Last Sunday, February 3rd 2013, the Carnival of Venice started for real. It was supposed to have officially started on Saturday, but torrential rain and pretty strong gales turned the day into a flop! I am not sure there were many masks around Venice on Saturday! All most important events got cancelled, like the Parade of…
The Venice Carnival is officially starting on 26th January, but in Venice it unofficially started on 7th January. From Monday 7th January, all the local bakeries and patisseries have been displaying and selling frittelle and galani, the typical Carnival Venetian sweets, for the pleasure of locals and tourists alike. I simply adore frittelle, so much…
Among the most bizarre Venetian Carnival masks, the Plague Doctor is the most recognizable because of the long nose which resembles the beak of a stork. One of the major plagues in Venice was definitely the black plague that struck the city on several occasions. This disease killed half the population of Venice during the…
Why is Venice the city of the Masks? First of all let’s define what is a Maschera (mask): in the Venetian culture the term “maschera” refers to “putting on a beard and mustache” and “maschera” was also the nickname given to women who disguised themselves as men and men who disguised themselves as women. Soon the…
I remember last year around this time complaining because the Carnival of Venice had changed and was not anymore as I remembered it, see my post Venice Carnival: bring back the old days! Well, this year I am much much happier. Even though the Venice Carnival is still a major setting for people…
Carnival: never before in this period, the proverb “Semel in anno Licet insane” seems to fit the reality of a city in celebration, not only with its masks, but also the sweet treats that are the delight of gourmets and also of those who would tend to avoid calories in excess. It is impossible…
The posts on the Best memory of Venice keep coming in and I am very pleased that the Best memory which Robin Locker Lacey of My Mélange has taken back is that of food (my best memories are always of our Venetian food) and of the kindness of Venetian people, which many times is overlooked by…
VENEXIA XE BELA FABRICÀ SUL MAR, CHI NON LA POL VEDAR NO LA PO STIMAR (Venice is beautiful, built on the sea, who cannot see it cannot appreciate it) This is a very old Venetian saying and well, who has been to Venice can only agree with this! (For more Venetian sayings you can…
November has arrived in Venice with a vengeance: today the sky is grey, the rain is pouring and the wind is howling! And the wind is also blowing in memories of Venice from some other dear Facebook friend: Jessica from Bootsnall! Jessica has been to Venice many times but it always amazes me how she…
10 Old Venetian Proverbs about Food, Drink and Family Yesterday at the library in Oriago, my home town, I came across a very interesting book about old Venetian proverbs, many of which I remember from when I was young and many I did not know. The book is called Proverbi Veneti Commentati by Mario Massari…
San Valentino: Origins of Valentine’s day The Origins Starting from 4th century BC the Romans had the tradition of celebrating the god Lupercus with a ritual which was repeated every year: all those who believed in the god had to put their name inside an urn. The names of the men and the women would…
Ah, here it is again, like every winter, the eternal question: shall I dress up or not for the Venice Carnival? Today a collegue and twitter friend @casinadirosa ( www.casinadirosa.it ) asked me if I had anything written down on the Venice Carnival. As I said no, that I didn’t and that I had to…
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