I stayed in Rome one extra day just to see this gallery.
When I was there last in 2012 I naively thought Peni and I could get tickets to it 5 or so days in advance. No go - all booked up. SUCH a disappointment. So this trip I was well prepared with having purchased my ticket months in advance. The answer to whether it was worth it is, of course, a decided, unconditional, vehement YES!
These are only a small selection of the Bernini sculptures on display (as well as other incredible works of art housed there) and don't do justice to them (of course) but will give you a sense of just how exquisite they are. I couldn't take the pictures of the sculptures (taken from the web) since pictures weren't allowed.
Also are some more pictures of the Borghese Gardens and the Piazza del Popolo which I did take! (Other pictures of the gardens were posted earlier in May, I think. Worth a visit to that posting I think since that post contains one of my favourite pictures.)
Do, do, DO click on these to get them 'full screen' but best viewing!
In Florence we had an Italian cooking class. It was quite simply, marvelous fun.
At one point, however, our groups had to "start again". Alesso, our helper took one look at our frying pan and sadly and silently took it over to the garbage can and dumped it in.
We were having so much fun we burned the garlic. Not good.
Alesso said he was in charge so it was his fault. (Very kind of him.)
We cooked but Alesso and Alessandro (another one!) served us. And very tasty it was too.
In the first picture note the owner of the cookery business, with the scarf. Now don't you think Italian men are so much more stylish than are North American men? Most Italians were as well presented as this one, with the tourists suffering by contrast.
Before I left for my Italian adventure I read in a novel of an author who lives in Venice, that Italians mock the "white shoes" of the tourists - our 'running shoes', I am thinking. So when I was there I took particular note of their shoes. Gotta say, most were expensive leather, even their running shoes. And none were white.
In the picture of Alesso and Alessandro, Alesso is saying, "Men at work. Take the picture!"
When planning my trip I was always cognizant of the fact that I was 'going solo'. So each and every decision I was considering making I would 'test it' by asking myself, "Would I be okay doing this alone?"
For some activities the answer was obvious. In fact when I was musing over what I wanted to do 'after dark' in Venice and the option of the "Cicchetti tour" presented itself, the answer was clear. Chrystal clear. It was a perfect activity to book, especially if going alone!
So what, you inquire, is a cicchetti tour? Essentially it is a pub crawl with appetizers - cicchetti (plural), cicchetto (singular) being small, traditional Venetian snacks. There are as many recipes for ciccheti as there are for any appetizer but they are all traditionally Venetian.
The tradition of the cicchetti are popular with the Venetian residents themselves, often going to a cicchetti pub at lunch or immediately after work. Each cicchetto is only one or two Euro each. Have a couple cicchetti along with a 4 Euro glass of wine and it makes for a wonderful, incredibly tasty and authentic Venetian eating experience for only a few coins.
While I had always known about this experience I never had the courage to try it out myself. Hence my delight in the organized tour.
The tour was limited to only a small group. There were two couples from the U.K. Two couples from Australia, myself and a lesbian couple from Belgium on their honeymoon.
(They were the odds ones out, not because they were lesbian but because they weren't a part of the Commonwealth!)
We had an added benefit of having two guides - Giovanna (born in Venice) and Roberto (Italian but not Venetian), who was in training. This allowed the guides to engage even more closely with the group. For instance, I asked Roberto about how Venetians tied up their boats along the canals. Sounds like a silly question you think?... but wait... you see line after line after line of boats tied securely to the edge of buildings, but nowhere near any place to get back on dry land.
Roberta said they had a variety of ways... if they were lucky enough to have a canal door or a nearby window to their own residence, they used that. Sometimes they would 'walk' over other people's boats. But generally, he said, they would 'catch a ride' on a passing boat and get dropped off.
Makes sense.
The tour itself was terrific fun and the other members of the group very friendly. It was a perfect way to get out and about in Venice after dark, It was also the tour which introduced me not just to the tradition of ordering cicchetti, but also the traghetto crossings... so lots of new experiences!
Put that with with great food and a glass of
wine at each stop and it made it one of my favourite activities of my tour. We went to 4 or 5 (can not remember which) pubs that specialize in cicchetti - with wine at each stop I was worried I might get a bit tipsy and land up
in a canal, but all was well.
:)
If you are ever in Venice, make sure you do this - either in a tour or (now you know what it is about) on your own. L
ovely.
There are lots and lots of cicchetti pubs in the Rialto market area. Giovanna said that sometimes you will see a man at one of them, with a glass of wine, at 9 in the morning. (She said, "In Venice we are not so strict.") She told us that person would invariably be one of the older, market stall operators.
Travel memory:
Although I was in Venice "solo", I didn't want that to deter me from getting 'out and about' in the city after dark. After all, Venice is the most magical city in the world (and one of the safest) and what a shame it would be not to experience it during the evening hours.
Each evening I did stroll around a bit - often going to that popular meeting place the Rialto Bridge and, of course my feet took me to Piazza San Marco. But I wanted to do some sort of 'evening activity' as well, just to get a rounder, fuller experience.
I also didn't want to repeat any activities that previously my friend Peni and I did when I was there last in 2012. We went to a fun group "Ghost Walk" and also had an evening listening to an incredible symphonic rendition of Verdi's "Four Seasons". Despite trying many times to like opera (yes folks that is true, I gave it a shot 3 times in Toronto), I remain decidedly NOT a fan. However, symphonic/instrumental performances, well, I love them. And this particular outing did not disappoint - it was wonderful, enhanced by its location in the old prison block that is connected via the Bridge of Sighs to the Doge's Palace.
So what to do this trip?
I went to the tourist office and booked "The Story of Venezia" held at the Teatro San Gallo.
The Theatre itself had a delightful exhibition of Venetian costumes. Each costume had an explanatory panel. Very well done.
Note
for instance, the Plague Doctor's Costume with the black cloak. The
bird-like beak was designed to keep the nose of the doctor as far away
as possible from the disease and was also stuffed with sweet smelling
herbs to filter both the smell and the germs of the dead and dying.
I had a wonderful time looking at the lavish display.
However, that is where my delight ended. The production itself was utterly horrible.
Really.
Hideous.
Truly dreadful.
- Bad writing - dull, boring, witless
- Bad acting - one actress kept forgetting her lines big time
- Bad production elements -
i.e. it projected up images on the wall - absolutely dull and grainy and
made Venice look like a corner of hell. (Betcha you did not think that
was even possible? That is what I thought too! But they did it.)
- Also, where someone was speaking in the film it, it was not even queued to the mouth movements.
The only interesting
element was a half hour segment where they showed a film on Venice by
Francesco da Mosto which I had already seen on PPS. Even that looked
horrible on the wall.
AND I paid 39 Euro for it too! If you find yourself in Venice, in my opinion (to echo Marco), give it a miss!
Read
my scathing review of it on tripadvisor. It was a British production
(I usually have an extremely high opinion of their plays, tv series,
movies etc.). Any good reviews of it on tripadvisor I am guessing were
friends or relations. Had to be. Too dreadful.
Nevertheless,
I was proud of doing something solo. I tried something new and not
everything is going to make the grade. So, it served its purpose AND
the costume display was delightful.
Hope you enjoy the pictures... as before, click on them to view them full screen for best viewing experience. :) :)
