A very tiny Carnevale fun fact

Carnevale 2015 officially began last weekend with the Festa Veneziana- a two day fun festival designed for locals, scheduled before the masses of tourists from all over the world descend upon Venice for the big events.

Not much Carnevale transpired  in the days between Festa Veneziana and today, kind of the lull before the storm - and that's a good thing because  all of Venice spent the week battling what seemed like endless acqua alta (high water), rain and high winds. Between now and February 17, Venice will be teeming with tourists, many donning elaborate costumes and masks participating in both masquerade balls and daily costume contests in St. Mark's Square.  

When you think of Carnevale, thoughts usually turn to masks, costumes, elegant balls and parades.  I thought I'd focus on something much smaller, almost inconsequential, but yet fundamental to Carnevale. Confetti. 

You cannot escape confetti during Carnevale.  It is one of the harbingers of the season. When I begin to see a bit of it in the streets, usually beginning around 3 weeks before, I know it won't be long before Carnevale is here.  And before long, all the streets are covered with it.

                                               

Confetti can be purchased in every Tabacci shop for around 1 Euro per bag. Any self-respecting Venetian child wouldn't be caught dead without their own supply, at the ready to be thrown at friends, parents, nonna and nonno, dogs, strangers.  Well, at  anyone or anything, it doesn't really matter. The stuff  just has to be thrown. 

Batman and big sister are armed with bags of the stuff, and Mom is even carrying a back-up supply  when theirs run out. 

Its one of those little things that just make you happy when you see it. You just can't help yourself. 

I see confetti every year, stuck in cracks all over Venice from January to March. I don't know why this year was any different, but for some reason  I started to wonder about confetti. Who thought up confetti in the first place?  Wikipedia, the font of all knowledge, provided answers. I thought I'd share some fun facts with you.

 All over northern Italy as far back as the middle ages, crowds threw things at Carnevale parades.  Things like balls of mud, eggs, coins and fruit. Earliest documentation of this tradition is traced to Milan in the 14th century. In 1597 throwing objects at Carnevale events was banned by the Governor of Milan, Juan Fernandez de Velasco (just in case you get this question during a game of Trivial Pursuit).  The tradition was revived during the 1700's, however the eggs and mud balls were replaced with candy coated coriander seeds. Coriander was a common plant in this region at the time.  And- just so you know- Coriandoli (the Italian word for Coriander) is what confetti is called in Italy.

So how did we go from candies to paper pieces? In 1875 Enrico Mangili, a Milanese businessman, started selling paper discs to throw at Carnevale.  At this time, Milan was a large manufacturer of silk. Mangili collected the small punched paper circles that were the leftovers from paper sheets used by silkworm breeders as cage bedding, and sold them- at a profit, of course! Mangili's paper confetti made a pretty big hit, being less harmful, more fun, and a lot less expensive than the other objects being used at the time.  It didn't take long before paper confetti became the object of choice all over Northern Italy. And there you have it- the birth of paper confetti.

One more little tidbit- the word Confetti is used in Italian, but it refers to candy coated Jordan almonds, which also used to be thrown at Carnevale, but today are more commonly given out at weddings, baptisms and graduations.

So there you have it- a little fun fact about Carnevale, and two new words to add to your Italian vocabulary : Coriandoli and Confetti.

Admit it,  it does make you smile, doesn't it?

Fritelle + Confetti = CARNEVALE!

I know, my title today looks like a bit of really weird math. It is an equation, an equation for fun in Venice.

After taking down the Christmas decorations - and you know in Italy you don't take them down until January 6 which is Epiphany - it was a dreary January here in Venice. It rained. And then it rained some more. And then it kept on raining.  And then there was fog. Thick fog. The one thing we had to look forward to was the first sightings of fritelle to arrive in the bakeries around town. It was somewhere around mid January. The second you see the fritelle arriving, you know Carnevale isn't far behind.

 Fritelle are fried dough, with currents and pine nuts in the dough. They can be plain, rolled in sugar or stuffed with an assortment of goodies such as nutella, crema, zabaione, and ricotta.

The other harbinger of Carnevale that I look for is confetti on the streets. When I see the confetti, I know Carnevale is even closer. You an almost smell it in the air, it's that special. Confetti  has been spotted in several locations in the last couple of days, with lots of it in Campo Santa Margherita. I'm counting down days to Carnevale from here on in.

This year, Carnevale begins on February 15 and runs until March 4. The theme is Wonder and Fantasy Nature.  Join me through the whole month as I introduce you to Venetian masks and some of my favorite authentic mask makers around the city, costumes and some of the wonderfully talented people who make them, and the major activities of Carnevale taking place in and around  St. Mark's square.

To whet your appetite, here's a photo of one of my favorite costumes from Carnevale 2013.  I can't wait to see what's in store this year.

To learn more about this year's Carnevale program, check out the offical website at http://www.carnevale.venezia.it/index.php

Carnevale starts tomorrow.....

Carnevale 2012 kicks off tomorrow in St. Mark's square at 6pm with a special toast, with wine flowing from a large fountain that is constructed specially for Carnevale.  There are a few other events over the weekend, then things are quiet until Feb 11 when things really get going.  Here are some photos of prior years costumes to give you a taste of what's to come - soon!  While St. Mark's square is a sea of humans during Carnevale, it's worth being jostled for a few hours just to be able to enjoy the sights.

 Yes, even the dogs join in.

This little guy looks like he's had all the fun he could take. 

And these two are in about the same shape!

At the end of the day, the streets of Venice are covered with confetti. Oftentimes, you can still see confetti on the streets well into March.

And one more "taste of Carnevale"- a few more frittelle. These are from Colussi's bakery near Campo Santa Barnaba. If you have not yet found your way to Colussi's, put it on your wish list.

Carnevale is in the air!

 When the calendar flips to February, I look forward to the telltale signs all over Venice that it won't be long before Carnevale arrives in full force.  Confetti and streamers on the streets is one of my favorite harbingers of what's to come.

Carnevale is one of the special events in Venice that I could not wait to experience first hand when we moved here. In all the years we'd been vacationing here, we always managed to miss Carnevale, since our month was always mid-March to mid-April.  Upon  arrival, we'd notice confetti still in all the cracks of the stones on the street, a sign of all we'd missed.  Having experienced Carnevale first-hand, this is now one of my favorite times of the year.

Last year, some happy party-goer stuffed a handful of confetti into our mail slot. On the inside of our door is a mailbox with a plastic  window in it. I never removed the confetti, I've looked at it every day as I leave the house. It puts a smile on my face every time. This year, I have already purchased  my own bags of confetti and streamers!

When  frittelle begin to appear in all the  the windows of the local bakeries, it's another sign that Venice is getting ready for Carnevale. These delicious little morsels- well, ok- they are not so little- of fried dough, raisins and pine nuts with delicious fillings of crema, zabaigone, fruit, ricotta cheese, or just plain (called Frittelle Veneziana) are only available during the Carnevale season in this part of Italy.  Ricotta filled frittelle are my favorites, but I have not turned down a frittelle yet if offered one! I've been known to eat 3-4 a day. This year, I've been a very good girl and have limited my intake to one per week.  Frittelle sell for 1 - 1.50 Euro in most bakeries- one of the best inexpensive treats Venice has to offer.