also had my new summer teaching assignment on my mind. And finally, once again my engineer had trouble getting everything right, and only did when I made a suggestion. You know things are bad in the studio when we get on the air because of a suggestion that I make!!!!! Also, I hadn't realized that this was the first broadcast since before we went away, so five weeks. All this combined to make this a difficult performance on my part, although, and I kept thinking this all during the broadcast, my audience probably had no idea of any of this. I made several mistakes throughout, just as I used to do in the "old" days; the most annoying and perhaps glaring (but again perhaps unnoticeable) when describing the work in the Uffizi by Botticelli, I indicate that the artist depicted the Medici Family over "three centuries" when I meant to say "three generations." I thought that was my most annoying error, but unfortunately I did not realize it until I was viewing the show at home several hours later. In the Adoration, which is my favorite of Botticelli's work, we see Cosimo il Vecchio, his son Piero, and the young Lorenzo off to the side - hardly three centuries!!! I also picked up a few other mistakes along the way, but the mistake I just mentioned was the one which kept me awake all night.

I liked being on the air again, talking about our recent trip to Italy, "the agony and the ecstasy" a weird combination of magnificence and great strain and anxiety (watch the show). Now the hard part - putting together enough shows to last for the next year. I have a couple which I could fashion into shows quickly, but to get everything together will require time, a commodity I may have trouble finding since my teaching schedule will be totally dominating my time, at least for the next five weeks. Then since I have applied for a full time position at the college, that could be a future difficulty.

In the meantime it is on the schedule that the makeshift studio may closed for a while and we will be moved into the new studio in the refurbished Woodstock Community Center. Last time taking the equipment out of the old studio and setting up the trailer temporarily consumed several months. If that occurs, I will surely not be very upset, because time is what I need most to get the new year's broadcasts together. Do not expect a show now for perhaps three weeks. That show will probably be the one which is about 25 % completed on my favorite sculpture museum in Florence, the Bargello, the former prison and now the National Museum of Sculpture. After that, if we are not closed down, I will probably begin the new year of broadcasts with the one titled, Oasis in Castello, Venice - Hotel Sant'Antonin. I owe the gracious and dedicated owner of the hotel in which we stayed in Venice the honor of my first show of the new season.

Back in the USA!!!

On Tuesday, May 26, we left Newark Airport and the next day flew first to Zurich, Switzerland, and then the next day connected to a plane which landed in Florence for the first time ever and this was wonderful. For every other time we have visited this great city, we arrived by train. After we landed, a short taxi ride and wham, in the hotel!!!! However to get to this point we left home at noon on Tuesday, had a 2 1/2 hr car ride, 3 hr wait (it could have been less but I like to get places early), 8 1/2 hr plane flight to Zurich, 4 hr layover, and a one hour flight to Peretola, Florence's airport. For the next day and a half we relaxed with great food, and did very little. I developed a minor stomach disorder which extended to Friday and prevented our day trip to Civita di Bagnoregio and Orvieto to visit with Franco. That was disappointing, but I just could not travel such a distance the way I felt. Saturday Lidia and her friend Sabrina and her husband, Giulio, drove us around Tuscany visiting the stunning town of Badia a Pasignano (never heard of it before), lunch at Cantinetta di Rignana (high in hills overlooking Tuscany - beautiful), and then the town of Montefioralle, a really fun and relaxing day with Lidia doing all the driving. Sunday Luca took us to Volpaia in the Chianti Region of Tuscany, near Greve in Chianti. Although I have been all over in Chianti, this is one place to which I had never been. We had a great time dining at a great restaurant. He then insisted on driving us home back to Florence!!!!!

On Monday, June 1, we wheeled our luggage down via della Scala to the train station Santa Maria Novella (SMN) about 10 mins away. Then a high speed train, 2 hrs, to Venice, water taxi to Hotel Sant Antonin. This amazing hotel is only two years old, but already one of the top places in Venice and for very good reason. The Scarpa Family owns the hotel and Elena runs it for her father who worked in the stunning back garden. In fact when I first saw him, I thought he was THE gardener instead of the owner!!! She gave us an amazing room right off the marvelous garden with its own entrance, and beautiful full wall of windows overlooking our own private patio. We were treated as if we were part of the family, with warmth, caring, and excellent service. The reception people are friendly and accommodating recommending a wonderful restaurant, Jonny's. You get to meet Jonny and he is very pleasant, helpful choosing the right dish for you (gave us Spaghetti Vongole - Vongole means Clams even though it was not even on the menu!), and his restaurant is right on a wonderful campo (piazza) in the charming and less touristy Castello Sestiere of Venice. The food was delicious. The hotel and restaurant have quickly become our new standard for every trip we ever take to Venice!!!! Elena gave a wonderful 10 min interview in the garden on the history of the hotel and a bit about her family. Thank you Elena and Jonny.

For recreation we spent two miserably hot days at the Biennale. The art was weird and I hate to say, not that pleasing to me - but what do I know about art? The art is presented in a very non A/C area (it would probably cost way too much to air condition the place). It is fun, however, visiting such a plethora of creative geniuses, a veritable World's Fair of Contemporary Art. We had for lunch one of the days one of the best salads we ever had in a lovely garden. Another day we visited the Palazzzo Bembo, largest of the "collateral exhibitions" and the scene of Laura's work in 2013. Also no A/C but really a fun two hrs with some magnificent stuff. The heat, however, was oppressive, the crowds in the most heavily trafficked areas of S. Marco and Rialto overwhelming, and we always had the impression we were being ripped off (which we probably were). One of the highlights of the whole stay in Venice - 4 days - was the Bead Store a short 5 min stroll from the hotel. Here Manuela and Moulaye run an amazing business at Muranero,  Arte African in Vetro. The latter is from Senegal, studied bead making in Murano claims to be the only African in the business (I don't doubt it), teaches and makes stunning beads right before your eyes. Manuela then puts them together for you as you also watch and runs the business. We have a great video of our interviews with him, her, and also his bead making which will make for a wonderful TV show. However wonderful it was to be in Venice, the oppressive heat for sure put a damper on everything.

Then again water taxi picking us up right from the dock in front of the hotel, whisked us to station, Santa Lucia, and then another high speed train ride of 2 1/2 hrs to Milan. Everything going well for this transfer until we were told our connecting train to Varenna was cancelled due to suicide on the tracks. We waited for an hour, by now exhausted from the heat, boarded a train which had no A/C and people who were dying to just close every window for a reason I have yet to determine, and finally arrived in Varenna on Lake Como at 3PM, although only an hour late. The worst part of having a train canceled in Italy is that it is very difficult to find out any information. The lines are unbelievably long. In this case there was one official walking around giving people advice; if not for him, we might be still waiting there on line. Marco Barili's wife Nelly picked us up at the station in Varenna and off we went to Hotel du Lac for our room overlooking the lake with balcony. It was good to get to a place where we had very little to do. In the past we had seen all the villas open to the public, visited most of the towns on the lake, so basically spent each day sipping prosecco at Bar il Molo on the lake. We did an interview with Simone's publicist, Giuditta, in his new venture, il Bottaio, which last year was devoted strictly to art, but now a maze of 5 wonderful stores - see the show which will focus on this. But again, not much doing here thankfully except for the day we took the ferry to Bellagio and had lunch at the Baita Belvedere high in the hills above the town with absolutely positively breathtaking views of the landscape below. We also walked the approx 11/2 miles from Varenna to the tiny town of Fiumelatte where they boast the smallest river in the world. It is a spout of water from the rocks that empties into Lake Como during part of the year. It was a beautiful thing to see. For dinners we ate at Vecchia Varenna and Cavatapi, both old standards for us, one other evening at Bar il Molo, and the final night at Sole for wonderful pizza.

Then Marco's Taxi Service back to Milan Malpensa for the ride home, 9 hrs which became 12 hrs when Newark Airport was closed for a while. We landed in Hartford, Conn, refueled, and finally arrived 3 hrs late. Got home at 9 PM after a 22 hr trip!!!!! Now experiencing the worst jet lag I ever had. My jet lag seems to be getting worse each year. We came to the conclusion that 15 days away was too much, and we will probably cut that back significantly in the future. The transfers very hard so we might limit that even further than we have already to perhaps a maximum of two different locations. And finally when one travels in June, there is always the chance for very hot weather so an earlier time may be in the cards as well. However just too early to start thinking about the next trip.

Please tune into Alan's Italy during the fall to see my take on the experiences we had!