Carnevale in Venizia!!

  Venice, Italy
Saturday, February 2, 2008

I went to Venice for Carnevale on the 1st.  It was a huge group of us from the dorm.  We all bought tickets together on the same bus and planned to spend the weekend at Carnevale.  However, the bus ride didn't quite go as planned.  We were supposed to leave Marseille at 8pm Friday, get to Venice at 9am Saturday and leave for home at 10pm Sunday. Not only was the bus an hour late to pick us up, but we got stopped at an accident on the freeway near Genoa, Italy (I think it was) for 2 hours, and our driver had no idea where we were going once we got to the city.  He for the life of him could not find the port where we were supposed to catch the ferry to the island.  So instead of getting into Venice at 9 we got to the island just before 2 IN THE AFTERNOON. 

Other than a few other mishaps with the bus driver, Venice was just amazing. The canals and churches are breathtaking. Not to mention the little things like window boxes, laundry hanging between buildings over alleyways, and plaster crumbling off houses. 

I also took a little time to go to Burano, known for its lace, and Murano, famous for its blown glass (they say the masters of glass blowing are brought up in Murano - it's a trade passed down from one generation to the next for centuries).  I first became interested in blown glass artwork when I saw a documentary on Dale Chihuly a few years back.  There were some of his pieces on display in Murano. If you don't know who he is you MUST google him. His artwork is astounding. www.chihuly.com - make sure you look at the installations where he puts his art on display out in public. He was at the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus for a few months after I'd gone to college, but I made sure I got back to Ohio at some point during the exhibit to see it. He is a fantastic glass blower, but his true talent is forming teams and bringing famous blowers from all over to work together on some elaborate pieces. I especially like the way he thinks to place each piece. Some pieces seem so simple, but just elegant, floating in a pond with koi for example.  It must take so much time and not to mention all of the pieces that break in transport.

Of course I ate lots of pasta and pizza and gelatto and drank lots of wine, all delicious. Got to go to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum this time. I think my favorite was Empire of Light by Rene Magritte.   The picture kind of took me by surprise. I could tell that there was something off, but it took a minute for it to click. I think that's why I remember it so well. I won't tell you what's surprising you just look. I have a fondness for Jackson Pollock as well, ever since a report I did on him in high school.

So anyway here are some pictures I took before my camera died.  There were people dressed up in costume everywhere, stages were set up in piazzas for live music and such to go on all day long, I didn't get to ride in a gondola (too expensive), but I did take the "boatbus" a lot :)