Dispatch #58: Mi Scusi Dove il Bagno?

by Lupe Fernandez

Another in a irregular series about writing in the field.

Mi Scusi,Dove il Bagno?
Excuse me, where bathroom?

I memorized this important phrase on a recent trip to Italy. I also took a small blue notebook in case I got any bright ideas about a MG manuscript I'm revising titled The Adventures of Calaveras Cal: Boy Skeleton. Middle grade re-imaging of the Spanish Conquest of El Nuevo Mundo. Many of the scenes in the story were inspired by certain Italian locales.

Florence -  Brunelleschi's Dome
Standing below the 375 foot dome, I saw an astronomical observatory.

Florence - Giotto's Campanile
When I saw the bell tower, in the Piazzo del Duomo, I envisioned an orate rocket gantry.

Florence - Museo Galileo
 Peter Leopold’s Chemistry Cabinet, a table full of vials, instruments, bottles included this brass cone supported on three legs, resembling a tea-pot. Hmmm...what a cool ascent vehicle for Cal to make his escape from the planet Al Mareekh.

Venice: Il Palazzo Ducale - Doge's Palace

Wandering up a stairwell, I say this cylinder in the corner. It's a hanging lamp, but I imagined, "What a cool diving bell this would make!" There's not underwater action in the current story; I'll use the diving bell in the sequel.

Venice: Il Palazzo Ducale - Doge's Palace
I paced the floor of The Chamber of the Great Council from rear to front. Our hero, Calaveras Cal: Boy Skeleton, first meets the Council Realm. I crouched on the floor and walked to the front of the chamber, imagining the height and distance for a boy crossing the length of the floor.


There you have it. Some inspirations from the land of pasta and Vespas.

Yes, yes. I wrote Spanish Conquest of El Nuevo Mundo. Why Italy? Don't have any money yet for a trip to Spain. Maybe I'll get a queen to sell some jewels or steal a sailing ship.


Mi scusi, dove è la mia storia?
Excuse me, where is my story?