Wrapping up summer....

August being the month of the Ferragosto holiday celebrated all over Italy, I decided I too would partake of a bit of holiday and do what the Italians do- go to la spiaggia , the beach.  With a month's pass to my favorite little private beach on the Lido tucked into my beach bag, along with a few other essentials (sunscreen, beach towels and a Donna Leon book), I was set. I left my beach bag near the front door, poised at the ready for any day I could make a quick getaway and grab a few hours on the Lido.  

During the early weeks of August, the beach was packed. And I do mean packed!  Now I was experiencing first hand where everyone headed when they closed their shops and cafes for the month!!  They must have all been here at the Lido with me.  However, when I took up my beach chair the other day on one of the last days of the month, I had the place to myself. Everyone had gone back to work! This was a little bit of heaven on the Adriatic. 

This is my new office on the Lido !!!  See you all in about 2 weeks when the beaches close

for the season. 

It's Ferragosto ! Italy is closed today.

Today, August 15, is Ferragosto.It's a national holiday in Italy. Basically what that means is just about everything will be closed, and Italians will be heading to either the beach or the mountains for a long weekend. Ferrogosto is a celebration of the harvest, and also a celebration of the Assumption of Mary into heaven, and dates back to Emperor Augustus. I haven't quite figured out how they mixed a religious holiday with a pagan
festival, but, they did. 


This morning around 8:30 am, I took trash out, and was surprised to see the trash collectors were actually working today. I was sure they would not be. My street was empty. Completely empty, except for me.  This is an even bigger surprise, as I live on a main thoroughfare near the train station and Piazzale Roma. At that hour of the morning, on any normal day, there would be a stream of people making their way to other parts of Venice, having disembarked both buses and trains. Not today. It looked like Venice was a ghost town. 


I've just returned from a walk to Campo Santa Margherita. Almost everything is closed. Fortunately, one of my favorite caffe's, Imagina, chose to remain open today, and I was able to have a very relaxing cup of tea and cornetto con marmalatta. 

Agosto, in Italian,  means August.  However, I think it secretly means "vacation". Shops close for most of the month, not just this holiday weekend.  All over Venice, and I'm sure this is also all over Italy, shop after shop has a "Closed per Ferie" sign on the door.  Here are a few samples, taken a couple of days ago, all on one street near Campo San Pantalone.  I half expected to see  one  "Gone Fishing" sign somewhere!

Buon Ferragosto, tutti!!

Ferragosto!!

Today, August 15, is Ferragosto. It's a national holiday in Italy. Basically what that means is just about everything will be closed, and Italians will be heading to either the beach or the mountains for a long weekend. Ferrogosto is a celebration of the harvest, and also a celebration of the Assumption of Mary into heaven, and dates back to Emperor Augustus. I haven't quite figured out how they mixed a religious holiday with a pagan festival, but, they did.

What we've noticed is that around the first week in August, we start to see signs on shops, caffes and restaurants indicating they are closed for FERIE- holiday. Return dates are somewhere around the last week in August. Looks to me like everyone plans their annual summer vacation to include Ferragosto.

Shops that weren't closed already for the holiday are certainly closed for Ferrogosto. Today Venice seemed empty, at least it was in my neighborhood. We live close to the train station and Piazzale Roma, so we normally see a fair amount of foot traffic coming and going from these areas past our street. Today was particularly quiet. Even the grocery stores were only open half a day. Everyone else must have headed for the Lido.

Happy Ferragosto!