Zoe Sophia's Scrapbook, page 1
Zoe Sophia’s Scrapbook
An Adventure in Venice
By Claudia Mauner and Elisa Smalley • Illustrated by Claudia Mauner
For Zoe and Doris, who inspired this book; for my parents, who made it all possible; and for Mickey— Claudia Mauner
To Robert, William and Matthew with all my love— Elisa Smalley
Our thanks to Doris Alexander, Meg Cabot, Joel Foster, Eleonora Riva and Rosemary Stimola for their invaluable contributions to this book.
Contents
Zoe Sophia’s Agenda
Dedication
Zoe Sophia’s Scrapbook An Adventure in Venice
Map
About the Author
Copyright
Riverside Drive, New York, N.Y., U.S.A.
My name is Zoe Sophia and I am nine years old. People tell me I’m wise for my age, even though I’m only four feet two. I live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The door to my building is easy to find because it has a big purple awning out front. The doorman is Victor Gonzales. He is a good friend of mine and has shiny gold buttons on his uniform coat, just like a palace guard. I love living in New York. There is so much to do here, like eating hot pretzels on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, trying on sunglasses at the Columbus Avenue flea market and walking my dachshund, Mickey, along Riverside Drive.
Tonight, 5:30 p.m.
Mickey and I love Manhattan, but traveling to faraway places is exciting, too. Tonight is super special because we are flying to Venice, Italy—Venezia—for the first time to visit my great aunt Dorothy Pomander, who is a writer. (That is what I want to be when I grow up.) D. P. is my very favorite person in the whole wide world. D. P. hasn’t seen me in a while, so my mother gave me a red beret to wear, so I would be easy for her to spot. Mickey is wearing asilver tag on his collar with “Mickey, The Antwerp, Manhattan, New York” engraved on it. Dorothy has a marmalade cat named Pip.
Plane to Venice, Italy, Seats 21 A+B, 8:10 p.m. (New York time)
(Boeing 763, 2-engine, wide-bodied plane, wingspan 156 ft. and 1 inch, seating capacity 229.) It’s going to take us eight and a half hours to get there! But they have great things like peanuts and headphones and even flight attendants with press-on nails.
Plane to Venice, Italy, 7:00 a.m. (Venice time)
We’re about to land at Marco Polo Airport. I can see Venice from the window! The streets are filled with water down there. Dorothy says they’re called canals. She also says Venice is slowly sinking into the sea. I hope it doesn’t sink while we’re there!!!
Day One: Marco Polo Airport
I see Dorothy!!! We greet each other Italian style: a kiss on both cheeks (kiss = bacio). This takes a while.
On the Vaporette with M. and D.P. and P.
The oldest way to get around Venice is by gondola. These are long, skinny black boats, kind of like water limos. Imagine a gondola traffic jam at rush hour! But to get to Great Aunt Dorothy’s, we’re taking a vaporetto, which is like a boat-bus that drops people off at different stops. I feel like a pirate princess sailing the windy seas. After ten minutes we’re at Dorothy’s stop near the Accademia art gallery. There is even a gangplank!
At Dorothy’s
Dorothy’s doorway is not easy to find. There is no purple awning and no doorman. We have to wind our way up narrow steps to reach Dorothy’s flaton the top floor of an old villa. Mmmmmm…her place smells of gingersnaps, my favorite.
Dorothy’s Salotto
Dorothy’s living room, or salotto, is filled with art. She fancies herself a bit of a collector.
She tells me she bought this Mitsukoshi years ago in New York for a song, which at the time was a lot of money. It requires regular dusting.
My favorite is a large blue picture with green and purpleanimals that hangs over the fireplace. Dorothy tells me that the painting, which is by Chagall, was given to her by a Russian admirer named Boris many years ago in Paris. (Dorothy has gobs of unusual friends.) We have Chagalls in New York, too, I tell her. There are two giant paintings by him inside the Metropolitan Opera House. I’ve seen them myself.
I cannot believe it. Dorothy has framed my, yes my, very own artwork. There is even a plaque.
PORTRAIT OF SELF WITH DOG
Early Zoe Sophia (Purple Period)
Crayon on Heavyweight Bond
La prima collagione, 10:00 a.m.
First off, we’re having breakfast, la prima collazione, which means “the first meal.” (Thank goodness—I’m starving!!!) We’re having cornetti, a kind of croissant sprinkled with sugar on top (YUM!), and spremuta, juice. Dorothy has coffee, to get her eyes open, she says. Dorothy’s dining room looks out onto the gondola repair shop. Dorothy says that gondolas frequently need touch-ups, just like people.
Back at Dorothy’s, 9:00 p.m.
No time to write today!!! After breakfast, we went to the Accademia to look at HUGE paintings, and by the time we got out of the museum it was almost five o’clock! I never imagined I could spend a whole day just looking at paintings. My favorite was one by Tiepolo. He liked purple about as much as I do. Dorothy had a story to tell about each and every picture. Everything is fun with D. P.! She’s even better than I imagined. I am working on a scrapbook.
Day Two
Today we went to the Laboratorio Artigiano Maschere—the mask shop. In Venice they have a festival every year in February called Carnevale, when people put on masks and capes and go into town all dressed up in costumes. Dorothy says they even ride around in gondolas in these getups! We tried on practically every single mask and cloak in the entire shop, but the saleswoman did not look too happy about it. Criminey!
Day Three
We went shopping on a bridge called the Rialto on top of the Grand Canal. Dorothy said it was built in 1590, back in the days of Italian princesses! They have everything there—mostly miniature plastic gondolas. I bought postcards for my new scrapbook. Dorothy says the money in Italy used to be called lire, but now they use euros. The coins have a big eagle on one side with stars all around. I used two of them to buy my postcards.
On the way home we took a gondola! The gondolier sang “La donna è mobile”—an aria from Rigoletto.He almost fell into the canal taking his bow. Dorothy said he must be a professional. He told us we should go to the opera at La Fenice on the Grand Canal.
Back at Dorothy’s, 4:30 p.m.
Criminey! Something horrible has happened. Mickey is lost!! I was going to get him a dog treat, when I realized that he was nowhere to be found. Dorothy said maybe we left him in the gondola. But come to think of it, he was not in the gondola! Now we must retrace our steps subito (immediately). I have sketched a map, indicating all the places we went.
Pleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease, don’t let him be gone!!!!!!!!!!!
Later the same night
We’ve been all over Venice looking for Mickey. No Mickey. Now it is too dark to look any further. I can’t sleep, even though Dorothy gave me milk and gingersnaps. What if Mickey fell into the canal? His doggie paddling is not up to snuff. All I can think about is poor Mickey out there all alone. He is afraid of the dark. He doesn’t even speak Italian! We have only four days left before our flight back to New York! That is four days to find Mickey. I will never get to sleep. What if I don’t find him?
P.S. I knew I should have signed Mickey up for that canine survival class on West 86th St.
Day Four: Dorothy’s
Things are looking really bad. (Orribile!) We went to the animal shelter first thing this morning. NO MICKEY. Pip had the nerve to pick up a kitten there. CATS! Now I am really scared. Dorothy keeps saying don’t worry. She typed up a notice with ricompensa, which is “reward,” in big letters on it. She says we must post signs all over Venice, but it’s pouring rain. So she is cooking us lunch first, spaghetti al nero, which is spaghetti made black with squid ink, to cheer me up. Sounds kind of yucky, but Venetians love it, Dorothy assures me. We’ll see…
Trovate! Found!
You won’t believe this! We are having spaghetti al nero (which turns your mouth black too) when the doorbell rings. It’s our gondolier, Ludovico! He’s soaking wet and holding—guess who—mickey. He saw Mickey’s silver tag with “New York” on it and bingo! He realized he must be mine. He’s also holding a brown dachshund named Aïda. Mickey licks me all over and eats a whole dish of spaghetti al nero.
Naturally, we invite Ludovico to eat with us while his wet socks hang over the tub to dry. “Grazie mille!” we say, which means “thanks a million!” Ludovico is grand. He’s giving me his e-mail address and promises to get Dorothy online as well. Dorothy calls him tesoro, which means “treasure.” She’s inviting all of us to the opera at La Fenice tonight to celebrate. I am so excited!!! I love Venice! Bella Venezia!
La Fenice
The opera was La Traviata. Dorothy wore her beads from Botswana. Ludovico had on a tux! It was so fantastico that Dorothy cried the whole time. Mickey and Aïda had their own loge, thanks to a friend of Dorothy’s who is on safari in Africa. Pip brought his date, the kitten, who is named Camille and who is not so bad. I cried too, a little, but mostly because I have only two more days left in Venice and I’m having such a good time here. Tomorrow Dorothy is taking me to a Venetian glass factory!
Day Five: Marane, Maestro Domenice Jagliatelle Glassllewing Studie
We got up early and took a boat to the island of Murano, which is world-famous for glassblowing. An old friend of Dorothy’s, Domenico, is a master glassblower. His family
But his favorite thing is making beads by slicing colored glass rods. Each bead has a tiny flower in it, and no two are ever alike. This technique is called millefiori, which means “a thousand flowers.” I finally chose a millefiori paperweight to bring back to my teacher, Ms. Feinschmecker. It weighs a ton.
Day Six: Piazza San Marco, feeding pigeons
We’ve been feeding the pigeons in front of the Basilica San Marco, which is the thing to do in Venice. This cathedral is named after Saint Mark, who is the patron saint of Venice. His symbol is the lion, and there are lion sculptures absolutely all over town. I’ve counted fifty-three, so far.
Dorothy explains that pigeon droppings are a huge problem in Venice. Luckily, she has brought an umbrella. Besides, it is starting to rain.
Caffè Florian’s, having hot chocolate
We are soaked. We have come to warm our insides in Caffè Florian on the Piazza, which serves the best hot chocolate in town. According to Dorothy, Venetians have come to Florian’s since 1720. The rooms are tiny. It’s like we’re sitting inside our own private jewel box lined with mirrors and paintings. The hot chocolate is so thick the spoon practically stands up in the cup by itself.
The Ca’d’Oro
On our way home we can see the Ca’d’Oro from the vaporetto on the Grand Canal. This palace was built in the 1420s, and Dorothy says it used to be entirely covered in gold, which is what Ca’d’Oro means, “house of gold.” A Russian prince bought it in the 1800s for his girlfriend, an Italian ballerina. Now it’s an art gallery.
Day Seven: at Dorothy’s Packing
I am majorly bummed that we have to fly home tomorrow. Dorothy promised that tonight, when I finish all my packing, she will take me to Quadri’s, Venice’s finest restaurant, so we can dine in style on our last evening. YUM!
Here is what I bought for everyone back home:
• One flask Passione Primavera perfume for my mother
• One gondola pencil sharpener for my friend Alexol
• One box Accademia for myself
• One millefiori paperweight for my feacher, Fionnula Feinschmecker
• One pair leather driving gloves for my father, who travels a lot
• One package Venetian dog treats for Mickey
• One mustache-trimming kit for Victor Gonzales, my doorman
• One art portfolio (for me)
Quadri’s
I am having farfalle al pescatore (seafood bowtie pasta) with a side order of fries. Dorothy is sticking with her usual fish, sogliola (filet of sole). Dorothy has big news! Her manuscript has been accepted by her N.Y. publisher, Peter Winsome. This means that she will fly over in the spring for a book tour, and maybe I can go along! yay!!!!!!! We order tiramisù for dessert, which means “pick me up.”
Later
After dinner, we walked across the Piazzetta in the moonlight. Dorothy said it takes her breath away. Mine too. I get all choked up when I think about saying arrivederci (good-bye) to Venice, and Mickey’s nose is all dry, which is how it gets when he is trying not to cry.
Ciao Venezia!
Ludovico taught Dorothy how to use e-mail, so now we can send messages to each other every day. Dorothy is right, Ludovico is a tesoro. He gave Mickey a locket with Aïda’s picture inside to wear on his collar and me a picture of himself in his gondola for my scrapbook.
Tomorrow, Mickey and I will be back on the plane to New York. I am sad to leave, but also kind of excited about showing my scrapbook and sharing our adventure with everyone back home. But for now, I am esaurita, which is totally pooped. Buona notte! Good night!
P.S. Mmmmm…my pajamas smell like gingersnaps now too!
Ciao for now.
CLAUDIA MAUNER is an illustrator and graphic designer who has always loved to travel. As a child, she collected postcards, ticket stubs, sugar packets and hotel soap wrappers, which she diligently glued into her own scrapbooks with pots of rubber cement. She grew up in the United States and has lived in Switzerland and France. She currently resides in Pennsylvania with her daughter, Zoe Sophia.
ELISA SMALLEY has lived all over the world—including Rio, Toyko and London. She currently lives in New York with her husband and two children, William and Matthew. Elisa and Claudia have been fast friends since they attended Vassar College together. This is their first book.
Text © 2003 by Claudia Mauner and Elisa Smalley.
Illustrations © 2003 by Claudia Mauner.
All rights reserved.
The illustrations in this book were rendered in watercolor and india ink.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.
eISBN 978-1-4521-1145-2
Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, California 94107
www.chroniclekids.com
Claudia Mauner, Zoe Sophia's Scrapbook
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