A Wicklow woman in Venice: ‘It really feeds the soul to have all that beauty around you'
An Erasmus placement brought the Greystones woman to Venice and, having completed her degree in Italian and Politics at UCD, she returned to Italy for a postgraduate diploma in European studies in the University of Padua.
During her UCD days, she had spent time in Italy working with children on summer camps: 'the best way to learn a language', she says.
Having completed her studies in Padua in the 1990s, she returned to Venice with other plans as well as picking up a further degree in Fundraising and Non-profit Management from the University of Bologna.
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'I worked in film production and with theatre companies and as a translator, so I was having a great time in my 20s. It was the first time I was away from home and exciting to be somewhere new.'
In 2001 she started work as a programme assistant to professors in the Venice International University (VIU) and now manages its academic projects providing learning and teaching opportunities for students and scholars from VIU's associated universities all around the world.
'It was founded in 1995, so as it grew, so did I,' she says.
We are fortunate in having a nice house and garden, but it is harder to find such places now
She works a 40-hour week, 'and where I work is on an island [San Servolo, formerly a monastery], so I am crossing the water every day as my office is on a lagoon and you have that wonderful view back to the city', she says.
Her job at the university, which is now associated with 20 universities globally, brings her into contact with people from all over the world, 'so it's a real mix, with wonderful interdisciplinary and intercultural opportunities', she says. 'Working in an international educational environment is very rewarding. I meet many interesting people and travel regularly too.'
She is married to Sebastiano, a Venetian she met through friends and whom she credits for her decision to stay in Venice. The couple have three children, Conall (17), Clodagh (14) and Oisín (11), who are bilingual.
'My husband has a small family business founded by his parents and his uncle making glass chandeliers in Murano. We have now set up a small business selling chandeliers or lighting directly to customers. He designs and assembles, and we sell them on
illuminamurano.com
'.
'I felt very connected to the city early on. It has intangible qualities and a lot of people feel really at home here, feel really drawn in, that it is their city.
'It's a city on water, it's a pedestrian city, it's very engaging as you meet people from all walks of life all the time – it could be your neighbour, your butcher, the bar owner. I made a lot of local Venetian friends early on.'
One of the benefits of living in Venice 'is the extraordinary quality of light and it really feeds the soul to have all that beauty around you. It's like living in a town – there are 50,000 residents – but a very international town with enormous cultural institutions, built heritage, galleries and temporary exhibitions like the Biennale.'
Despite all that, she notes that the cost of living is not as high as Ireland.
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Venice to limit tourist groups to 25 people to 'protect peace of residents'
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The challenges of living in Venice? 'Rising sea levels, flooding and overtourism are real and impactful.
'Floods are not so much a problem since the setting up of mobile dams three years ago at the inlets to the lagoon, so there have been no bad floods since 2019.
'Overtourism means that the centre of the city gets very crowded and the whole Airbnb issue means that it is difficult to find accommodation for students. We are fortunate in having a nice house and garden, but it is harder to find such places now.'
Social life means 'you don't need to have plans; you can go to your local wine bar and sit down for drinks and a chat – especially on Fridays – from around 6.30pm-7.30pm, before dinner. The kids who finish school at 4.30pm can play football in the square, and watching them and having a drink as the sun goes down before going home for dinner is one of the things I love to do.
'At home we like to entertain quite a lot and enjoy having barbecues. We also have a boat – for free time, not for transport – for a day out for a picnic on part of the lagoon. In summer there is the beach, and in winter skiing is only two hours away.'
She laments the lack of green spaces in the city, but they have a second home in the mountains, bought during Covid in 2021, 'and we go there for long weekends during the year, skiing in winter and for walks and hikes during the summer'.
She misses friends and family in Ireland and returns once or twice a year, 'though it was easier when the children were younger. You inevitably miss out on some milestones and sharing some of your own too.'
As to the publicity surrounding Jeff Bezos's planned marriage in the city later this month (estimated to cost more than $600 million), she describes it as the commodification of Venice, with others denouncing it as a great big nuisance.
'The tone of the mayor and his delight in handing the city over to him [Bezos] left me disheartened. It's not the first time that somebody famous has had a big wedding in the city. George and Amal Clooney did in 2014. That was received very well.
'There is also a total lack of housing policy or amenities for residents, so the frustration of people living here is the real lack of vision of politicians as to what the future of the city will be.'
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The Irish Sun
a day ago
- The Irish Sun
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Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
‘I was delighted with the big, happy head on him': Stories of soundness restoring readers' faith in humanity
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Next up is Phil from Navan who says he is 'always more fond of e-mailing about great customer service than bad'. He visited Decathlon in Dublin recently searching for what he describes as his 'very comfy socks, which I'd clicked and was collecting. I struggled to get from the car to the click and collect location because of my mobility disability. Meanwhile the security guard was eyeing me up the whole time.' 'The security guard sprang into action to slide me over a trolley and ensure I was staying upright safely.' Photograph: iStock Phil successfully collected his order and turned around and noted that the security guard 'still had my eyes and I beckoned over towards the trolleys and asked if he could please get me one – all this without speaking to him! 'Quick as a flash he sprang into action to slide me over a trolley and ensure I was staying upright safely. I followed my family around the shop, stopping by to pick up some more comfy socks,' he writes. 'I emailed the shop that evening telling them that I was delighted with the big, happy head on him.' Noeleen had a very positive experience with Petworld recently. 'I telephoned them on March 31st at about 11.30am asking about their delivery service. I told the helpful girl that I was rehoming a dog and needed a crate urgently.' Noeleen was told to place an order online, which she did at 11.55am. The Petworld staff member told her the order would be marked as urgent as soon as it showed up on their systems. 'The courier delivered the item at 12.14pm the following day, just two hours after the dog arrived.' Noeleen 'needed a crate urgently' to rehome a dog. Photograph: iStock Louise got in touch to praise David Cullen Jewellers in Clare Hall. 'I dropped in a chain for repair but it couldn't be repaired on site,' she says. 'I received a text when it was sent off and a phone call to confirm I was happy. 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Catherine's teenage daughter was travelling on the Number 40 bus late on a Tuesday from Lesson Street to Drumcondra. 'Unfortunately she left her new iPhone and ID card on the bus when she left the bus in Drumcondra. Cue panic all round. She managed to get the number of the bus depot from another bus driver. She called next morning without much hope or expectation. A friendly voice said they had the phone and to 'come on out'. So, the mother and daughter drove to the Harristown bus depot 'and she was met by a number of staff in the lost property department who had all the details of her phone and who were all friendly and very helpful. 'After some quick ID verification she emerged completely thrilled with her iPhone, her ID Card and some money (notes) that she had tucked into the back of the phone. Who says the age of honesty is dead? Three cheers for the driver of the Number 40, the brilliant staff in Harriston bus depot and for the honest person who handed in the phone.' [ Ireland's best and worst customer service: Guess which list Aer Lingus and Facebook are in Opens in new window ] We also heard from Donal from Sligo who noted that Pricewatch occasionally 'offer bouquets instead of brickbats and today I would like to nominate a company for a bouquet. For the past number of years my wife and I have travelled frequently by ferry between Ireland and France and Ireland and the UK. We travel exclusively with Stena ferries because their booking system is easy to navigate and if there are particular needs to be addressed there is a phone number.' He also says the 'telephone is always answered promptly by a person' and he adds that the 'personnel on the end of the phone have always been friendly, helpful and efficient.' He suggests that the 'same staff culture is also evident on board their ferries and at the ports. It is so refreshing to receive such welcome customer service with no sign of a bot. 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'Fair dues to Eir and their contractors for fast and efficient service.' And finally there is Diarmuid, who bought a hand-held vacuum cleaner last November from Lidl at a cost of €25. 'I only got round to using it three weeks ago and found that it would not charge so I contacted Lidl . I also had lost the receipt. Today I received a new replacement model from the manufacturer in Germany.' As we were reading through all of these stories something struck us. They are all linked by a single thread. Soundness. Sometimes customer service is not that complicated and if businesses just made the decision to be sound or to empower their staff to be sound, then we would have a lot less to be giving out about on this page and our world would be a much better place.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Irish Times
Which wines should I serve with Mediterranean food?
I love serving mixed Mediterranean food at dinner parties in the summer – mezze-style plates of food – but I never know what wine to serve with it. Help, please. There are few things more inviting than a table groaning with plate after plate of spicy, herby Mediterranean food, especially if the weather is good. This includes a wide variety of dishes, usually plenty of salads, grilled meat, hot or cold fish, along with various spreads, dips and olives. This makes for a huge range of strong flavours that can seem challenging to match with wines. Think first of the Mediterranean countries: Greece, Italy, the south of France, Spain and Lebanon all produce characterful wines that should do nicely. Sicily, for instance, makes very good inexpensive white and red wines. Greek wines are great but tend to be quite expensive. Another possibility is rosé, which goes well with most dishes and can seem the perfect match if the sun is shining. Serve well chilled and go for a medium-bodied wine with some fruit – it will go very nicely with meat dishes as well as salads and fish. READ MORE Another more daring idea is orange wine . It seems to be having a moment this summer and can stand up to most powerful herby and spicy flavours. But then again it might depend on how adventurous your guests are. [ How long can I keep a bottle of wine after opening it? Opens in new window ] I would probably go for either an albariño from Rías Baixas in Spain or a verdicchio from Italy for a white wine. For a red a Beaujolais or Valpolicella could be good, but why not go for a lighter southern or Sicilian Italian red such as Rosso Conero, Montepulcino d'Abruzzo, Frappato or Perricone? Alternatively, and to make life easy, for a Mediterranean lunch or dinner, you could serve just one wine, a rosé either from the Languedoc or somewhere in Italy. Cerasuolo from the Abruzzo is good if you can find it. Just make sure you serve it chilled, along with plenty of iced water and alcohol-free options.
