Carnival of Venice - The Magic Returns with Incentive Harmony

Click HERE to go to Incentive Harmony Venice Carnival 2015.

(Venice, Italy) A masked woman steps from her gondola and into the Venetian mist. Flickering candlelight illumines the silhouette of a man waiting at the palazzo door. They embrace, and journey up the red carpet, into a world of intrigue and romance...

A scene from Casanova's memoirs? No -- it's Carnival time in Venice! This year Carnevale runs from Friday, February 13th through February 24th, ending on Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, or Martedì Grasso.

Nicolas and Jean Benedict Arnita, the owners of Incentive Harmony, have been conjuring up Carnevale balls in Venice for more than a decade. Originally from Paris, they are wizards at keeping their love affair with La Serenissima vibrant and alive. This year they are offering eight elegant events at the 14th century Gothic Palazzo Pesaro Papafava, all with an historic theme.

I first met Nicolas and Jean Benedict back in 2001 when I featured their exclusive event-planning company in a story for the IHT-Italy Daily. Since that time, they have seen the likes of the Arvind Singh Mewar, the Maharana of Udaipur, and highest ranking member of the Rajput royal ancestry, cross their threshold -- apparently the Maharana has also fallen in love with Venice as it reminds him of Udaipur, and his palace on the lake:) Together, Nicolas and the Maharana presented the royal exhibition, the Treasure of the Maharaja, here in Italy with Santi Choudhary, a descendent of the original jeweler. Like the Arnitas, the Maharana is dedicated to promoting historic and responsible tourism, not only with his own properties, but across the globe. His Royal Highness couldn't attend the festivities last year, but the Arnitas have high hopes he'll be able to squeeze in a Ball or two this time around.

To kick things off, on Valentines Day, Saturday, February 14th, the theme of the Gran Ballo della Serenissima is "Love Duet," inspired by Romeo & Juliet, the renowned lovers from Verona, a town that was once part of the Venetian Republic. Throughout the evening, the most famous lyric operas will be performed, such as La Traviata, Il Barbiere di Siviglia and La Bohéme. The wine will flow as costumed guests enjoy a gala dinner, and then dance until dawn.

Woven throughout the twelve days of Carnival, the Arnitas will host seven additional events...

Please click to continue reading:
http://venetiancat-incentiveharmony.blogspot.com/

Incentive Harmony of Nicolas Arnita would like to express its great appreciation for the fresh vision and collaboration between the major organizations of the Comune, the Province and the Region, and all its residents, Veneziani di Cuore.

Viva La Serenissima!

Views on Venice - Rent a Palace... or an Apartment

Palazzo Loredan dell'Ambasciatore - Photo: David Nicholls

(Venice, Italy) Palazzo Loredan dell'Ambasciatore is a 15th-century Gothic palace that once belonged to the noble Loredan family. It was called "dell'ambasciatore" because it was the home of the ambassadors of the Austrian Empire to the Republic.

One Loredan ancestor, Antonio, was the adminstrator of Corfu who defeated the Turks in 1716, together with Count Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg, a Saxon general. After the battle, Count Schulenburg set up house inside the Loredan Palace, along with twenty-five members of his entourage and four gondoliers, and was known for his illustrious dinner parties and admirable art collection.

In 1752, another ancestor, Francesco Loredan, who also happened to be the Doge, offered the palazzo as a residence for the Ambassador of the Holy Roman Empire in exchange for twenty-nine years of restorations. Even in those days, a Venetian palace was costly to maintain!

The first Imperial Ambassador to live there was Count Philip Joseph Orsini-Rosenberg. If you have read Andrea di Robilant's book, A Venetian Affair, about the intriguing letters exchanged by Andrea's ancestors, you will remember that one of Count Rosenberg's claims to fame was his marriage in his vintage years to the vibrant Giustiniana Wynne -- her passionate love affair with Andrea Memmo was the topic of that book.

In fact, another friend, Ian Kelly, has written a new biography called Casanova in which Giustiniana Wynne is also featured. Ian has dug up even more riveting details about that fascinating woman who, after discovering she was pregnant with Andrea Memmo's child, ran off to Paris to ask Giocomo Casanova for help. She married Count Rosenberg years later when she discovered that Andrea Memmo was in love with another woman. Imagine, after more than 250 years, people are still curious about Giustiniana -- and Venice's grand intrigues.

Venice is like a theatrical production, one that has been going on for centuries. The set remains almost the same, as do many of the characters -- shopkeepers and gondoliers, fishmongers and aristocrats -- each playing their particular role. Great minds built this city; their thoughts still permeate the air. Memories linger on silk wall coverings and dangle from Ca' Rezzonico chandeliers. Footsteps from centuries ago have left their imprint on the pebbled Venetian pavimento. Every living space comes with a story, one that you can step into, or one you create yourself.

These days, the Palazzo dell'Ambasciatore is owned by the Gaggia family. The grandmother of Filippo Gaggia used to entertain in the piano nobile you see, which is called Ca' Cerchieri.




Filippo Gaggia is now one of the owners of Views on Venice, one of the most prestigious short-term rental agencies in town. More importantly...
Please click here to continue reading:
http://viewsonvenice.blogspot.com/

British Pantomime in Venice - Panto Venezia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UPDATE February 9, 2016: I, Cat Bauer, have no association whatsoever with the group formerly known as "Pantalon Players," which now appears to be going by the name of "Panto Venezia," and apparently continues to perform in Venice at a different location after they lost the theater Auditorium Santa Margherita, the last place I performed with the group in 2008.

I have not had any association with the group since I was fired as Cinderella for writing a blog post about having been physically assaulted by John-Henry Bowden, the former chaplain of the Anglican Church here in Venice, which you can read here.

After many years, huge expense and extreme physical and emotional abuse, I won a series of legal actions, both civil and criminal, and wish to distance myself from any activities on the part of this group. As in any organization, the group contained upstanding members as well as those of questionable character, but I do not want a positive post I wrote seven years ago to be interpreted as an endorsement today.

It is an outrage that Megan H. Jones, "US Consulate Agent" was at the last fundraiser, and it is an outrage the group continues to try to impose itself on a city that does not want them here.

Here is the original post:

(Venice, Italy) Sometimes in January, some distinguished and sophisticated ex-pats here in Venice lose their minds and perform a bizarre form of entertainment called British pantomime, or panto for short. This is a very popular form of family entertainment in the United Kingdom, with lots of cross-dressing and hissing and booing, but many Americans have never heard of it, and confuse it with the silence of mime. Well, let's get enlightened right now!

From Wikipedia:

"The style and content of modern pantomime have very clear and strong links with the Commedia dell'arte, a form of popular theatre that arose in Italy in the Early Modern Period, and which reached England by the 16th century. A 'comedy of professional artists' travelling from province to province in Italy and then France, they improvised and told stories which told lessons to the crowd and changed the main character depending on where they were performing...

The leading male juvenile character (the 'principal boy') - is traditionally played by a young woman, and usually in tight-fitting male garments (such as breeches) that make her female charms evident.

An older woman (the pantomime dame - often the hero's mother) is usually played by a man in drag.

Risqué double entendre, often wringing innuendo out of perfectly innocent phrases. This is, in theory, over the heads of the children in the audience.

Audience participation, including calls of "Look behind you!" (or "He's behind you!"), and "Oh, yes it is!" and "Oh, no it isn't!" The audience is always encouraged to boo the villain and "awwwww" the poor victims, such as the rejected dame, who usually fancies the prince.

A song combining a well-known tune with re-written lyrics. The audience is encouraged to sing the song; often one half of the audience is challenged to sing 'their' chorus louder than the other half. ..."

To read the entire Wikipedia article, click here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantomime

The Pantalon Players (as we now call ourselves) first performed Aladdin many years ago inside a convent, curious nuns poking their heads in to watch the show. I was the Principal Boy back then, Aladdin the Gondolier, and I wore a gondolier's shirt and hat, but with a short skirt and heels. The genie was John Francis Phillimore, the owner of Old World Books, the rare book shop near the Ghetto, and Jonathan Fox, wearing big bloomers and speaking in falsetto, was my mother.

Then we took a long break -- several years -- and opened again with Mother Goose at the auditorium in Campo Santa Margherita. Again I was the principal boy, Robin Goodsort, a poor but kind-hearted woodcutter, this time with short shorts and Spanish leather boots.

 

First they tried to get me to use a real axe, but we are not allowed to have real weapons here in the Magic Kingdom, and the axe was confiscated immediately by my Venetian ex-moroso when I went out on the street. So, Howard Fitzpatrick (who owns Venice Art Tours), and is also married to the writer and director of the panto, the novelist, Laurie Graham, kindly made me the fake one that I am wielding in that image opposite Fairy Stinkweed, played by Peter Page, the jewelry designer. The evil count was played by the Anglican Chaplain, John-Henry Bowden, and the money we raised went to help restore the roof of the Anglican Church.

Last year, we performed Dick Whittington, and I was the Good Fairy Bow Bells, which was quite a difficult part to play since one of my wings was bent. Dick Whittington is about a rat-catcher that grows up to become Lord Mayor of London, and was our greatest success.

The rats were played by local Venetian kids. The singer, Rosemary Forbes-Butler, stepped in at the last moment due to the Principal Boy's pregnancy complications, and did an amazing job as Dick Whittington him/herself. We raised almost €3,000 Euro for Care & Share Italia, a charity working with the most disadvantaged of children in southern India, and this was our great reward:

This year we are exhausted by the Financial Crisis, the Aqua Granda, and the General Tumult in the World Today, so there will be no performance:) Seriously, we planned last year not to perform this year, so we must have had a premonition. In any event, we will have a performance in 2010, and the show will be the greatest and most ambitious production ever: CINDERELLA!

We are actually planning in advance this time, and we are looking to You, Dear Readers, for your donations so we can put on a Really Good Show. If you are in Venice, there are all sorts of exciting fund raisers -- on New Year's Day there was a bacon and egg brunch, and at the raffle I won a bottle of Glenfiddich, the first bottle of Scotch I have ever owned in my life! If you are not in Venice, there are many ways you can participate from afar.

To read Laurie Graham's very clever (and better) explanation of how we came into existence, and how to contribute, please click here:

http://www.venice-art-tours.com/panto1.htm

Here is an example of one star-studded cast:

MOTHER GOOSE

Written & Directed by Laurie Graham

CAST

Narrator - Jeremy Magorian

Mother Goose - Jonathan Fox
Daisy May - Judith Asher

Silly Billy - Sandra Fox

Robin Goodsort - Cat Bauer

Sir Jasper Grasper - John-Henry Bowden

Terry Bull - Frank O'Halloran

Harry Bull - Howard Fitzpatrick

Fairy Stinkwood - Peter Page

Fairy Foxglove - Noelle Rimmington

Goosey Lucy - Elaine Eliah

Attila the Hen - Elizabeth Leckie

Make-up - Liesl Odenweller

Music Director - Sidney Stires

Choreography - Ferruccio Berolo

Sets - Jane Gorlin

Stage Manager - Louise Andrew

Light & Sound - Marilyn Bowden & Tony Bird

Miss Bauer's Day Wear by Sete-Cento: http://www.sete-cento.com/

Mr. Page's costume by Leone Dooré

Ms. Eliah's plumage by Lynn Lazzarini & Christine Conway Morris

Benefits for the roof repair fund of St. George's Anglican Church, Venice

Ciao from Venice,

Cat

http://venetiancat.blogspot.com/

Buona Befana! The Befana Regata and Epiphany in Venice

Befane in Venice

(Venice, Italy) The Epiphany, or the Twelfth Day of Christmas, on January 6th is a national holiday in Italy. It is also the day of La Befana, a witch who hands out candy and gifts for good children, and coal for bad children, similar to Santa Claus.

In Venice, the holiday has morphed into something truly unique. During the Regata delle Befane, male Venetian rowers dress in drag as female witches, and have a little regata, or race. The finish line is below my apartment, so I usually have a Befana party to close the holiday season. No one ever seems to know, exactly, what time the race starts or finishes. Some posters from the Comune said to go over to the fish market at 11:30AM for hot mulled wine and sweets, so I thought 11AM would be a good time for the party. It turned out it was too late. Note to self: the Befana regata celebration starts at 10AM!

A Venetian chorus started singing Venetian songs at the foot of the Rialto Bridge at about 10AM, so I called the documentary filmmaker Anny Cararro and told her to come earlier because she wanted to shoot some footage. We started getting all teary-eyed listening to the songs. For me, the Befana regata is one of the most Venetian holidays because the Venetians really run the show. The acoustics are very particular at the foot of the Rialto Bridge, and the voices of the chorus soared over the Grand Canal, echoing off the palazzi and skipping across the water. An enormous stocking is hung from the top of the Rialto Bridge, and with the men rowing frantically dressed as women... well, you can only imagine.

One year, I spent La Befana in the Veneto on the mainland, and out there they burned her image, sort of like a scarecrow/witch, in a huge bonfire. She then resurrected into human form and handed out sweets or coal, and then later the children went in and sat on her lap while the adults munched on traditional sweets and drank hot mulled wine.

The Twelfth Day of Christmas, or the Epiphany, is celebrated to commemorate the day the Three Magi arrived with their gifts for the infant Jesus. How did a witch get involved with that?

According to Wikipedia, La Befana may have pagan origins, and since many Christian holidays and images can trace their origins back before the Church got involved, I am putting my money on that theory. La Befana feels pagan:

A popular belief is that her name derives from the festival of Epiphany, but there is evidence to suggest that Befana is descended from the Sabine/Roman goddess named Strina. In the book Vestiges of Ancient Manners and Customs, Discoverable in Modern Italy and Sicily by Rev. John J. Blunt (John Murray, 1823), the author says:

"This Befana appears to be heir at law of a certain heathen goddess called Strenia, who presided over the new-year's gifts, 'Strenae,' from which, indeed, she derived her name. (D. Augustin. de Civit. Dei, lib. iv. c. 16.) Her presents were of the same description as those of the Befana—figs, dates, and honey. (Ov. Fast. i. 185.) Moreover her solemnities were vigorously opposed by the early Christians on account of their noisy, riotous, and licentious character" (Vide Rosini, ed. Dempster. lib. i. c.13, de Dea Strenia}. – page 120

To read the entire article, go to Wikipedia:

In any event, I would like to thank my guests for their excellent conversation and generosity in creating a spectacular table. Each person contributed something, so we had lasagna, salad, mushrooms, cheeses and plenty of fine wine, panettone and chocolates!

Ciao from Venice,
Cat
Venetian Cat - Venice Blog

Venice at the New Year

Photo: Roberto Silva

(Venice, Italy) That image of an angel was taken by an old friend, the photographer, Roberto Silva. He also took my author's photo, the same one you see here on my blog. I don't really look like that any more; it was taken about three years ago. The sweater, however, is the same.

Today, on New Year's Day, January 1, 2009, I wore that same bright green sweater to a brunch.

Cat Bauer - Photo by Roberto Silva - ©Cat Bauer

The photo that ended up in Harley's Ninth is actually the second photo we took. Roberto and I re-shot the author's photo because the first coverflap looked too sad -- there were all sorts of tragedies at that point in time, reflected in my face -- and Knopf kindly allowed me to redo it. In fact, they kindly allowed me to have a photo in the first place, because they usually don't do that for my genre.

I love Roberto's photos because he captures souls, even the soul of a statue or a building. I also love Roberto because we have the same birthday, July 27. We are both Leos, and sometimes we have thunderous disagreements.

Photo: Roberto Silva

It snowed last night in Venice. I was exiting the Goldoni Theatre, where I had just seen Cirk, a theatrical production directed by the Dutch Ted Keijser, and flakes were starting to come down. That is not a photo from last night, but it is a Roberto Silva photo, and it has snow.

To see more of Roberto's work go here:

http://www.robertosilva.net/
(Update 12/20/13 - Roberto has let that domain expire - 12/22/19 apparently someone else named Roberto Silva has taken the domain.)

I ended up at Cirk because of New Year's Eve Venetian shenanigans. I was not in the mood to play, and decided at the last minute to change my plans. So, about 5pm, I thought, what shall I do tonight?

Just like a movie, I saw the poster for CIRK at the Goldoni Theatre. It was a Pantakin production. All sorts of bells and whistles went off in my brain, because many years ago, I had written about the Pantakin production of Ombra di Luna for the International Herald Tribune's Italy Daily. It was one of my most difficult pieces to write; in fact, I almost gave up, but it ended up being one of the stories I like the best.

The ensemble of Ombra di Luna, or Moon Shadow, challenges the idea of what, exactly, constitutes a circus. Inside a tent at the Port of Venice, smoldering campfires peek out from behind a forest of trees. Painted stars illuminate the ceiling. There is a rumble, and the skeleton of a ship is carried into the ring. Instead of a ringmaster cracking a whip, the host for the evening is a squawking bird wearing a mask in the role of a clown inspired by the Commedia de l'arte. As the evening progresses, elements of folk theater, acrobatics, dance, contortion, music, juggling and improvisation are hung loosely together on the ancient Sumerian myth of Gilgamesh, the seeker who was one-third man and two-thirds god.

Ah! Those were the days, my friends. I can't imagine writing like that for a newspaper at this point in time (I'm sure some of you are thinking: thank god for that!:). In any event, I made a phone call, and was fortunate to score a ticket to Cirk at the last moment -- the theater was packed.

Beppe "Sipy" Tenenti - Cirk

Cirk is similar to Ombra di Luna, only the story is loosely about a missing elephant instead of being loosely about Gilgamesh. None of the players are the same as in Ombra, but the spirit of Pantakin is the pillar.

That image you see is Beppe "Sipy" Tenenti juggling, um... elephant dung. It was so bizarre, funky, and out there... but there was something about it that was very human... honest and sincere.

The stand-out in the show was Emmanuelle Annoni, a coquettish colt with a sense of humor, a daring, focused talent, and very flexible bones. Not so easy to feign sleep on a tightrope!

As usual, I am having a problem with my embedding, so here is the YouTube link for the three minute promo. It is very... European, and will give you a nice taste of the difference between cultures -- my voice is very American, and so it seems familiar, but my backdrop is most definitely European:

After the show, I wandered into Piazza San Marco, but was not impressed, so I went home. As the people on the streets became drunk and starting breaking bottles and exploding firecrackers, I watched the fireworks from my balcony as the snow came down.

I put my speakers outside and blasted Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 over the Grand Canal, Arturo Toscanini leading Vladimir Horowitz with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, a recording from Carnegie Hall in 1943. It was a beautiful image, the tumbling snow, the fireworks over the palazzi and the people gathered on the Rialto Bridge, listening to the music.

Happy New Year from Venice,
Cat Bauer
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog


*UPDATE 12-20-2013 - Once again I've tried to fix the formatting on this post, with a little success. 
*UPDATE 4-21-2016 - Again tried to fix formatting. It's almost the way I want it.

What is "Acqua Alta" (High Water) in Venice and is it Dangerous?

Venice in the Evening - Photo: Jonathan Ulman

(Venice, Italy) Human beings are fascinating creatures. I hear that people are actually cancelling reservations to Venice based upon the images shown all over the world regarding our Aqua Granda on December 1st. Instead of panicking, let's get educated. (That image you see is by Jonathan Ulman, and illustrates what Venice looks like most of the time.)

Acqua alta is NOT a flash flood from a river or from the sea. It is a tide. Most of us have been to the ocean or the sea. The tide goes in. It peaks. The tide goes out. During low tide, you can pick up sea shells that are otherwise hidden by the water and squish your feet into the wet sand. During high tide, if you have put your towel too close to the ocean, you must move it back a few feet or it will get wet. The tide is like the breath of the Earth. It is a natural, normal thing.

Venice has been in existence since March 25, 421, when, according to legend, she was born at 12:00 noon in Campo San Giacometto. That makes her 1,587 years old. Most of the buildings here are at least 500 years old; some much older, and they were built using very enlightened principles.

Most people have experienced Mother Nature when she gets out of sorts. I have lived through earthquakes, fire, and riots in Los Angeles, hurricanes and flooding in New Jersey and Florida, and blizzards and blackouts in New York City. I was in the middle of a tornado in Croatia, shattered glass all around. I was even hit by ball lightning in my cradle in South Carolina.

(UPDATE: At the time I wrote this in 2008, I did not know that in the future I would be swept up in yet another tornado right here in Venice on June 12, 2012, which you can read about here (spoiler alert: I survived) ->

Tornado in Venice - Eyewitness Report - Cat, You're Not in Kansas Anymore

There are natural disasters all over the world all the time; it is impossible to avoid them; we either survive them or we don't. Acqua alta is not a tidal wave. It is the most gentle and pleasant of all the acts of nature, because it arrives slowly, stays for a couple of hours, and then goes away again. Every time they dig up something around here, they find a lower street level, so the Venetians are very familiar with acqua alta. Everyone puts on their boots, as if it were snowing, and goes about their business.

Acqua alta, if we have it, arrives usually in November and December. It only happens if certain conditions combine: like a seiche, which is like a long wave that washes all the coasts of the Adriatic, and a scirocco, which is a warm wind that blows the Adriatic Sea to the Venetian Gulf, or the bora, a cold wind from the northeast. We all know that the Moon affects the tides, so often the Moon is also involved. The Comune of Venice has set up a website to explain it to you:

This is only my own personal theory, but the Full Moon this December 12th was the closest it has been to us for 15 years, since 1993. The New Moon was on November 27th. So, on December 1st, this great Moon was at the beginning of its approach toward Earth. Also, on that day, there was a three-way conjunction between the Moon, Jupiter and Venus -- here in Europe, the Moon actually eclipsed Venus on December 1st. Now, if Jupiter and Venus add their energy to the Moon, well, you are going to get a very strong Moon. Add to that the seiche and the scirocco, and, perhaps, that created the Aqua Granda. Again, that is only my theory, nothing scientific.

If you speak to people in town about what happened on December 1st, everyone will give you a different impression about that day, depending on their location. Most people experienced flooding, although some people were not affected at all. Children went to school. I live right on the Grand Canal at Rialto, and I am always affected by acqua alta because the ground level is very low and the water is right below.

Everything in Venice is back to normal, and has been for some time. Last night over at St. George's Church we had our annual Christmas gathering, and some Americans came up to me and thanked me for my reading, which was: The angel Gabriel salutes the Blessed Virgin Mary (that image is Sandro Botticelli's interpretation). They said it felt like a message had been delivered and that it made them feel at home. The church was packed, and afterwards we had hot mulled wine and mince pies.

Today in Venice it is bright and sunny, and everyone is over at the Christmas market which runs through many of the campi in town. There were Santa Clauses out in the gondolas this morning. There are Christmas cocktails and Christmas concerts and Christmas lights and Christmas parties. The only annoyance was the loud amateur "rock" band in Campo Santo Stefano, blasting music in the Christmas market -- a string quartet or a choir would have been much more pleasant and appropriate. Not that I'm against rock 'n roll -- I love it at the right place and time -- but it doesn't belong in an elegant square on the Sunday before Christmas.

Venice is a magical town, the only place like it on Earth. Educate yourselves before you come, and you will be sure to have a wonderful time.

Now, enough about acqua alta!

 

UPDATE: It seems that this post still gets a bit of attention. Since I wrote it more than a decade ago, the high tides in Venice have increasingly grown more severe. Here are links to three more posts that give a more complete picture, plus a link to The Local Italy to my reaction after MOSE, the barrier that holds back the sea, actually worked:

 

From 2016:

Remembering the Venice Flood of 1966 - Aqua Granda 50 Years On

 

From 2018:

Acqua Alta - Exceptional High Water in Venice, October 2018

 

From 2019:

The Exploitation of Venice + Anniversary of the Death of Valeria Solesin + Great November 2019 Flood

 

From The Local Italy 2020:

‘Disbelief and elation’: Venice residents celebrate after Mose sea barrier prevents flooding

 

Ciao from Venezia,

Cat Bauer

Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog

Aqua Alta? Acqua Alta? Wrong! Aqua Granda!

(Venice, Italy) I have received many comments after scolding Richard Owen at Times Online for using the spelling acqua alta instead of aqua alta to describe the high water we had in Venice on December 1st. I chalked it up to the difference between Venice and Rome. In my environment, I have always used the spelling aqua alta.

Yesterday, I informally polled some Venetians. The Venetian language is a mainly an oral language these days, and all Venetians I know speak it; however, not many know how to write it. The people aged 35 and younger insisted it was acqua alta. The ones a bit older, up to about 60, paused, and said they thought acqua alta, but weren't sure. Then, a white-haired man about 80-years-old with a cane passed by, and they all shouted, "Ask him!" "Most definitely aqua alta," he declared without hesitation, "without the 'c,'" and continued on.

Everyone became obsessed with the discussion. They all said they had a Venetian dictionary at home and would look it up. I decided to ask our human encyclopedia, Franco Filippi, who owns a bookshop here in Venice, Libreria Editrice Filippi, and is an authority on everything Venetian... well, as much as anyone can be an authority because it is nearly impossible to solidify reality in this town.

Franco said that both Richard Owen and I were correct, and that we were both wrong. Acqua alta is the spelling in Italian and aqua alta is the spelling in Latin; either can be used, and both are correct. To illustrate his point, he pulled a few books off the shelves with each spelling. "However," Franco said, "what happened on December 1st was not aqua alta at all. It was Aqua Granda since it was over 1.50 meters, and, personally, I would spell that without the "c." (That image you see is a sign giving directions on how to get to Rialto or San Marco. And, yes, both directions will get you there in about the same amount of time. In fact, no matter how far or long you walk in Venice, you may end up right where you started:)


Someone on Wikipedia has done an amazing, detailed job in explaining the Venetian language:

"Venetian or Venetan is a Romance language spoken by over two million people,[1] mostly in the Veneto region of Italy. The language is called vèneto in Venetian, veneto in Italian; the variant spoken in Venice is called venexiàn/venesiàn or veneziano, respectively.

...On March 28, 2007 the Regional Council of Vèneto officially recognized the existence of the Venetian Language (Łéngua Vèneta) by passing with an almost unanimous vote a law on the "tutela e valorizzazione della lingua e della cultura veneta" (Law on the Protection and Valoraisation of the Venetian Language and Culture) with the vote of both ruling and opposition parties."

If you'd like to see for yourselves how complicated the situation is, here is the entire Wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venetian_language

In any event, since December 1st, we have gone back down to simple aqua alta, and the locals have asked me to tell you to come on over and join us in Venice. This past Sunday the sun was shining on the aqua alta all over town. It made kind of a mysterious moat, blocking access just past Santi Apostoli unless you were wearing boots. Strangely, it seemed to have flooded into the commerical shops that you find all over the world, and left the Venetian shops alone. An Italian couple wearing shoes stopped me. "Is it possible to pass?" I said, "In the mountains you must bring your snow boots. These days, when you come to Venice, you must bring your water boots. Otherwise, everything is normal." They nodded. "Yes. That makes sense." We were almost giddy on Sunday, everyone was having so much fun navigating the water. People were sitting at tables in outdoor cafès in puddles of water, wearing their boots. Others were paddling around in kayaks. It was just like snow, but water... there was the feeling of joy you can have when playing in the snow. You can buy rubber boots all over town these days, at many shoe and hardware stores -- they cost about 20-25 euro. However, you must come in the morning to enjoy aqua alta because it is almost gone by 1:00PM.

Personally, I have gotten used to putting on my rubber boots before heading out the door in the morning because if there is high water, we are always flooded over here on the Riva del vin, which is on the Grand Canal right at the Rialto Bridge. (Vin=wine in Venetian; in Italy they drink vino:) The waiters at the restaurant downstairs set up the tables in the water, laughing and singing at the absurdity of it all. Other areas of town are not at all affected. I ran into some friends on the vaporetto the other night as I was heading out to dinner wearing my Spanish leather boots. Two had on rubber boots and one had on shoes. "Aren't you taking a risk?" they asked. "I am gambling that I can get to my dinner appointment and back home tonight without running into aqua alta," I said. And I did!


Ciao from Venice,
Cat
http://venetiancat.blogspot.com/

High Water Vacation in Venice!

(Venice, Italy) That image you see is not Venice, it is Rome. There has always been a bit of conflict between Venice and Rome -- Venice was excommunicated by the Pope on more than one occassion, which did not stop Venice from doing business as usual.

I spoke earlier today with a friend from Milano who was in Sienna. He was the first one to tell me about the flooding in Rome, where it has been declared a natural disaster by the mayor, and so far three people have died. The River Tiber is threatening to overflow its banks as I write this. He asked me how things were in Venice. Here are my observations:

On my way to dinner last night, I noticed the precautions the businesses had taken in response to the three level siren alarm. The restaurant downstairs on the riva was serving dinner right on the Grand Canal as the water licked toward the feet of the customers. I said, you are open? They laughed. "Always!" The wooden planks for walking had been set in place. A bank (as in a place to store your money) had very neatly moved everything off the floor and up on the desks, then locked up for the night. The doors in front of all the shops had their high-water blockades set in place.

Then, this morning we all had on our high water boots as we went about our day; otherwise it was pretty much business as usual. There was a feeling of comradery, as if we were all in this together and would simply make the best of things. A Canadian woman in Campo San Maurizio asked me how to get to the University of Ca' Foscari for a conference; she had on shoes, not boots. I said, you are not prepared. She was from Ottawa. I said, surely you have boots in Ottawa and she said her boots were too warm for Venice. With some deft twists and turns, I managed to bring her to the vaporetto stop at Sant 'Angelo without getting her feet wet.

There were very few tourists, and the ones who were here were having fun. It was easy to separate the wise from the uneducated tourists today because the latter either didn't have their boots on, or they were wearing the noisy plastic tourist boots. At the top of the Rialto Bridge I saw some very interesting boots similar to our boots, but different -- they were elegant, yet practical. I said, "Where did you get those boots?" They said, "We are from Northern France and we brought them from there."

I think this is a great new fad and that all tourists coming to Venice should bring their high-water boots from their own countries. In fact, perhaps we should start importing them. There's a fantastic new business idea for all you Venetian merchants, and I am quite sure you will make a profit. A store called Aqua Alta Supplies for all your high-water needs.

I hear the ever-enterprising hotel association is offering high water boots as part of a package, with a map of alternate routes. The museums and art galleries are dry. People are cheerful. The streets have never been cleaner. It couldn't be a better time to come to Venice!

Ciao from Venice,
Cat
https://venetiancat.blogspot.com/

Three Level Alarm for High Water in Venice

(Venice, Italy) I must take back every bad thing I said about the new siren. I have already grown very fond of it after hearing it nearly every day. It just went off again now, the same Three-Level alarm we had when the high water in Venice was all over the news. I have to go out to dinner tonight:) I'll keep you posted.

Ciao from Venice,
Cat
http://venetiancat.blogspot.com