VENICE

Good luck pepperoncino bouquets. One of the food stalls on the Rialto bridge sells these good luck pepperoncino (red hot chili pepper) bouquets. As just under half of the Italians believe in the evil eye these are the perfect gift. In fact, Venetian book publisher, Alessandro Tusset bought his fiancee Alessandra one to carry on their wedding day. He had the bouquet rearranged and intersected with Lily of the Valley, Alessandro told me that "The bouquet was very original and much admired and the best part is that we are still using the red hot chili peppers today." Alessandro's publishing house is called Elzeviro, and his latest book on Venice is called Vita Veneziana (Venetian Life) by William Dean Howells who was the first American Consul in Venice in the mid nineteenth century.

L'Oasi - San Polo 610 - Rialto www.elzeviro.com