What's up doc?...

CANAL WALKING IN VENICE CONTINUED
You'd think that it would be easy to get around in Venice and for most of us it is - you/I/we simply get off the water bus and walk. The problem is, if you can't walk and you rely on Ziggy like Nic does to get about, then you're well and truly snookered! Ziggy is Nic's wheelchair in case you were wondering. You see, everywhere you want to go in this ancient city, there is a bridge to cross and the bridges are for the most part stepped. So, if you're a wheelchair user, you'll need a strong pusher/puller to get you over the blooming bridges. The alternative is of course to travel everywhere by vaporetto (water-bus) but that means lots of queuing up and waiting about.
ZIGGY LOO'S
The good news about Venice for people in Ziggy, is that they have lots of brand spanking new Ziggy Loo's all over the place. We've been to Venice on several occasions and I can tell you that it has been a nightmare in the past to find a decent place for Nic to spend a penny. I remember a few years back, we had an access map of Venice that had little orange Ziggy symbols showing accessible routes and toilets. We had just crossed over the Rialto bridge, I was dragging Ziggy backwards by the handles and there were about one hundred and sixty steps to the middle and the same amount again to negotiate to get down/across to the other side of the Grand Canal. Anyhow, we had just got across the bridge when Nic wanted the loo - "No probs," I told her, "We've got the special map!" And sure enough, there was a Ziggy loo listed less than a hundred yards away - when we found it however, it was boarded up. There was nothing for it but to retrace our steps back across the massive bridge.
MORE TOILET TALK
The good news this trip was that we found two really nice clean brand new Ziggy loo's. The first was a public loo at Garibaldi, just near the statue. Now, we have been to this facility before and in the past it was the smelliest, dirtiest, filthiest public inconvienience anywhere. Not now though! The second place was in a little restaurant, I know where it is, and I could take you there, I just can't think what it's called. I can see it now in my minds eye (I'm going to have to go and search for that Venetian street map in a minute!) it's close to the water-bus landing at Zacheria - if you really need to know where it is you'll have to e-mail me and I'll find it for you on the map. Oh yes, they do a really nice pizza and coffee and they speak English - I nearly forgot!
MODIGLIANI UPDATE
Many thanks to all of my readers! I am of course talking about my really bad poetry blog SweetTalkingGuy... as you'll know if you're a regular reader of this blog, Proper Joe's, that I did a Modigliani poem recently and I've just reached 1,ooo visitors on the hit counter on STG! So, a BIG thank-you to everybody who clinked-my-link! And hey, it's not too late - but you'll have to scroll down the page a bit as the Modi posting was on the 9th. - you never know - you just might like it! Anyway, what I was trying to say about Modigliani was/is that I've updated/decorated the posting with a picture of The Portrait of Mario! So if you want to know what the Greek musician looked like... duh!
OSCAR WILDE
Did I mention that it was his birthday on the 16th a week or so ago. I'm sure I did coz Nic told me to tell you that he would have been a hundred and fifty three? I think! Anyhow, this posting isn't about Nic it's about her famous dad Colin, who starred on the BBC local News programme just two days after Oscar's birthday. I must explain that Nic's mum and dad work in the Oxfam shop in Nantwich where a rare numbered first edition of The Importance of Being Ernest was recently found. Nic's dad, being the book expert, was interviewed on tv - he had valued the book at about £700 - it sold instantly - and the phone's not stopped ringing. How's that for fifteen seconds of fame? And just think, it wasn't all that long ago that I reported that we saw the blue plaque on the wall of an apartment building that stands on the site of the house in Worthing where Oscar actually wrote it! How famous does that make me? Phew!