Carnivale in Venice: Day 5

Febraury 17th

We had to leave early in the morning to catch the water taxi back to the airport.  It was sobering to see the Rialto bridge alley so devoid of life.  Also I was half awake.

One last shot of gondolas.  They're so cute when they're sleeping.

Arrivederci Venice!

Carnivale in Venice: Day 4

February 16th

We headed back over to the San Marco Piazza so that we could climb the tower.  

We never toured the cathedral.

There are two bell towers....or something?  We climbed the one on the right.

Views from atop the Campanile:

This is where the costume judging contests were held.

A fancy Carnivale mask.

"The Snail" or Bovolo's Scala Contarini.

Warning:  This next section may be educational.  

Skip ahead to photos if you don't want to possibly learn things.

We headed over to the Jewish quarter.  The Jewish quarter is where the glass foundries used to be, way back in the day.  The area was called "geti" (Venetian for foundries - geto = foundry).  

The geti could be separated from the rest of Venice due to the canals around it.  This enabled the Venetians to keep the Jews sequestered during the night and on Christian holy days.  If/When a Jew went to the rest of Venice for buisness, they would be required to wear a yellow hat to identify themselves as a Jew.

The Jewish (the Ashkenazims) accent made "geto" (the g is soft here) into "ghetto" as we know it today.  The Venetians were also the ones to impart the pawnbroker/money lender profession upon the Jews.

WWII Memorial.  The wooden boxcar like wall behind the iron bars has the names of every Jewish person taken from Venice during WWII.  Somewhere between 200 and 250 Jews were taken, many from the local convalescence home and many children.  Only 8 returned.

Moving on from the Ghetto.

Now that you're good and depressed, look at this wall of baked goods:

We did a walking tour with an actor/guide who took us to a few locations around Venice and told us the myth associated with that location and then the truth.  One was about how Venice apparently had the most attractive nuns during the middle ages.  This was a problem, because many of the nuns would go out to celebrate the various holidays and then end up pregnant....which nuns are not supposed to do. 

We also learned that during the Rococo period (big white wigs and women in wide hipped dresses) women would draw a mole on themselves to convey different things.  A mole on near the mouth meant the woman was feeling sexy.  A mole on the nose meant that a woman did not want to flirt/was not available (I'm guessing also it meant she was having her period).  There were two other placements, near the eye and on the neck, but I don't remember what they meant.

Dan was greatly amused by the kids in their Spiderman and Captain America costumes competing against the adults in the costume contest.  Don't worry, they got judged against other kids, not the adults.

So many flower pots in the fountain!

On the side of the Disney store in Venice.

Today ends with a photo of Gypsies playing Stump with tourists.  Stump is mostly a midwestern drinking game.   

"To prepare the stump, nails are hammered into the stump, one per player, just far enough to be stable. Each player chooses a nail as "theirs". To play, the player tosses and catches the hammer, such that it makes at least one full 360-degree rotation before he touches it again. Upon catching it he immediately (without cocking or regripping it) tries to strike an opponent's nail to drive it further into the stump. The opponent must drink some beer, in proportion to the damage inflicted on his nail. There are other penalties which involve drinking beer. The winner is the last person whose nail remains standing."

Now you know. 

Carnivale in Venice: Day 3

February 15th

Today we went island hoping.

Cthulhu Pope and Carnivale Cat.

In case you were curious about the water ferries that operate around Venice, here is the map.

Cimitero -

At some point during Napoleonic rule, it was decided that burials would no longer occur on Venice proper because of it was considered unsanitary.  The island of San Michele was designated as the city's cemetery.  No photos were allowed inside the cemetery.

Approaching San Michele.

Looking back at Venice from San Michele.

The church is supposed to be interesting, but we were unable to go in it when we visited.

Murano -

Murano is known as the Glass Island.  The glass factories were moved from Venice out to Murano in the late 11th century as most of Venice was constructed from wood and having glass factories is a bit of a fire hazard.  

Dan and the big glass spikey star ball thing.

Anyone need a new phone background?

I'm not sure what the deal with these glass ducks was, but I liked them.

Dan got cufflinks and a glass mask.  

I got a small duck (not one of the ones above) and a traditional lamp.

Burano -

Burano is known as the Lace Island.  It is also charmingly colorful.

Burano was having its Carnivale parade/main party the day we visited.

Costumed folks making very large bubbles.

I don't know who this lady is, but the Muppet Martians (the Yip Yips) have found her. 

SO MANY CAKES!

Torcello -

Our last island was Torcello.  In pre-Medieval times it was more powerful than Venice.  The canals started to fill in and traversing them became too difficult.  It also became swampy which brought an increase in mosquitoes and consequentially malaria.  The island was mostly abandoned. 

The Devil's Bridge of Torcello.

This is the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta.  It was founded in 639 AD.  

We got here too late to tour it though.  Booger.

I have no idea what is going on with this statue.

The sun setting behind the clouds while we waited for the water taxi.

Looking back at Burano.

This is the end of the 15th

Carnivale in Venice: Day 2

February 14th

I am to make it clear that we came to Venice for Carnivale, NOT Valentine's Day.
Okay, now I can move on.

Look a canal!  And a gondolier!

We went to the Frari Church, which from the outside is unassuming.  On the inside are several very large monuments.  There's also something about Titian's Assumption and how it broke the traditional placement of characters in religious paintings at the time.  (There is a Rick Steves walking tour for this church).

Titian's Assumption and a crazy monument with skeletons.

The beautiful and ornately carved wooden choir.

This angel might have leprosy.  Or some serious skin disease.

We left the church and wandered more around Venice.

Another canal!  With more boats!

San Marco Piazza.

Outside the Doge's Palace

Costume Parade Part 3!

A range of costumes, full out to just wearing a mask.

Mr. Pink FancyMan!  Only, now he's Mr. Gold FancyMan.

This guy's on a horse!   Oh no wait....it's just a guy in a horse mask.

Dan says these guys came from the 90's.

I don't know what that is in the background, but the gondolas made it all very picturesque.

Same with this photo.

Here is an example of the crowds that showed up on Saturday.   

I am glad we did a lot of wandering around on Friday before all these people arrived.

There are Native Americans in Venice?

This is the park where we found my Venice Geocache. 

GIANT MERINGUE!

Also did I mention we got masks and capes?

We had wandered off into a less popular/touristy part of Venice.

The Communist Party and Democratic Party headquarters.	This tower leans but I don't see anyone making a big deal about it.

Costume Parade Part 4!

                                                                              Jareth the Goblin King!

From behind, these ladies reminded me of the fairies from Sleepy Beauty.
Turns out they were vampires or ...... something?

There were about 6 of these folks running around Venice on jumping stilts.

So many people crammed into tiny alleyways!

We went to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art.

Danseuse Blu (Blue Dancer) by Gino Severini

Dan in the garden.

Direction by Jackson Pollock

Bet you didn't know Jackson Pollock did things other than make messes on canvas.

Glass Sculptures after sketches by Picasso - Egidio Constantini

Silver Bedhead by Alexander Calder
This photo is for Danielle.  Look!  It's a Calder that isn't huge and orange and ugly!

Not the Rialto bridge.


We also went to a nigh of opera where they played and sang some of the more famous arias from various Italian operas.

I have not felt homesick since we have been overseas; however hearing someone other than Franco sing Barber of Seville made me homesick.  Franco is the chef and owner of the most wonderful little Italian restaurant in the town where I grew up.  If you ask nicely, he will sing for you.

These guys were FABULOUS.

This ends the 14th.