Saving the best for last; Venezia

Venice at dawn; there is a transient beauty as the world awakes around this sleepy island. Of all the cities that we have visited in our travels through Italy, there has been no other place as beautiful, romantic and timeless as the narrow alleys and vast waterways of Venice. The streets were thronged with revelers from all over the world; it is the week of the Carnavale, an annual festivity which leads up to Mardi gras and Ash Wednesday. The air was rich with an air of expectancy, street performances at every corner, street parties every night.

Venice is a composite of a main island and many islets and there are only 2 modes of transport around the island: you can either take the ferry services that ply the Grand Canal, which is really expensive by the way, or like us, choose to explore Venice on foot. Taking the ferry costs 5 euros for a single trip, or you can purchase the all day pass for 12 euros. Venice isn’t all that big really, so walking is not a problem. The only issue that you might have is the difficulty in navigating the streets; there are so many small alleys, twists and turns that take you to unexpected places, and there are almost no free maps. In fact, Venice in some respects is very much like home; nothing is free.

We arrived here from what must have been the most depressing and melancholy Milan ever. The train ride into Venice was terrible. At Milan Centrale station, the train was overbooked and there were people spilling out of the corridors, crammed up against the doors. Unfortunately we were one of those people. With my huge lump of a backpack and another huge bag of chips, we ended up standing outside the train toilet for over and hour of a three hour journey. Regional trains have the worst toilets ever. I cannot even begin to describe the atrocity of it. Oh for your general info, there’s a reason why one is not allowed to use the train toilet when it is has stopped at stations. The toilets do not have septic tanks; the waste product goes from bowl to train track in one fell swoop. Or rather, in one large plop onto the train tracks; the onomatopoeic appropriateness of it is a better descriptor of the action. Thankfully many commuters got off at Brescia, there were still no seats but this conductor came up to us and told us to go up to the first class carriage. Haha! Good things come to those who wait; there is a God after all.

There were street performances everyday in the different Piazzas (squares). This was at the P. San Bartolomeo

And this was at the Piazza San Marco

It was entertaining, despite it being completely in Italian. Actually, after almost two weeks in the country, I have begun to pick up several useful phrases. And Italian is indeed a really fun language to speak and have fun with. There is a delightful rhythm to it and it is very much like French. Just add an A, E, I or O to the end of the same word in French, pronounce the word with an Italian accent and their phonetic equivalent and voila, Italiano! No kidding. For example, Bonjour is Bonjourno, excellent/ excellente, quand/quanda ; even the swear words work the same way : merde/ merda, putain, puta. I rest my case. Such a delight in trying the different permutations and speaking to the locals in an absolutely bastardised version of their tongue. Haha. And well, it was really fun to try and speak their language; or in fact ended up speaking English with an Italian accent. Love it. Can’t wait to go Spain and Germany; another linguistic adventure just waiting to be embarked on.

The place where we stayed was known as the B&B Rota. Not too bad a place, the location was great, just on the next street to the fresh fish market and near the busiest commercial area, the Ponte Rialto, which also so happens to be the oldest bridge in Venice.

One of the greatest attractions and must buys in Venice are their masks. You can get them almost everywhere. Almost every shop carries these masks; prices start from about 2 euros for the small palm sized ones. Price however, is a good indicator of quality. There are the mass produced ones which generally cost up to 15-30 euros and they are usually made from plaster or ceramic. The really good ones however cost upwards of 45 euros and they are hand made pieces by artisans and they are made from paper marche. We went into this atelier, which are the workshops where these hand made pieces are made, and the minute I entered, my breath was simply taken away. The masks were all so pretty. So so so pretty. And expensive. A simple piece costs 45 euros and others can cost up to 300 euros. The most expensive piece I saw was like almost 800 euros. And there were others even more elaborate and bien sur, more expensive. But they were absolutely beautiful. Was not allowed to take pictures of them but trust me on this. Bought some masks from this particular atelier, the Venexia, and the man who made the masks was there in person attending to the store. If you are to go to Venice, go to this shop to purchase your masks…he gave me a 20% discount, haha, so am doing a little plug for his shop. Won’t reveal how much I spent there; some people might hit the roof. But I spent quite a bit. No regrets though…if you come to my room when I’m back in Singapore, you’ll see why. =)

One area that you cannot miss is the Piazza San Marco. It is where the Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace) and the Cathedrale San Marco is. The Doge was, until the early 20^th century, the ruler of the Venetian Republic, which was once upon a time a great power, both on sea and land, in Europe. Venice has always been a commercial power in Europe, however, militarily, it is of great significance as well. I’m not too good a history buff but I believe that its rise as a military force was in the 16^th century and lasted till the 18^th. Consider the strategic value of Venice and its almost impregnable defenses; the only viable way of assault of Venice is through the sea and its navel ships were the best in the region, providing safe waters for its lucrative merchant fleets. Thus San Marco square is a must see. It doesn’t hurt to know that Saint Mark is the patron saint of Venice and Marco Polo is also a highly revered Venetian (I think) on the island.

Here is a picture of the Cathedrale.

The golden staircase of the Palazzo Ducale

And of the piazza

This was taken at night on the first night which we explored the island. As part of the Carnavale, there were band performances every night at the piazzo.

A picture of the jazz band playing on stage; they were quite good, the music was fun. And there were like couples just dancing in the square to the music, despite the cold and chill. Intoxicating moments of spontaneity; would have so liked to just jump in and join the rhythm of the night, but no dance partner…mmm…oh well.

Ah yes, here’s a really interesting aspect of the carnavale; there were people all dressed up in costumes, from the elaborate to the mundane. Some were tourists getting in the mood of the carnival and wearing masks walking around, but there were groups of professional masqueraders. And by professional, I mean they were like models, modeling the latest in masquerade wear. Check out the photos that we caught of them.

It was like, wow. The costumes were so elaborate and beautiful. And they were walking all around the square just posing for people to take photos of them. Oblige them we did; they were swamped with attention like bees to honey. These were like the professionals. There is another group of people, largely tourists, who come to the carnival and dress up. Some of these people have their own costumes while others rent them just to play dress up, indulging in a fantasy of make-believe and masquerade. Renting a costume costs 120 to 180 euros, a day. Not for poor students but for people with money to splash. It was really fun though; perhaps one day in years to come, will go back to Venice and dress up. As what…heh…well…dunno.

As part of the spirit of the carnival, we decided to get our face painted. It was done outside the Palazzo Ducale and costs 5 euros. Gave the artist freedom of expression to do anything he wanted

Mmm…well it came out looking like this…

Heh…a bit gay…he used so many colours and drew like a flower…haha…claimed it was a dragon. Yah right, a gay dragon maybe. But I did kindda like it. Hmm…

These were the guys who painted our faces. Really talented, the lot of them. And for 5 euros, well, it was pretty fun. We went to the museum with the face paint on…got stared up as if we were “kui” but the others in the museum. But heck, was fun.

The place we stayed at was next to the famous Mercanti Rialto, which is the fish market. It’s opened from 6/7 in the morning to about 3 in the afternoon. It is fantastic to go there and shop for fresh produce, not just fish. The fish there is so fresh and delicious. Thus decided to cook lunch instead of eating out one day. Was going to try my hand at cooking properly for the first time…haha…the girls were gonna be my guinea pigs in this gastronomic adventure.

Voici le menu:

Spaghetti Aglio Oglio with broiled broccoli

Poached Salmon with rosemary and black pepper

Grilled Calamari with butter sauce

Tuna Tataki (to borrow the name from Aquadisiac; basically half cooked tuna)

Pan seared peppers

Fresh scallops in butter and white wine sauce

Served with a white Cardonnay

Here are the pictures of the cuisine.

And the final dish which was the scallops

Haha, not bad right. =) Am feeling rather happy about it turning out well. Considering that all I had really cooked until then was largely outdoor and field cooking, this went really well. And it cost us only 10.50 euros each. Think I will survive the next few months in Paris. Will try out other cuisines; Eve is supposed to send me one every other week for me to try…hmm…am looking forward to that. Hopefully the place I’m staying will have facilities for cooking.

With that, Venice draws to a close. And so does the entire Italian Indulgence. Will continue to write in this blog about the going ons in France and the other places I go to later. School’s about to begin again, so it’s back to the books, but this time in French. And it’s also time to try and find a place to stay as well. Am going to put up at a friend’s place, he’s been really nice to let me stay with him at least for a week while I search for a place of my own. Do visit Italy if you can, it really is a beautiful country with beautiful women (they are prettier than the French, much prettier) and friendly people. Hope you’ve enjoyed the blog entries thus far. I promise to keep this blog updated; hopefully it won’t suffer an untimely death like this other blog, right bjcs. =) you know who I’m talking about.

Voila, c’est tout!

Fin.