February started as January finished - still waiting for my internet to get fixed. I won't bore you with all the ugly details but in the end I had to change the type of technology I use for internet and wi-fi as Hell would freeze over before a new line would be installed. I now do not have to depend on TIM (which is the ONLY provider of telecom service in Italy) which means they own all the copper wire for all internet and phone usage. Luckily I found a different technology (basically a satellite dish) that does not depend on hard cable! Very frustrating experience I'm afraid to say.
Again I spent a lot of free time working on the family tree. As of this writing there are 644 people entered in the database. And there are more to find and enter. It can be very addicting and I can spend hours sitting at the computer.
The best news for this month is my trip to Venice for Carnevale.
The Carnival of Venice (Carnevale di Venezia) is an annual festival held in Venice. The Carnival ends with the Christian celebration of Lent, forty days before Easter, on Shrove Tuesday (Martedì Grasso or Mardi Gras), the day before Ash Wednesday. The festival is world-famous for its elaborate masks and costumes. It is believed to have started in the year 1162! It runs for 2+ weeks.
I created a video of my adventures for your enjoyment. See the link below.
I took an early morning train on Friday, the 22nd from Vallo della Lucania to Venice - changing trains in Salerno for the high speed train. Once in Venice I found my hotel and my friend Diane and the fun was about to start. Our initial plan was to take the ferry to the island of Murano, famous for hand blown glass, but the fog rolled in and all boats and ferries came to a halt. So instead we were just tourists for the day.
Another part of Carnevale is dressing up in costume and masks- very elaborate I might add. While roaming around on Friday we saw many beautiful and elaborate costumes. We quickly realised these people were Carnevale performers and not tourists with a huge budget for costume rental. In the video you will recognise them -stunning detail and colours!
Saturday was a busy day. We wanted to experience the full effect of Carnevale so we decided to rent costumes for 2 days. You must plan for this ahead of time. You select an Atelier (French for workshop of fine art) and then make an appointment for a fitting. We had selected costumes from their website and submitted measurements so they could ensure a proper fit. We had 11:30 a.m. fitting appointments. It was fun seeing all the costumes available. I was fortunate in that the one I picked fit perfect. My friend had to make a change from what she had selected. The dresses come complete with all the necessary accessories - gloves, purse, choker, and hat. Wigs are also available but we decided again them. We did rent a short cape as we would be outside quite a bit and the weather was still a bit chilly. So costume ready we were now off to get ready and begin the fun.
We would go back to the hotel and change into our costumes. That afternoon we would go to Piazza San Marco for the Festa Delle Marie. There is quite a bit of history behind this but suffice to say it is now a beauty contest. The 12 young ladies are part of all the festivities during Carnevale and then on the last day of the festivities the "Maria of the Year" is selected.
Piazza San Marco was very crowded, as you would expect, but we watched some of the festivities, with many performers again in period costume. The ladies arrive to fanfare and more festivities. The interesting thing is WE are now in costume and everyone wants to take OUR picture. We were told this would happen but when it does it is kind of surprising. It is fun as most tourists are not in costume so we were among the unique ones.
Our next adventure was a "Pub Crawl". Not something you would consider Italian but it was a planned event you could attend. The group was rather large according to our guide but we made it work. We walked to 4 different "bars". At each one we were served a different wine and of course little appetizers or in Italian (aperitif). We started with Prosecco, then a red, then a white and finished the night at a bar with an Aperol Spritz (very Italian but I hear it is starting to appear in the states). If you get the chance, order one - they are yummy!! We met some great people along the way and again being in costume adds a whole new dimension to a pub crawl.
Sunday would be an amazing day and evening. The main masquerade ball was Sunday night - the highlight of the trip. But we still had a few fun adventures before we turned into Cinderellas.
Another public event is the Flight of the Angel. This too has a lot of history as all events for Carnevale. An angel (real person dressed in costume) is lowered from the bell tower in Piazza San Marco into the piazza via wires and cables. The angel is the Maria that won the beauty contest the year before. It marks the start of Carnevale so they say - yet festivities had been going on for over 1 week already. (It's Italy!) So we would attend this and then head out to Murano as we never made it there on Friday. I needed to do some shopping. I love Murano glass.
Funny story here - we left Piazza San Marco after seeing what we thought was the flight of the angel. Once I was home I realized we actually missed the true Flight of the Angel. We saw the Flight of the Warrior Angel - who knew there were 2? We left before the 2nd angel descended. So in the video I have just a few pictures from the internet of the actual Angel.
Over on the island of Murano it is much more peaceful. But there are still signs of Carnevale. Note the wonderful musicians all in pink in the video. We enjoyed strolling the streets and admiring all the wonderful glass art in the many galleries and shops.
Once back in Venice it was time to get ready for the ball. No fairy godmother to help!! We took the water bus to the ball which was held in a beautiful palace that is now the Venice Casino. Palazzo or Ca' Vendramin Calergi, is remembered as the place where composer Richard Wagner died. He had just completed the opera Parsifal and died not long after its premier.
We were greeted by the Master of Ceremonies as we entered the Palace. The theme for the entire Carnevale was "Blame the Moon" with the masquerade ball the "Official Lunatic Dinner Ball". The entire night had a space - "out of this world" theme. All performers and servers were dressed in space attire - some from Star Wars, some from Star Trek, and the decorations were fabulous as well. We were treated to quite a bit of entertainment before dinner along with an open-bar and wonderful food.
We were seated for dinner around 10 p.m. at tables of 10. I estimated about 250-300 attendees. We had a wonderful 5 course dinner, each course served with a different wine. All throughout the dinner the performers would enter the room and engage with us. All dressed as aliens, space people, etc. their costumes were amazing. It was like a Hollywood production for sure. It was fun meeting the others seated at our table. We met people from Italy, Spain and even China.
After dinner it was back out to the main ballroom for more desserts, drinks and dancing to a DJ. We ended our evening about 1:30 a.m. and headed back to our hotel via the last water bus available. No glass slipper left behind!
It was an amazing few days and I am so grateful I was able to experience Carnevale to its fullest. I highly recommend visiting Venice if you come to Italy. It is a magical city even without Carnevale but with Carnevale it is enchanting.
Enjoy the video and more to come in March!
https://youtu.be/1gNvcbtO_3Y
