Redentore - il giorno dopo ( the day after)

I wanted to try to share a little bit of Redentore with you. My firework photos aren't spectacular, I'm envious of some of the incredible photos I've seen on the internet this morning. I'm going to have to really practice with my night photography next year. For what it's worth... here are a few. Redentore fireworks are some of the best I have seen in my life. I just don't think anyone does fireworks better than the Italians do! 

This year we had a wonderful dinner on our terrace, then walked out to the waterfront along Sant'Elena to join the thousands of others who had already staked a spot there. Families had set up tables and chairs all along the water earlier in the day and had even hung lanterns and lights. By night, their dinners were over, everyone was ready for the fireworks. Others were on blankets on the grass in the park. There were young and old alike, dancing, singing, just enjoying the evening. 

 After the fireworks, most of the people who had gathered on Sant'Elena gathered up their belongings and headed home or to the Lido by vaporetto.
Sunday morning I headed off to Giudecca  island to Pesca di Beneficenza, a lottery type game to raise money for the church, held annually on the morning after the Redentore celebration. This has become a favorite of mine, and it's well known amongst my friends that I have no luck winning anything- except fly swatters!  I have quite a fly swatter collection now.  So--- Sunday morning it was more fly swatter time for Karen! I hopped on the 4.1 vaporetto and made my way to Giudecca.

Here's a little taste of Redentore, through my eyes......

 Here's how this works- you pay 1 Euro per ticket, hand your money over to the volunteer who is manning these bins of little rolled up papers. They pick out tickets from the bin and hand them over to you.

 I contributed 10 Euros this year, these are my hot 10 little winning tickets!

 You unravel the papers, hoping one of them is a good number!  They either have a word or a number on them. The lower the number, the better the prize.

This is a display of some of the better prizes. The motorbike was number #0001.

 And this is my stash of prizes..... a curtain and rod, a swiffer duster, 2 plastic flowers, 2 small glass dolphins, a little glass ring, a car air freshner, and a tiny little plastic keyring with a small container of playdoh attached!  No, I didn't even win a bottle of wine. And no, no fly swatter!!!!

 Here's a view of the Redentore church from the temporary bridge. Yellow paper lanterns are a tradition, lining both sides of the canal. I love the atmosphere on this weekend!

 The bridge is constructed from sections that are held in place by large pilings.

 Contributing to the party atmosphere are the nut, candy and balloon vendors stationed near the church. I always buy a bag of roasted almonds for Mike. It's become a tradition for us whenever there is some festa going on. Of course, a bag of nuts came home with me yesterday.

These are fresh , warm and delicious smelling.

And finally.....one last remnant of a special night in Venice... empty tables on Sunday morning along Giudecca canal waiting for their owner to come pack them up and carry them home.  

Festa delle Marie and Flight of the Angel (Volo dell'Angelo)

Blue skies, sun, not too chilly temperatures. Much better day for the Festa delle Marie. Unfortunately  it would have  to be a very abbreviated version in order to fit in with all the other events scheduled for the day.  No parade from San Pietro di Castello yesterday, instead the parade groups began in the Piazzetta.

I got out early.  As I was hustling through the Piazzetta I caught a glimpse of a few of the beautiful costumes lined up along the Riva and of the parade groups getting into formation.   Lady luck was with me, or so I mistakenly believed, as I managed to get a pretty darned good spot right at the parade barricade leading up to the main stage. The parade would pass right in front of me! My camera was snapping from start to finish- well, almost finish.  Lady luck only went so far,-both my camera battery and backup went dead. With about 30 minutes of milling about until the Flight of the Angel at exactly 12 noon,  I figured I could at least could get some shots of the Angel in descent.  Just as the Angel was about to step off the platform and take off, my iPhone battery also went dead. Despite a little run of bad luck, I stayed to witness the Angel's flight anyway.  It was magnificent.

Here's a recap of the morning's events in photos. Enjoy a little taste of Carnevale!

Flag throwers warming up. Groups from surrounding areas of the Veneto come to participate, all in traditional garb.

The cable used for the flight of the angel was tested about an hour pre flight.

The Doge and his entourage arrives !

  Following the Doge are the 12 Maries. The first few are carried on the shoulders of gondoliers.

 This fellow is the King of the Gnocchi's, leading a bunch of other gnocchi's. I have forgotten which city they came from.

 Best shoes of the day!

The official website of Carnevale 2013 posted a video of the Flight of the Angel on You Tube, the link is below.  Watching it is the  next best thing to being there with me. Enjoy!


Click here to watch Flight of the Angel video