Dear O's and Raven's - I still love you, but I'm watching soccer now

Soccer is a big thing over here. There is just no way I can get around it, but I admit, I have tried. I have tried (a few times) to watch and understand the game, but the thrill has alluded me. I've tried to avoid it, but there is  no way that is  possible. People in my neighborhood watch soccer matches (calcio) outside in Campo Santa Margherita. Everyone is outside screaming and yelling during all the matches, and when this happens, I have actually started to feel a little left out of things. The solution was to try a little bit harder.

The whole world is watching the Euro2012 matches, and so I joined in. I made sure I was aware of which teams were playing who, and kept track of how Italy was doing.  Last night, being the semifinals between Germany and Italy, I even watched the entire match.

I surprised myself- I learned a little about the game. By mid game, I was wishing I had painted my face green, white and red! Already by half-time (hmm, is that what it's called?) Italy had scored 2 goals both by Mario Balotelli.  If Mario Balotelli was not already a household word all over Italy before last night, it certainly is this morning. Even I now know who he is! I would not be surprised if this guy is short listed for sainthood this week.

Italy held off Germany for the entire match, right up until the last 4 minutes of - what was that, overtime? We didn't understand how extra time was added on, and it seemed unfortunate, since the score was 0-2 Italy by the end of regular time.  Germany squeaked in a goal, ending the game at 1-2.

Italy's Mario Balotelli - photo by ANSA

Italy will face off against Spain in the finals on Sunday. I WILL be watching. 

First festa of the season- Festa di Sant'Antonio

Last week it was the Festa di Sant'Antonio at Campo San Francesco della Vigna over in Castello, the first festa of the 2012 season. I love local festivals here in Italy. They remind me of Fireman's Carnivals back in the US, but on a smaller scale. In Venice, the local churches and associations sponsor a celebration (festa) in the neighborhood campo. During the festa, the locals all pitch in to cook food and sell drinks to raise money for the church. 

It was a beautiful evening last Friday when Mike and I walked over to Castello to catch the last night of the Sant'Antonio festival.  Everyone in Castello must have had the same idea, because the line at the Cassa (where you pay for your food) was huge, and moving VERY slowly. After a long long wait, it was our turn. We made our choices, paid the woman behind the counter, and were handed several colorful pieces of paper coupons. 

Next we had to queue up in the even longer food line, to wait our turn to order our food at the food tent. I love watching the action inside the food tents at these events. Old men are manning the grills and deep fryers, women are making pasta, and the younger people are running back and forth from the counter to the back area filling orders.  Mike ran to the beer tent to grab us something cold to drink while we waited, and waited, and waited. 

For the rest of the people around us, waiting in the food line was half the party. They all seemed to know each other. Conversations were buzzing in all directions around me.  As I stand in line, I wonder if someday I will be part of the conversations too. Someday!

 This guy was running all over the place- back at the grills, out at the tables. He was everywhere at once, and busy laughing and visiting with everyone as he passed by.

 Busy at the beer/wine tent!

 The crowd at San Francesco della Vigna, and the bandstand. Different musical groups were on the lineup each night. 

 Even the local dogs get to enjoy Festa di Sant'Antonio

 San Francesco della Vigna

No Ska-J performances this week, unfortunately. I'm always on the lookout though. Hopefully they will be back at the San Giacomo dell'Orio festival later in the summer.

Next festa on the calendar-  Giovanni Bragora also in Castello June 20-24.  No Ska J on their lineup either :(

Venice Weather

We've had our share of strange weather this year - unusually low tides, freezing canals, aftershocks from all the earthquakes in the vicinity (including another one on Sunday morning), but I think today we've hit a high point. Around noon today a tornado touched down on Sant'Erasmo and Certosa islands, just off of Venice. 

  (Photo courtesy Venessia today) Damage to house on Sant Erasmo

(Photo courtesy Venessia.com)  A view of the twister from St. Mark's square around noon today. I can only imagine what it must have been like to see this firsthand. I was over near Campo Santa Maria Formosa at the time with no view over the water.  I consider myself lucky, I might have been a bit panic ridden had I witnessed this!

Another view of today's tornado (photo courtesy Net1News)

The weather has been freaky to say the least!  Recently we've felt so many earthquake aftershocks we've become a bit too nonchalant at our house. Sunday morning when I went running to find Mike when the chandelier in the living room was rocking back and forth, he commented that it was not another shock, but rather the upstairs neighbors exercising. On Monday, talking with friends in Mestre I discovered it was in fact an aftershock that they also felt at their apartments. Next time, I'm sticking to my guns!

New sculpture on Murano

The other day I had a chance to wander over on Murano with friends for a few hours.  The magic the Murano glassblowers create never ceases to amaze me, and this day was no different.  As I turned a corner on the street leading to the Faro vaporetto stop, I came face to face with the newest sculpture in the square.

I loved it instantly. I wasn't particularly keen on the sculpture it replaced- a large glass bride done in all whites and silvers. But this one- it's perfect. Sheer magic. It instantly reminded me of the intensely hot glowing fires I see in the kilns used in all the glass foundrys.

Now I need to figure out when to get back to Murano at night, to see this one lit up.

Earthquake #2

About 9am this morning, a second earthquake magnitude of 5.8 shook all of Venice.  Once again, Modena was the epicenter.  This time, we were left with a few reminders- a statue in the garden near Piazzale Roma fell to the ground and shattered.  (photo courtesy of Comune di Venezia)

In the photo, you can see the statue on the left side of the gate still intact. It's twin, on the right side, is no more.

In our apartment, some cracks in the walls are much more pronounced after this earthquake, and some paint fell from the ceiling in one of the bedrooms. Nothing major, but  at the same time, it's a reminder that we were lucky- this time. There were two more aftershocks later in the day, both almost as strong as the first tremors. 15 people are reported dead.  

I have to say that the first time we felt the apartment moving up and down under our feet we were thinking "Wow, this is a first for us. Pretty cool."   After this second event and several aftershocks,  we're not so cavalier.  We've thought about our escape route very carefully and are much more prepared. I'm not thinking "Oh, it will never happen to us here" anymore.

As I finish writing this blog, I'm hoping for an earthquake-less night in Italy. 

Another Earthquake- at 4am this morning

Yes, another earthquake!  We woke around 4am when the bed, and everything around us was shaking. We quickly threw on some clothes and headed outdoors into the garden. Our neighbors were all up, hanging out their windows talking to each other.  I can only tell you it is a very odd sensation to feel this very old building shake and move under your feet!

We've felt a couple of other tremors in the past year or so, but nothing this strong or this long lasting. I dreaded hearing the news this morning, fearing another disaster similar - or worse- to the earthquake suffered in L'Aquila three years ago.

The aftershock we felt about 10 minutes later was minor, but disturbing none the less.

Within minutes, literally a minute or two of when the quake was felt, people in the Venice area were posting on Facebook, asking if anyone else felt it and was everyone ok.  Fascinating use of Facebook!

This mornings news reveals the quake hit northwest of Bologna, and so far 3 deaths reported, but a fair amount of damage to some historic buildings in the area of Modena.

Americas Cup- Venice 2012

The weather was perfect Friday afternoon, I had a few hours free, and the Americas Cup quarter finals were being held in the lagoon between St. Mark's and Lido that afternoon. Sounded like the ideal convergence of essential elements to me, so off we went, fully expecting to have to battle the crowds at San Marco all the way.

My friend Caterina and I disembarked the vaporetto at Valleresso only to be pleasantly surprised- no mobs!  Walking further, still no mobs.  Our plan was to  grab a light lunch in the vicinity of Giardini, then find a spot along the water to catch the race.

It's always an incredible sight to see the lagoon completely void of boat traffic.  The whole area was empty, then all of a sudden from off to the left between Sant' Elena and Lido came the boats. The New Zealand team was first, quite a bit in the lead, then 4 more close together. Breathtaking!

Here are a few shots of the action -

The Italian boat, Luna Rossa came in first in Friday afternoon's events. Unfortunately Team Oracle did  not do so well.

I was also eager to spend a little time inside the Arsenale, at the Americas Cup Village. In all my time in Venice, I had not yet been inside there. The place is enormous! I can only imagine what this area was like bustling with people making galleys in Venice's heyday. During the Americas Cup, this is the team base and also open to the public, with many displays and food booths. In the evenings, other special events are being held here.

 Rising out of the large basin was this enormous stand where  the race was being shown on a large screen.  There is a row of stalls set up selling beer, wine, champagne, panini's, pizza and fritto misto. I wished we had known about this, because it was relatively empty, no crowds, it would have been the perfect viewing spot for Mike to enjoy some of the race also!

I'm thinking that perhaps this was a once in my lifetime event to be able to view the Americas cup in person. Another perfect day in Venice!

A Karen by any other name....

A few weeks ago, I noticed I was hearing quite a lot of "Ciao, Mike" being yelled out as we walked around the city. Shopkeepers, baristas, gondoliers, fish mongers- they are all shouting greetings to my husband. I love that we are feeling like part of the neighborhood, however, truth be told, I was a little jealous that I wasn't hearing "Ciao, Karen" as often.

Shortly after this, Mike and I were in a local cafe in Campo Santa Margherita a little after lunch when our local fish mongers walked in for a drink. First thing they yelled when they stepped through the door was "Ciao, Mike!"  When they approached our table, I asked them their names. I don't know why, but after all this time, neither Mike nor I knew them. They introduced themselves as Paolo, Riccardo and Gianni. In return, I told them my name is Karen. Paolo says back "Carol".  Mike and I both said, "No, it's KAREN".  "Oh, Ok,... Carol", Paolo returned.  We gave up.

Every time I pass through Campo Santa Margherita since that afternoon, Paolo yells out "Ciao, Carol!". Even if I am just turning the corner, way down the campo, he lets out a loud "Ciao, Carol".   We've tried correcting him, but to him, I am Carol, no matter what.

This morning, as I made my way to the vaporetto at Ca'Rezzonico the campo was still relatively empty, with just the vegetable and fish mongers setting up. When Paolo looked up and saw me coming, he yelled out "Ciao, Carol!  I snapped a photo just as he started singing "Carol, Carol, Carol.....". Really, he was singing. I wish I had thought to record him!

I smiled the whole rest of my walk to the vaporetto, and the Cheers theme song came to mind,
"You want to go where everybody knows your name" .  I'm there. 

Good news and bad news for vaporetto users- effective TODAY!!

First- the bad news:  The price of a 60 minute vaporetto ticket has gone up from 6.50 Euros to 7.00 Euros effective May 10, 2012. That's today, folks.

Unfortunately- there is more bad news- price of the traghetto is going up to 4 Euros. Thanks to one of my readers MaryK for checking alittle further on which traghetto. I see now on the announcement I didn't read down far enough. I assumed it was the traghetto crossing the Grand Canal. It's  not. It's to use the regular vaporetto to cross a body of water, for example from Lido to S. Elena. Thank goodness it's not the one's crossing the Grand Canal! I was about to have a little hissy-fit!

Here's a photo of the announcement posted in the vaporetto docks today:

And the good news- according to the second announcement, the multi-day vaporetto ticket prices have been reduced.  New prices are posted below.

I'm going to add my 2 cents in here: compared to other European cities (for example Prague), Venice's public transportation is quite expensive. Considering the number of tourists using the vaporetto each year, ACTV must be doing pretty well. We all should buy stock, if it's a publicly held company! Venice's coffers are dry, despite it being a major tourist attraction. I would venture to bet the city is not getting any of this increase in the vaporetto fees.  Everywhere you look on the internet you will see articles and editorials moaning Venice's financial status, and the reasons why. I'm still not clear on why a tourist tax is not an acceptable alternative. Whenever I fly into the Dominican Republic, I pay just to enter the country. You cannot walk through the arrivals area of the airport without  handing over a $10   US "tourist" fee.  OK, Venice. There's my 2 cents. 

Testing 1-2-3

Bear with me, please. I'm testing a new camera and want to attempt to upload a photo or two to my blog.

I ordered the camera about a week ago online after having checked out just about every camera store in Venice that I could think of. None carried the camera I wanted, nor would they order it for me. I did not bother to try shopping on the mainland, I just gave in and resorted to online, using an Italian website. This is often the kiss of death, as the Italians don't do online shopping like we do in the US. Not only is the purchase transaction difficult, but delivery is often difficult or even non-existant.  Amazon.it is a relatively new site which fortunately works moderately well, so I chose to use them this time. Still, delivery can be questionable.

After making the order, the item did not ship when they told me it would. In fact, 3 days after the expected ship date it still had not been sent out, so I did start to hold my breath and begin praying to the internet gods. Someone answered my prayers- my camera did get shipped out at the end of that day, and the delivery date was updated to today, April 26.  Around 11 am this morning, my doorbell rang. I let the delivery guy in, and there was my new camera!

Upon unpacking the camera, I discovered the menu system was all in French. Great. Snafu number one. After charging the battery, I was able to figure out how to change the language to English. I was on a roll now!! I continued setting menu options and ran around the house taking some sample photos to get my feet wet with several of the features of this camera that were new to me. 

I could not wait to get out on the street to try more shots. After a couple of hours practice, I can tell you I love the feel of the camera in my hand- it's lightweight, everything seems to be laid out well and is easy to use.  So far, my favorite thing about it is the incredible zoom capability. Check this out-

Here's the Campanile in St. Mark's square, this afternoon. I'm standing back at the far side of the square opposite the Basilica.   Can you see that little gold speck on the top of the Campanile???  That's the Archangel Gabriel.

Here is Gabriel from the exact same spot.  My former camera would have still had him looking like a little speck.  Love this! FYI- my new camera is a Panasonic Lumix fz150.

And one more for testing purposes-

I was completely across Bacino Orseolo when I snapped this one- alittle bit more zoom and I probably could have read the title on this gondolier's book!

 I already have a LONG list of things all over Venice I intend to zoom in on!!