Friday, 20 February, 2009

I woke up about seven and came down to the kitchen so as not to wake the others. I wrote and read until eight, then showered and dressed. At nine, still not hearing the two upstairs stirring, I decided to make breakfast and coffee. The plan had been to go to Verona today, to see the Roman sites (since there would be no going Rome on this trip we may as well see ancient roman objects) and to see the King of Gnocchi parade. I had hoped we could be there by ten, but it looked like it was going to be a later day than expected. I finished breakfast and cleaned up somewhat, and readied myself to go. They had both been out pretty late, and after all it wouldn’t hurt to have a day off of sightseeing. Everyone needs a recharge. I left them a note and started off to the vaporetto stop to leave town. Marco called and I told him I was going by myself since they were still sleeping. He offered to come with me but I didn’t expect him to spend his day off babysitting me, when he had errands to run for his mother, sister and niece. The women in his life rule his days and nights. He’s a good guy. But he did ask me why I was leaving without talking to my housemates first. Maybe they did want to go.

I went back to the apartment and woke them up. It was a bit of a reveille (spelling?) of "Hey, it’s ten o' clock, what do you want to do today?" To their defense, one of the things I love about the apartment is that you can make it absolutely blacked out from the inside, but it can cause you to hibernate like a bear way too easily. After a short discussion it was decided we would forego Verona, I would go to Santa Maria della Salute while they got themselves together. Charlene still wasn’t feeling 100% so we’d stick around town and go out in short jaunts. But we would go out for lunch at Alla Zucca, another favorite haunt of mine.

I arrived at Santa Maria della Salute about the same time as the horde of photographers, waiting to snap the Carnevale costumes. Apparently this is the place to see and be seen in the mornings during Carnevale. The decked out masqueraders preen and pose on the steps while the photographers, some with press passes so they must be from news outlets, snap away. Now just differentiate, these are the fantasy costumes – usually a male and female figure behind the full face mask and enrobed on lots of layers of frippery and tulle, bright and colorful, mystical and a little creepy (to me anyway.) They seem like large dolls come to life, and only up close do you see them moving inside their masks, the lampblack around the eyes to heighten the illusion and anonymity. It’s all very much staged; they pose with these coy mannerisms around columns of the church or on the steps. The male/female couples hold hands in a frozen ballet and with the head angled just so to catch the theatricality of it all. And later we buy the postcards and calendars with their images.

There are many types of costumes in the town to celebrate Carnevale; this is only one faction. There are also the historical costumes, the 17th and 18th century period costumes- Casanovas, and nobility, the doges and popes and priests and courtesans. There are the Commedia dell’Arte costumes, with their masks of Pantalone, Dottore, Columbina, Pierrot and Arlecchino. And then there is everything else. Stormtroopers, Johnny Depp pirates, slugs and Barbie Dolls, children in Disney characters, everything is welcomed and celebrated. But today, at this time, is the fashion show of the "fantasie": the nameless and faceless figurines in their expressionless masks.

I came back to apartment and we set about making our way to Zuccha, near San Stae and Giocomo del’Orio. I understand this is considered one of the first progressive restaurants here in Venice, as it was all vegetarian at first. Since I have been coming to town I see they do have some meat dishes, but it is widely veggie-friendly. I ordered the Zuppe di zucca with lentils, Char had the lasagna with zucca and funghi, Luke had a lamb with couscous. We all had desserts to share; a pistachio semifreddo, a lemoncello iced mousse with berries, and tiramisu. Mmm! On the way back to the apartment I stopped and showed them the Frari church with its Titans, tombs and Bellinis.

(Lasagne di zucca e funghi)

(Zuppe di zucca e lenticche)


(Semifreddo di pistacchie)

(Tiramisu)

(Giacchie di limoncello e frutti di bosco)

Back at the apartment I attended to a work related issue (which I would rather not have had interrupt my vacation, especially in the manner in which the news came to me via someone else’s Facebook account, but I am just trying to be a team player and do everything asked of me.) After a few calls back home and getting information on how to access a version of my work email, I sent off the info as requested and we readied ourselves for what we hoped would be a highlight of the festivities – the International Drag Queen show in the Piazza. We come from San Francisco and we love our drag queens, so bring it on! In keeping with the festive atmosphere and essentially doing as we were seeing it done, we opted to bring our own refreshments with us, some wine in water bottles. I don’t want to carry a glass wine bottle around with me, and I certainly don’t want to be attempting to crowd into the cafes and bars around the Piazza. It’s a madhouse down there.

The crowd was fun and into it, the stage management and hosting was putting on quite a show, but the contestants were not all up to snuff, in my opinion. There were definitely people who had done this before, don’t get me wrong, very professional and out-there costumes that you would see in any club or video or movie, there were also those who looked hot in their leather pants and fetish wear (but not necessarily in drag, mind you – dressing like a boy in a lot of makeup is not DRAG, kiddos!) and then there were the others. I don’t know the criteria for getting a chance to walk on the stage on the contest, but I think there were some people up there who were only there because they lost a bet. My dad and his full beard in a frock with rouge and fishnets kind of stuff. And in the middle of this I got a phone call from the States again. Ugh, more stuff to attend to “in an emergency.”

I texted Luke & Char that I had to go back to the house and take care of something right away. At the end of it I was in a foul mood, the stomach acid was making my insides churn and I opted to stay in the rest of the night. Luke & Char went out, finding their way to the nighttime outdoor gathering in Campo Santa Margherita in the next neighborhood over. Tomorrow will be a better day and I will not let outside forces interfere in my vacation any longer.