Another Country Unmasked

“My other car is a boat; my other road is a canal.”

People often complain that London is just too dang busy. These same people claim that it’s an attractive place to visit for a while, but I couldn’t live there. I’m not going to lie and say they’re wrong. In London, there are going to be people around you all the time. But really, when it comes down to it, if you don’t like crowds, a) don’t live in a big city, b) don’t leave your house or apartment, and c) if you DO live in the city and you DO leave home, don’t go out when there are city-wide parties going on. In the past couple of weeks here in London there have not been any interracial parties happening…so I shipped out to Italy in search of one. In the Christian religion, lent is the period between Ash Wednesday and Easter. In Venice, in the days leading up to Ash Wednesday, we found that party. This week’s culture topic of the week is:

CARNIVAL

Of course, the Italians spell it “Carnivale”, but that’s because they speak a language other than English. That language is Italian. And just to clarify my stance on this: if you have never been to a country that didn’t speak your language, go now (and try to learn a couple words.)


Carnival is a ten day festival designed as one last chance to excess and binge on supposed sinful things before the fasting and abstinence that happen during lent. In Italy, the biggest party happens in Venice, where the first carnival was recorded in the late 13th century. Masks are worn as a sign of revolt against past laws that prohibited anything that “masked” the soul, but have been traditionally worn year round in courtship and other festivities. I don’t know a lot about this tradition, but what I do know is that when one shows their masked face, it is a sign that one they are interested in the other.
Carnivale = Party = Fine with me!

Venezia (Venice, in English) is, of course, located in the north-eastern corner of Italy, on the Adriatic Sea and is best known for its streets made entirely out of water (ie. Canals). Venice is an island located approximately 4km off the mainland (though connected by a bridge), and is the former capital of the region of Veneto and home to some of the great renaissance musicians, artists and innovators (Vivaldi, Mozart, Da Vinci), home to many amazing museums and sights, setting for many great stories (Merchant of Venice, Casa Nova), and the origins for much naval technology. Apparently there have been two major cultural slams on Venice, the first being when the Austrians invaded, and the second (just after they finally got the ball rolling again) when Napoleon invaded. Anyone else see an invasion trend going on?

Things to do: walk around, take pictures, take a boat and/or gondola (traditional Venetian boat that is literally a certifiable art and trade that almost always runs in the family and is not easy to achieve at all) ride, eat pizza/pasta/Chinese food/supermarket food/all in one day, and of course drink espresso based drinks and wine. In fact, if you only ingest two things in Italy make sure they are espresso and wine. Not only will they counterbalance each other, they will also be delicious…unless you drink the coffee from a can and/or the wine from a box. Fact: chains like Starbucks are designed after the Italian cafés; in Italy, Starbucks is nowhere to be found. Eerie, almost.

Nightlife is the highlight of the city during Carnival, and no matter where you go there are people around. Each and every little piazza has its own little demonstration and/or dance party, live band, drink stand, DJ, exciting performer, or maybe just drunk people standing around drinking and having fun. Carnival ends in a massive gathering at Piazza San Marco (St Mark’s Square – sounds cooler in Italian, eh?) and fireworks display over the harbour with music and awe. The jazz band was cool too.

Masks are more of a fad for tourists in Venice than a true ongoing tradition and you can get a mask starting at 5 Euros a pop. I got mine at the same place that built the masks for the movie “Eyes Wide Shut”, an art-house style movie starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman (their last together). It’s creepy. Most people’s are not. In fact, most are based on characters, like happy, sad, evil, two-face, the dame, and the hero. The list goes on, and of course they all have real names, but I don’t know them.

Great ski days hinge on three major things: good snow, sunny skies and the people you’re there with. Long weekend getaways to north-eastern Italy are apparently quite similar. Blue skies make for nice pictures, no snow means the world is not going to end, and good people make for more fun. Oh, and masks. And espresso.

As a tribute to the Oscars that took place last night, (which I couldn’t have cared less about) I’d like to first thank the academy. I’d also like to thank RyanAir for supplying Europe with discount airfares and for allowing me to buy a return flight for less than 5 GBP plus taxes. I’d like to thank the internet for providing an endless source of information and for giving me the necessary access to pre-book hostels online. I’d like to thank my work for giving me the time off and paying me a steady wage (though it could be higher) so that I could budget a trip. I’d like to thank the wine and coffee growers who provided me with (most often) nice tasting and (most often) reasonably priced beverages and the people I shared them with. Most of all, though, I’d like to thank the country of Italy for being the 20th country on my list:

Gratie, la Vita è Bella!