Top Ten Things I will Miss about Venice

#10 - The dog who sells newspapers. The woman who runs the newstand in Campo Santa Maria Formosa often brings her dog to work. If she has to run out to get some lunch or run an errand, the cute canine covers for her.

When we snapped this photo, the dog started barking. I think he was saying "No photo unless you buy!"

#9 - Speaking Italian. It's poetic. It's passionate. Butl let's face it: Italian is not the most practical language in the world. Unlike French or Spanish or even Russian, there is really only one place on the planet that my newfound Italian skills are going to come in handy.

I guess that means I'll have to come back to Italy, vero?

#8 - Torta Rustica. Imagine a pie crust that is so flaky that it crumbles to touch, so buttery that it melts in your mouth. Now fill it with fresh spinach and creamy ricotta cheese. Serve with a salad of Merinda tomatoes in balsamic vinagrette. To. Die. For.

That was my favorite lunch in Venice, which I ate at least once a week for about three and a half months. Back in the USA, I am alread going through withdrawal. Somebody send me a rustica recipe please!

#7 - Buying produce from Salvatore. This is the guy who runs the produce stand in the Campo Santa Maria Formosa. Besides being a notorious flirt ("You want sweet and ripe? I am sweet and ripe..."), he is also the most helpful person working in the entire Venetian service sector, offering me tips on the best eggplant for grilling and the best apples for crunching.

Also, everytime I bought produce from Salvatore, no matter what I bought, the price always came to just under five Euros. I think this is the first and only time that the incomprehensible Venetian pricing system seemed to work in my favor.

#6 - Buying wine straight from the barrel. I wish I had a photo of this but I don't. Basically, it works as follows. You bring your own bottle and they fill it straight from the barrel with the wine of your choice. Three Euros. If you buy more than one, the guy takes a magic marker and initials the cap. "C" for Cabernet or "F" for Friuli or whatever.

Don't get me wrong, I am aware that these are not the finest Italian wines. But for an everyday table wine to drink with dinner, you can't beat it.

#5 - Church bells. I never got tired of the bells ringing out from the Church of Santa Maria Formosa, even though I never figured out exactly what they meant. Sometimes the bells tolled at the top of the hour, sometimes at five minutes before. Or perhaps they started at five minutes before the hour, then continued to chime for five straight minutes.

The only time the church bells actually served a time-telling purpose, from what I could tell, was when they chimed exactly 15 minutes before the start of Mass. As it turns out, this was exactly the amount of time I needed to roll out of bed, put on some clothes and run across the campo, sliding into a pew just as the service began.

Although we found the endless ringing of church bells to be romantic, this point-of-view is apparently not universally held. One day we strolled home from the vaporetto with the left-leaning dean of the university. When the bells began to clamor, he scowled and stated: "The Church shouldn't be allowed to fill the air with this noise pollution!" Left-leaning indeed.

#4 - Spritz. The spritz is the quintessential Venetian drink: prosecco, fizzy water and bitters, with a lemon and an olive. Use Campari for a strong bitter flavor, or Aperol for a milder flavor. The flourescent orange color makes this cocktail unmistakeable, being sipped in cafes starting around 11am until sunset. (After dark, Venetians switch to wine.)

Going out for an early evening spritz became an integral part of our routine. Especially when we had guests in town, it was a very civilized (and affordable!) way to reconnect at the end of the day, sampling different bars in the neighborhood, hanging where the locals hang, drinking what the locals drink.

Full disclosure: at any given time, I am more likely to order a prosecco than a spritz. But I can drink prosecco anywhere; it is the spritz I am going to miss.

#3 - Commuting by boat. I am in no position to complain about my commute. Back home in Somerville, it takes exactly ten steps to get from my bed to my desk, and I have never ever been late for work. Not once. But that does not mean that I'm not going to miss my daily excursion on the #20 vaporetto to San Servolo: strolling across the campo and through the narrow alleyways; gazing across the lagoon to the monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore; motoring across the waterway while the grebes and cormorants fish in the wake.

Since the university is located on an island in the lagoon, everybody takes the #20 vaporetto to get there - faculty, students, everyone. So it is inevitable that you run into somebody you know on the boat. And it's not uncommon for students to show up for class late because they missed the vaporetto. No, this never happened to me. But I'll never forget the time that I glanced back at the dock as the vaporetto pulled away, and there was the dean, waving frantically at the departing boat. The driver did not turn the boat around, but all the students did wave back.

#2 - Funny faces in the architecture. Venice is full of surprises. The more you pay attention, the more you notice that every alley takes an unexpected twist or turn, every building has a back entrance. And every structure seems to have a mascot, a crazy-looking creature overlooking the entryway or a funny face peering out from the edifice.

I wonder what happened to the art of incorporating whimsical beasts into architecture...? I wonder what my neighbors on Parker Street will think when I have a demonic dragon carved into the foundation of our house...?

#1 - The Stipend. Who wouldn't miss a secret stash of cash in the underwear drawer? And none of the worthless green stuff. We're talking about real money: Euros.

Seriously though, you gotta love a system where the monthly stipend comes in the form of an envelope stuffed with small bills (reminiscent of some other countries where I sometimes travel). By the way, did I mention that I'm going to Moscow next month?