Carnevale di Venezia

February 28, 2011

We just arrived back from a widely, entertaining weekend in Venice.  This weekend was the first weekend of Carnival in Venice (Carnevale di Venezia).  Carnevale means “farewell to meat” which began centuries ago as a wild two-month party leading up to Lent.  Historically Carnival started as a time of celebration and expression throughout the classes, as wearing masks hid any form of identity between social classes.  

It was estimated that on Saturday 55,000 people arrived in Venice for Carnival.    Costumes and masks of all kinds were everywhere.  

When we arrived in Venice Friday afternoon we did a walking tour down to St. Mark’s Square.  This was followed by a tour of the Doge’s Palace, which was the seat of the Venetian government and home of its ruling duke, or doge.  This palace was the most powerful half-acre in Europe for 400 years.  It was built to show off the power and wealth of the Republic.  On an exciting note Terry Thomson arrived to spend the next five weeks in Italy with Christine.  

On Saturday several tours were planned for the students.  I took in a walking tour which took us through many cathedrals, the Jewish Ghetto where in the 15th century the Jewish people were restricted to a special undesirable neighbourhood. During this morning walking tour the crowds were starting to form.  After the tour, George, Christine, Terry, Barb (Christine’s sister) and I went to a small restaurant for homemade thin crust pizza and of course, wine.  In the afternoon I went to a mask factory to see how masks are made.  By late afternoon the crowds were multiplying.  When walking, or I should say shuffling, through the narrow streets everyone was shoulder to shoulder three across, two lines one way, one line going the other way.  Late afternoon George and I went down to St. Mark’s Square just watching and taking pictures of people, particuarly those in costume.  Next Friday evening the school has their Venetian Ball where one is to dress the part. I can’t show you our masks until next week, so stay tuned, you’re in for a treat!   After dinner Saturday night the teachers retreated to the hotel bar overlooking the canal and comparing our masks for the Ball.  

The crowds

Crossing the Rialto Bridge

The children taking part in Carnival

Had to have some Scottish tradition at Carnival

Lunch time

Sunday we left early in the morning to head back with a stop in Verona.  We saw the Roman arena and ‘Juliet’s balcony’  which is not really her balcony.  

As for all my bragging of great weather it came to an end.  While in Verona on Sunday, we had wet snow flurries and rain and very cool temperatures.  Hopefully this is only temporary.

While we were away Toby stayed with a lovely Italian family who loves dogs and has a garden for him to play in.  Hopefully he is able to understand Italian.


Until next week....

Family Update

February 22, 2010

Buongiorno  (Good morning)

As I mentioned in my last entry that our girls were arriving to visit on Friday.  

As you know I have mentioned the wonderful weather we have been having here - it finally had to come to an end.  The girls arrived on a rainy damp afternoon.  Diane came in earlier in the day.  Kathryn and Shelagh arrived into Rome at 2:00 and Maurizo, the driver for the school picked them up along with Barb, Christine Thomson’s sister.  They arrived here at 5:30.   We had Prosecco, cheese and crackers ready for their welcome to Italy.   Barb and Christine left to go and get Barb settled in her digs and the girls got themselves settled.  We had dinner at Le Torre, a restaurant a short walk away from our apartment where we had pasta, pizza and of course great wine.  

Early the next morning we dragged our three girls at 7:00 am to take them skiing with the students.  Once again the weather turned around in our favour.  We had clear blue skies as you can see from the photos and a wonderful day on the slopes.  The girls were so appreciative of this opportunity.  

When we arrived back we relaxed and had some vino then off to the shops that reopened at 5:00.  Dinner was at 8:30.  George and I took them to one of our favorite restaurants Al Vecchi Sapori.  This restaurant is so quaint.  The meal consisted of anti pasta that kept on coming and homemade pasta and of course vino in copious amounts.  

 Sunday we had a quiet morning.  We went to another favourite local hangout for cappuccino and crossaints.  We then took Diane to the airport in Prescara for her journey back to Edinburgh as she has placement Monday morning.  George and I then took Kathryn and Shelagh on a driving tour of the area.  Dinner tonight at the Allegria, where the students and staff have their meals.  On Monday Kathryn, Shelagh, Barb (Christine’s siser) and I went to Prescara by train (40 minutes away) to do some damage to the credit card.  Today is the last day here with Kathryn and Shelagh.  We will spend the day here and some of the younger teachers and one of the dons plan to take them out tonight.  Tomorrow they are off to finish their week with Diane in Edinburgh.  George and I are off to Venice with the school.  

Arrivederci

The Eternal City

February 13

Ciao a tutti (Hello everyone)

The weather here has been quite pleasant this week.  We have had sunshine and blue sky everyday with temperatures between 12 and 17 degrees.  Apparently this is an unusual weather pattern at this time of year.  Nevertheless it is a nice treat.

Toby at the Beach

Every Wednesday and Saturday morning in Lanciano is market day.  You can pretty well buy anything you need including food, fresh flowers, clothing, household items, etc all at reasonable prices.  This week I took advantage and bought blooming primrose plants for our balcony.

My purchase at the Market

Friday the school had a day trip to Rome.  I took in the tour of The Ancient City.  Our first stop was the Colosseum which was builit when the Roman Empire was at its peak in A.D. 80.  Its original name was the Falvian Amphitheatre.  This arena was for gladiator contests and public spectacles.  The Romans wanted to share the fun with as many people as possible so put two amphitheatres facing each other.   

There was seating for 55,000 people arranged by rank with the most wealthy nearest the ground level right up to the top level which could be occupied by women and slaves. Underneath the wooden floor covered in sand, were chambers housing the animals. Admission was free as the games were sponsored. 

When it first opened, there were 100 days of games. Each day games were scheduled from mid-morning to later in the afternoon, with the best gladiators fighting at the end of the day. It is reported that upwards of 5000 animals were killed during that period.   

As we left the Colesseum we made our way to the Roman Forum.  The Forum was the political, religious, and commerical centre of the city.  This is where Marc Antony gave his speech “Friends, Romans, Countrymen...” and Julius Caesar’s body was cremated here.

The Colosseum

Inside the Colosseum

Inside The Forum

Blossoms in The Forum - a sign of Spring

Once leaving The Forum we wandered over to Trevi Fountain.  There is always action around the Fountain.  One is to toss a coin over your shoulder, to make a wish and assure your return to Rome.  ‘It worked for me’.  From there we went to the Spanish Steps which is one of the most famous meeting places in Rome.  

Trevi Fountain - making my wish

Spanish Steps

After the tour I met up with George (he went to the Catacombs) and Christine and we wandered through the streets.  As we were getting hungry we went to a nice little outdoor restaurant with outdoor heaters and had a wonderful Italian meal with vino rosso, delicious....

The end of a good day.  Notice our scarfs, that is the Italian way!

Yesterday was a fairly quiet day.  We were given a membership to Metro which is like our Costco.  Metro is located in Chieti which is about a 35 minute drive.  We ventured out in the afternoon in the hopes of locating it.  Unfortunately, we took a wrong turn and ended up not even close to the store.  We did end up in Pescara and went for a walk along the beach.  

This week we are getting ready to have our whole family arrive next weekend.  As you can imagine we are really excited.  Till next week....

A presto

The Adventure continues

February 6, 2010

Our view of Mount Majella - notice the blue skies

After dull and rainy days at the beginning of the week the sun is out and the temperatures are starting to rise.   Each day is getting a little warmer; today it is going up to 17 degrees. 

Thursday, February 3rd was the Festival of Saint of Saint Biagio.  Saint Biagio was the Bishop of Sebaste in Armenia during the Fourth Century. Very little is known about his life. According to various accounts he was a physician before becoming a bishop. His cult spread throughout the entire Church in the Middle Ages because he was reputed to have miraculously cured a little boy who nearly died because of a fishbone in his throat. From the Eighth Century he has been invoked on behalf of the sick, especially those afflicted with illnesses of the throat.  The blessing may be given by touching the throat of each person with two candles joined together in the form of a cross.  The streets of Lanciano were filled with people going to  San Biagio Church, an old Chuch that is only open for this festival.  As part of this celebration bread shaped like bagels with anise is sold as well as donuts with sugar on top. I think the significance of this tradition is that anise is soothing for the throat.  In any rate they were pretty tasty.

San Biagio Church - pretty primitive looking

I thought I would include this picture as I need to have a photograph with wine involved.  Here I’m teaching Christine the Italian culture. 

Notice how well she has picked the culture up.

Yesterday, Saturday was quite a highlight.  One of the school activities for 2nd semester is to ski on Saturdays.  So nine students, another teacher, George and I set out early in the morning to a ski resort named Montepatello about 1 1/2 hours from Lanciano.  What a supberb day, bright, bright blue sky and the sun shining on the pristine snow.  Quite by accident we skiied a black diamond bowl down the mountain.  It was a white knuckle scary but unlike other skiers we did not crash.  

Today the staff are cooking for the students tonight.  The theme is Arizona.  One of the teachers is from Arizona and had mentioned it was Arizona’s 100th Anniversary, (found out later it is the 99th anniversary).  Other than that we are making chili, cornbread, salad and I am busy making chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies for it.

Have a good week everyone.  Hopefully it starts to warm up for you.