Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 25/09/2026I love that this tiny - actually not so tiny - 19th century house has been preserved in Montréal. It's on Drummond St, south of Sherbrooke West, behind the Ritz Carlton. 011
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 22/09/2026And I'm back! My very non-student apartment in the McGill student ghetto, a block from where I lived in the late 60s. I'm here for a month to see friends, go to concerts, plays and galleries, and walk! Fall in Montréal is gorgeous, and right now the weather is perfect. 010
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Venetian twig broom, photo by Jerry Ubysz, and Vietnamese coconut broom bought by me in Victoria, BC. (No tariff paid....) 010
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 29/08/2026I bought this broom to sweep the leaves off my patio. It reminds me of the twig brooms used early in the morning by the street cleaners in Venice, but it's made of coconut and comes from Vietnam. There was a lovely note enclosed, thanking me for supporting their handiwork and their community. 030
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 07/08/2026I have three Granville Barker first editions, Waste, The Secret Life and The Marrying of Ann Leete, all over 100 years old. They're in my bedroom and should I ever have to flee fire or earthquake, they are going with me. 110
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 01/08/2026At YYJ, my home airport, a staff member positions suitcases as they tumble onto the belt so they are really easy to pick up. Amazing customer service! 030
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 31/07/2026There can't be many people other than me and my friend Keiko, who walk past a display of maple sugar cookies and think of Ricardo Muti. 100
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 17/07/2026Toni Servillo. LA GRAZIA di Paolo Sorrentino. Ed oggi, Presidente Mattarella, "La grazia spetta solo al presidente della Repubblica." 000
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 12/07/2026And now agnelotti. Herb stuffed pasta with hazelnuts (probably from Oregon) in the sauce. 120
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 12/07/2026I snagged a seat at the bar this evening at Lumache, a tiny hard-to-get-in-to restaurant here in Victoria. The bacalà mantecato is delicious, but it's not transporting me back to Venice. Picky, picky. 130
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 05/07/2026I just bought two copies of this delightful and informative book. It's the perfect gift for friends who are going to Venice soon. Thank you @robinsaikia.bsky.social for sharing such great advice and wonderful facts! 4153
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 05/07/2026Terrific book. Once you understand that La Serenissima operated on credit, from the Merchants of Venice to the poorest of citizens, while Christians were forbidden to engage in usury, the dependence on the Jewish community - no matter how reluctant - makes complete sense. OK. It took me a while..... 230
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 29/06/2026A friend in London found a book for me to add to my Venice collection. 010
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 20/06/2026My daughter and son-in-law were at the US vs Australia game today, while I watched on FOX. (Didn't spot them in the nosebleeds, though.) 000
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 18/06/2026These are things that can never be replaced by AI". And now the pic for the Algo: my friend Brett Polegato is currently singing the adult Krishna in the Tavener opera at Grange Park. The review in OPERA says he gives the part "sonorous maturity" and "metaphysical heft". 3/3 000
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 07/06/2026I'm very much looking forward to reading Philip's latest Venetian mystery. Thank you @pgjonesvenice.bsky.social for not abandoning Nathan! 250
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 04/05/2026@caroline-venezia.bsky.social Now the garden at Palazzo Gradenigo is open by appointment on June 6th: 130
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 28/04/2026Best book I've read in years. I've given a dozen copies to friends. 000
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 27/04/2026@caroline-venezia.bsky.social Perhaps you and Philip have already visited Palazzo Labia, but if not: 110
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 25/04/2026@pgjonesvenice.bsky.social I thought you might want to see my friend John Allison's editorial in the June issue of OPERA. The second half of the second paragraph deals with the destruction of WNO. 010
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 19/04/2026And on the other hand, a simple supper of orecchiette, crumbled pork sausage, chopped onion, garlic, anchovy, diced tomatoes and parmigiana. Nothing better! 140
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 17/04/2026I can still cast my American votes by mail - at least for now. 000
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 30/03/2026Dinner party leftovers: Shrimp risotto made with vialone nano rice and a glass of Sancerre. Guests are always impressed when I make risotto, but it's so much easier and more forgiving than North Americans believe. 030
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 19/03/2026I'm also fond of the explorer with his husky dogs - so unexpected! 120
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 16/03/2026This is what I call SERIOUS Easter. €119.0 for a chocolate egg? 110
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 13/03/2026I love the juxtaposition of glass mosaic and concrete in this garden wall at Fondazione Querini Stampalia. Carlo Scarpa's attention to detail and his use of local techniques and materials always fascinates me. 030
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 13/03/2026@pgjonesvenice.bsky.social and @davidhewson.com Perhaps you can get Venice Noir added to this poster next year! 110
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 08/03/2026I walked by here yesterday. A group of young people were standing around watching while a young man jumped, trying to grab a stem of mimosa. I edited him out of the picture! And if I ever come in to serious money I'm going to hire an agent to see if I can buy that house! 151
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 25/02/2026Sometimes it's good to be a packrat. My 🇨🇦 and 🇺🇲 passports both show I was born in London, so I now need a 🇬🇧 passport to fly to LHR. I'm hoping my old expired p'port will speed up the apparently lengthy process to obtain a new one. My birth certificate is essential as well. 100
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 28/01/2026According to my friend Charlotte, it snowed a lot in Toronto. Tap on the photo to see what she wrote: 010
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 17/01/2026Hmm. You do know it stars Toni Servillo, don't you? Perhaps I can help....... 000
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 17/01/2026Paolo Sorrentino's La Grazia is playing this weekend at the Giorgione Cinema in Cannaregio. @gregorydowling.bsky.social, @pgjonesvenice.bsky.social, @caroline-venezia.bsky.social and @robinsaikia.bsky.social: have you seen it? Are you going? I wish I could. 420
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 09/01/2026I'm watching this while sipping a Negroni. Bill and Donald Sutherland were friends in University but we had no connection to Julie Christie, although I do like this: "After a while an appreciation of Julie Christie can lead you to think you have a deep understanding of the novels of Thomas Hardy." 130
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 02/01/2026The new Line 6, with 4 stations opened in July 2024, was funded by the EU Cohesion Policy in the amount of €198.7 million. I found this out when I saw the new Chaia station and wondered how #Naples could afford such elegance. (My photo doesn't do it justice.) 020
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 01/01/2026I'm not really surprised to hear the iron clap at the end of Teatro La Fenice's Capodanno concert, given what the audience paid for their tickets. But Michele Mariotti is a fine conductor, he's music director of Opera di Roma - and he's wearing the Venetian musicians' protest pin. 110
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 25/12/2025My Christmas music. And I just had a lovely 45 minute phone conversation with the baritone soloist. Life is good. 050
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 15/12/2025One of the many pleasures of seeing The West Wing again after all these years is the chance to see the great actor Roger Rees, who died at far too young an age in 2015. 131
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 19/11/2025"Beasts of the Southern Wild" (2012) starred an unforgettable Quvenzhané Wallis, who was nine years old. She was the youngest Best Actress Oscar nominee in history. 041
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 18/11/2025Who needs Christmas? The West Wing returns to Netflix on December 9th: seven seasons of sanity, integrity and public service in the Oval Office. 120
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 01/11/2025I'm in Montréal for the month and my essentially transactional French is working fine. But it's been decades since I lived here and it doesn't come as instinctively as Italian does now, so I'm using far too many "permesso"s and "grazie"s. I remain in awe of people who speak many languages fluently. 020
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 12/09/2025The 4 room hotel I've found in Cannaregio has several advantages besides supporting a Venetian: no bridges to cross to the Ca' d'Oro stop; close to Boccadoro, Bacanera, Il Sbarfelo and Bepi Antico; and no gondoliers singing O Sole Mio beneath my windows. It's on a quiet alley near Santi Apostoli. 250
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 04/09/2025My daughter Allegra last weekend, wearing my twenty-year-old Armani gown to a wedding in Dubrovnik: 110
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 02/09/2025Sometimes amid the clutter you think I'm really glad I saved this photo. 030
Elaine Calder @calderbennett.bsky.social · 29/08/2025I have to see this film, which received a lengthy ovation at the Venice Film Festival and is getting great reviews: 020