2/17 - 2/23
From Amsterdam to Milan by plane. So excited by the funghi porcini pizza, but we got sick of eating pizza all the time soon enough! The duomo is the biggest gothic cathedral in the world, 600 years in the building, and the surroundings also featured guards dressed like M. Bison (aka Vega), which was a definite plus.
We met a Korean guy in our hostel who mostly complained about how hard dating is in Korea - the women are all expected to undergo expensive plastic surgery, and the guys are all expected to have money coming out their arses. He basically confirmed that all the stereotypes Hozumi asked about were true, in his experience at least. We then spent all day searching for accommodation in Venice, which proved to be quite stressful since it just happened to be the Carnevale.
Venice is a maze at the best of times, but doubly so when rammed full of Carnevale goers. To get to the supermarket 100 metres away across a canal and back took us several hours! It didn´t help that a police barrier we passed on the way there was one-way only, so we got lost on the return detour. The most congested place was definitely the Rialto bridge:
The Saturday night party was huge. So huge that a mobile party that passed our hostel at 6:30am felt more like an earthquake than a party.
The best costume contest(s) at San Marco square featured ridiculously ornate costumes that looked heavy enough to cause a careless wearer to topple over. The hand-made Simpsons costumes were pretty cool too,but half the pictures I thought I took I apparently didn't as you can see from the mobile phone pictures that I just found. This blog shows some of the costumes I missed.
A festival so steeped in tradition wouldn't be complete without at least a few incomprehensible arty recitals and lectures and on the 'culture night' we were lucky enough to attend one that was surpassingly arty. It took place in a room of an old cloister. It opened with a spooky song by an Asian woman carrying a skull, followed by a boring recital in Italian, then an excellent 'learning to walk' dance by a gazelle-like ballet dancer. Back to a boring recital, then a 'hunting' dance by the same graceful dancer, another boring recital and finally an operatic, booming song by a chubby guy. Good stuff, I thought it was all about evolution. Apparently it was mythology and female divinities and the dancer is Marzia Falcon. I was quite taken with the dances, as not only was she very good, but she danced in virtual silence only a few metres from us and her eyes could pin you to your seat.
I love the architecture of Venice, the dead ends, bridges to nowhere and silent corners not 50 metres from crowded thoroughfares. I think no matter how splendid the festival, Venice itself is the main attraction for me. We really enjoyed a quiet day wandering around after the Carnevale wound up, so here's a few shots of the city to round things off.
From Amsterdam to Milan by plane. So excited by the funghi porcini pizza, but we got sick of eating pizza all the time soon enough! The duomo is the biggest gothic cathedral in the world, 600 years in the building, and the surroundings also featured guards dressed like M. Bison (aka Vega), which was a definite plus.
We met a Korean guy in our hostel who mostly complained about how hard dating is in Korea - the women are all expected to undergo expensive plastic surgery, and the guys are all expected to have money coming out their arses. He basically confirmed that all the stereotypes Hozumi asked about were true, in his experience at least. We then spent all day searching for accommodation in Venice, which proved to be quite stressful since it just happened to be the Carnevale.
Venice is a maze at the best of times, but doubly so when rammed full of Carnevale goers. To get to the supermarket 100 metres away across a canal and back took us several hours! It didn´t help that a police barrier we passed on the way there was one-way only, so we got lost on the return detour. The most congested place was definitely the Rialto bridge:
The Saturday night party was huge. So huge that a mobile party that passed our hostel at 6:30am felt more like an earthquake than a party.
The best costume contest(s) at San Marco square featured ridiculously ornate costumes that looked heavy enough to cause a careless wearer to topple over. The hand-made Simpsons costumes were pretty cool too,
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| Homer's catchphrases in Italian. |
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| These guys had to move very slowly. |
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| These guys were about 7 feet tall so I guess they didn't need hats as big as everyone else's. |
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| Of course we had to acquire 'masks' of our own! |
A festival so steeped in tradition wouldn't be complete without at least a few incomprehensible arty recitals and lectures and on the 'culture night' we were lucky enough to attend one that was surpassingly arty. It took place in a room of an old cloister. It opened with a spooky song by an Asian woman carrying a skull, followed by a boring recital in Italian, then an excellent 'learning to walk' dance by a gazelle-like ballet dancer. Back to a boring recital, then a 'hunting' dance by the same graceful dancer, another boring recital and finally an operatic, booming song by a chubby guy. Good stuff, I thought it was all about evolution. Apparently it was mythology and female divinities and the dancer is Marzia Falcon. I was quite taken with the dances, as not only was she very good, but she danced in virtual silence only a few metres from us and her eyes could pin you to your seat.
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| This is the only image I could find of Marzia Falcon, and this is a 4 minute recording of the first dance taken from the podium. You had to be there, really. |
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| The wine fountain was a nice touch. |
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| The Catholics do like their gold. |
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| This dude was pretty good... |
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| ...but this artist was excellent. |
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| I like this. |
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| We had to switch to a more expensive hotel after two nights. The view from the window was an endless parade of gondolas. |
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| The Carnevale finale was a bit of a damp squib. Even this fire wasn't allowed to burn out as half a dozen hoses were trained on it shortly after this picture. |
I love the architecture of Venice, the dead ends, bridges to nowhere and silent corners not 50 metres from crowded thoroughfares. I think no matter how splendid the festival, Venice itself is the main attraction for me. We really enjoyed a quiet day wandering around after the Carnevale wound up, so here's a few shots of the city to round things off.
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