There used to be at least one company in the area of New York City from which you could order a mattress by telephone and have it delivered to your residence in two hours.
Sleep doesn't come so easily, or so cheaply, in Venice. Or at least mattresses don't, as I was reminded this morning by the sight of the man above using his own boat to avoid the substantial delivery fees charged by commercial services.
Assuming he picked up his mattress from a truck at Tronchetto, at the westernmost edge of the city, he had quite a way to go down the Grand Canal with his rather precariously-attached load to what seemed to be some destination in Castello in the vicinity of the Arsenale. (Hence the title of this post borrowed from Robert Frost, who was not thinking of Venice or boats when he wrote it.)
No doubt he saved a good deal of money doing it himself, but I like to imagine there might be an additional benefit. Having transported his bed himself, it will be forever associated in his mind with the movement of a boat upon the water: the rocking, the surges, the rolling that I've noticed hardly ever fails to put children to sleep in the course of an evening boat ride, and that, recollected while lying upon the very bed he thus transported, might do wonders for even an adult insomniac.
I have read your blog for a long time and never left a comment. But this post, having lived in NYC for years, just made me smile, so I thought it was time!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your posts.
Bridget
Thanks very much for taking the time to leave a comment, Bridget, you're very kind. Venice can be surprisingly similar to NYC in some general ways, but not in terms of getting mattress.
DeleteCan you imagine your 1-800 mattress atop a small floating vessel in the east river? :)
DeleteI have often thought of NYC and Venice being alike in that they both have interesting unique neighborhoods, each with something wonderful to offer if one takes the time to look.
Bridget
I've read more than once where Venice is compared to Disneyland for grownups. This real-life, living and working reality is so fascinating to me. And so much of it happens when the tourists are still asleep, much like how big-box American stores stock their shelves in the middle of the night when no one can see how the work really gets done.
ReplyDeleteComparing Venice to Disneyland is the easy response, Erin, for those who are intent on appearing "knowing," and too clever to be "fooled." (Actually, it was a popular "knowing" response even before Disneyland existed.) Oddly, it seems fairly common for such knowing people not to know any Italian, and to have not spent much time here. But of course there are actual "real" people who live here, with real lives and real feelings and real jobs (even if they are in the tourist industry). Like any place else, much of the "real" life goes on behind closed doors through which tourists never pass--and which, I'll be honest, I don't and won't write about because it would be invasive. But other "real" things can be seen by anyone who looks for them, who is not looking only for the picturesque. Thanks for your comment--and, you're right, getting up early is when to see a lot of work being done (not that I usually do!).
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