venice during carnevale is one of those things that if you haven't done in your life, there is no way you can be wholly satisfied. now i know carnival in italy finished over a month ago, but as you can probably tell from the few-and-far-between posts on my blog, i have been a busy bee. scusami. despite all of this, there is absolutely NO way i am going to ignore this wonderful three day trip, as it has been one of the major highlights of life in italy so far.
the word carnival (or carnevale in italian) is derivative of the latin words 'carne' meaning meat and 'vale' meaning farewell. so 'farewell to meat'... now this seems a fairly appropriate term for a festival that takes place in the pre-lenten period, after which roman catholics would traditionally abstain from pleasures such as meat, dairy and fruit. however, having spent three days in venice during this period, the word carnevale does not strike up the image of a meatless world for me. instead, i see MASKS, i see COLOUR, i see GLITTER, i see COSTUMES, i see another era, another sphere, a DREAM WORLD.
having nearly missed our flight because i forgot my beret, realising the lady checking our tickets at easyjet was someone i had met before, and then listening to some fantastic minibus tunes in our shuttle from the airport (michael sembello's maniac. could i have been given a better welcome?), we eventually arrived at a derelict campsite near venice. whilst checking in and receiving the keys to our 'cabin', it was comforting to hear that the two ladies in front of us had no blankets, no heating and wet beds. fearing the worst, we teased our door open to find a simple, tiny, dry and hot portacabin room. it wasn't the four seasons, but for 15 euros a night during high season and booked only one week before, who were we to complain. having had just a few haribo smurfs to sustain us during the easyjet flight, it was time we found a pizza. now, despite all of its conveniences (or should i say its one convenience: price), camping fusina was a sorry sorry place. heading to the 'camp restaurant' for a rather wooden pizza and a beer, we glanced into the fish bowl of a bar to see 19 year old germans dancing away in sparkly cowboy hats to flo rida's get low. it was 10 o clock on a friday night during carnival and you choose to dance here. oh dear. having learnt that the last boat back (yes, fusina was a 10 minute boat ride away from venice) was at 9.30, i excused them 5%. after all, we did learn the following night that it was as easy as pie to return to the campsite from venice late at night...ahem. with a full tummy, and after an unsuccessful trip to find the ladies with the cold, wet cabin with no blankets (we had about 15 in ours), i walked 5 minutes down the road to brush my teeth and settled in for my first night in northern italy.
DAY 1
and what a welcome...we were greeted off the ferry by this monochrome, two-faced lady. she was to remain my favourite costume of the whole weekend. the combination of this costume and a gondola winding its way down a canal on which a beautiful man sung the song 'santa lucia', both witnessed within the first 15 minutes of arriving in venezia, i knew that we were off to a good start.
it was all just fantastic and i was blown away by the colourful, yet slightly eery (see eyes wide shut and you'll know what i'm on about) atmosphere of venice during carnival. but there was one problem: i didn't have a mask. both will and i, being dresser-uppers of high calibre, felt awkward in our own skin. after stopping for some breakfast with a kiss from a tranny on the side, I eventually found ‘the one’.
when it comes to choosing masks in venice, you'll just know. the plastic jobbies are sold everywhere, whereas the workshops are a little harder to find. both atelier marega (where will bought his) or la bauta (where i bought mine) provided us with fantassstic masks. you certainly pay for what you get. right next to the accademia bridge you will also find a brilliant piazza for purchasing outfits.
costumes and masks purchased, cameras started to turn on us. in one day i had turned from lucy to santa lucia (my masked alter-ego) and from a nobody to a star. this is stuff that only dreams are made of; it just shows you what a pouting face and a few feathers can do for oneself. this all being said, there are no two ways about it: masks are disconcerting things. every time i had my photo taken, i was smiling like an idiot behind my disguise. it got to the stage where i was fed up of looking so sad, and so i would lift up my mask when the camera was pointed so people knew that i was actually extremely happpppy.
although soaking up the atmosphere was our main priority, our cultural appetites needed satisfying before lunch. we headed to santa maria gloriosa dei frari (more commonly known as the 'frari'), costing us 1.50 with a student reduction (students, sure sure). we entered into this cavernous church which, without its magnificent tombs and paintings would feel soulless and hollow. immediately drawn to the tomb of canova, i had remembered this extraordinary design from my previous trip to venice. the hooded allegory of death and the beautiful lion of st. mark, connected by the lion's glance, complete this tomb for me.
a similar design had been drawn by the 18th century artist for a monument to titian, but the design had never been executed. so his pupils based canova's tomb on this original drawing by the artist himself. titian's tomb, which sits opposite to canova's, is less impressive. the relief which forms the back drop of the monument, depicting the assumption, can also be seen in oil on canvas in the apse of the church. this masterpiece by titian, along with bellini's madonna and child, is one of the main attractions of the church. the choir stalls by marco cozzi are also worth a ganders. in the side chapel where bellini's painting resides, there is a fantastic relief depicting the deposition of christ in which the figures, carved in deep relief, project out of the framework. make sure you also get a glimpse of the former monastery and its cloisters.
spending much of the rest of the day in st. mark's square admiring costumes and taking photos, we wound our way through the streets in search of one of these magical wine shops we had heard so much about. water bottles were refilled with local wines for as little as 2.10/litre. it was a miracle. unfortunately it was one we never witnessed and the closest we got was a plastic cup full of mulled wine. but we later realised that to find these nuggets of wonder you must head to campo santa margherita and calle de la bissa. instead we bought some wine, headed back to st. marks, and found some dinner. stumbling across open air live music post dinner was a real highlight and sue me for joining in with all of the other masked faces to dance by the canal side...
the journey home is actually not worth writing about. lets just say it consisted of a longgg walk, a crowed bus ride with an expensive mask in my hands, a 35 euro taxi, a grumpy lucy and a very patient will. never again were we to stay out later than 9.30...bar camp fusina it was for us from hereon.
DAY 2
unsurprisingly, we had a later start on the second day, and breakfast became lunch; and a fantastic one at that. i have never tasted buffalo mozzarella or olives like it. it was in a tinnnnny restaurant near the accademia gallery. vacci! after a short queue and making two new best friends, we found our way into the gallery, which had been shut in the morning for no reason at all. as we entered, we bumped into the israeli tour guide we had met the night before at dinner. what a small world venice felt in comparison to the large hub of rome. i hadn't remembered much from the accademia, and re-visiting it this time reminded me why. i think it is probably a case of being spoilt for choice museum-wise in rome, but despite a number of fantastic works of art, the museum didn't blow me away. it is currently undergoing massive restoration which might have something to do with the fact that we were unable to see titian's pieta and leonardo da vinci's vitruvian man; two of the major highlights in the gallery. the ceiling of the first room and a couple of the paintings did stand out however...
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| ceiling of first room. the building used to be venice's school of painting. |
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| jealous? no idea who this is by but i thought it was highly amusing. never seen a maddonna and child like it. |
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| this painting entitled la vecchia portrays 'vanitas' (or the reminder of death) through her 'talking face' and the sign in her hands saying 'col tempo' or 'with time' |
but it wasn't these or the extensive bellinis and tintorettos that caught my eye; if anything i became immune to them after a while (spoilt?). instead, it was this painting by francesco hayez called distruzione del tempio del gerusalemme. looking at the painting, i was immediately reminded of the photos taken of the world trade centre on the 11th September 2001. placing the images side by side may help to explain what I mean:
the smoking buildings and the falling people in both pictures are reminiscent of one other and the reasons for both incidents can be traced back to a conflict between religions. the two events are obviously not connected in the slightest but it was an interesting comparison I thought.
back to st. marks for more staring and more being stared at. this time, we found what seemed to be a sort of tea room (with your back facing the basilica, its on the right hand side of st. mark's). looking through the window was like looking into a time capsule. not just one person, but every single person in there was drinking tea and coffee and wearing period costume: wigs, dresses, suits and make-up. that was until the avatar popped his head inside for an espresso...
face paint on and ready to go (who needs
to pay 5 euros for a butterfly over your eye when you could have this...),
dinner called, and unfortunately so did the boat at 9.30...
DAY 3
today it was most definitely raining. the sort of day when you don’t want to be trekking across venice to the train station to leave your luggage before a day of activity. well that’s exactly what we did. however, this could not have been easier and is highly advisable if you have an evening flight/train. you catch the traghetto (ferry) up the grand canal and bob's your uncle you can leave your bags (and an arm and a leg) at the train station for the day. convenient but not cheap.
purchasing a lovely tartan umbrella which conveniently broke within the first 30 seconds of buying it, we heading into the jewish quarter of town, canareggio. stopping off at la casa del tintoretto, we made our way to my favourite church in venice, and arguably one of my favourite churches ever... it is called santa maria in assunto. it is a gesuit church and is found right in the northern part of the city. the intricacy of the green in-laid marble baffles me. i have still never seen anything like it and don’t think i ever will. every green pattern you see in the photo below (excluding some higher up which are painted) has been fitted into the surrounding white marble like a jigsaw piece. chucked out for il padre's lunch break, we only just managed to see this magical place which i cannot recommend more.
today it was most definitely raining. the sort of day when you don’t want to be trekking across venice to the train station to leave your luggage before a day of activity. well that’s exactly what we did. however, this could not have been easier and is highly advisable if you have an evening flight/train. you catch the traghetto (ferry) up the grand canal and bob's your uncle you can leave your bags (and an arm and a leg) at the train station for the day. convenient but not cheap.
purchasing a lovely tartan umbrella which conveniently broke within the first 30 seconds of buying it, we heading into the jewish quarter of town, canareggio. stopping off at la casa del tintoretto, we made our way to my favourite church in venice, and arguably one of my favourite churches ever... it is called santa maria in assunto. it is a gesuit church and is found right in the northern part of the city. the intricacy of the green in-laid marble baffles me. i have still never seen anything like it and don’t think i ever will. every green pattern you see in the photo below (excluding some higher up which are painted) has been fitted into the surrounding white marble like a jigsaw piece. chucked out for il padre's lunch break, we only just managed to see this magical place which i cannot recommend more.
murano, on the other hand...
murano is an island near venice, well-known for its blown glass. neither of us had been there so we thought it a good idea to go, see what all the fuss was about, and have a bite to eat. and to be honest, other than the lunch (which was delicious) and a 3 minute glass-blowing display (during which we sat like lemons on tiered seating whilst a man stood there and recounted what was happening like a parrot) nothing really excited me...not even the glass. it turns out i like plane coloured glass in simple designs, so i may as well have gone to ikea to do my shopping. having said that, i was perhaps a bit carnival-sick and i'm sure that on the loveliest of summer days, murano would provide a lovely escape from the sweaty and narrow streets of venice...
on our return to st. marks by traghetto, we realised it was either half an hour in st. mark's basilica or an hour in the doge's palace before closing time; so we split forces. i headed into the palace and will to the basilica. now the palazzo ducale is something i could not recommend more. it was the pope's apartments at the vatican fused with buckingham palace...and on a much littler and more manageable scale. just fantastic. you are also able to cross the bridge of sighs which i didn't think possible. that was a real highlight, as well as seeing the prison cells on the other side where criminals from centuries past were sent after their fate had been decided in the palace's courts. the largest canvas ever painted (news to me) also casually resides in one of the rooms: tintoretto's paradise. the sala del maggiore consiglio in which it is displayed is the largest room in the palace and is certainly not to be missed.
so we were homeward bound. a traghetto to the station, a bus to the airport and an easyjet flight home. seating ourselves on the flight, we soon came to realise that our adventures were not yet over. one of the passengers on board had had a problem getting her hand luggage through the gate as it did not fit ‘within the dimensions’. we had screaming women, crying flight attendants, angry men in spotty bowties and then the WHOLE plane (and i am not exaggerating, the WHOLE plane) erupting into 'brute parole' when the argument reached its peak. nowhere else in the world would an argument like this take place on what is the world's most boring and non-eventful airline. thank you italy.
i love venice. it was my third visit and it never fails to amaze. a town surrounded and invaded by water; no cars, no motorinos, a fascinating and unique architectural image and a history that i still have a lot to learn about. perhaps i will have to go back next year...
for more information about the venice carnival, check out Venice Carnival Italy
and here are some more treats:
