Venice and Carnevale

Last weekend took a day trip to Venice for Carnevale.  It is located in northeast Italy and was roughly about 2.5 hours from Florence by high speed train.

What is the Carnevale di Venezia (Carnival of Venice)?
Carnevale is an annual celebration that takes place during the days leading up to Lent.  The holiday ends officially the day before Ash Wednesday, a day known as Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras, which is observed by gathering for a huge feast and eating food that one will abstain from eating during Lent, such as sweets or meat.

Although Carnevale is celebrated all over Italy (and many other countries as well), Venice is particularly famous for their celebrations and history of elaborate masks that come from the Italian theater, the commedia dell'arte.  Everyone dresses in creative costumes and masks and at night there are parties and music.  You will also find confetti (in Italian: coriandoli) all over the streets during Carnevale.  Check out the steel drum players we ran into:

Before going to Venice we had a workshop where we made our own masks using the original technique.  Below is a picture of me in Venice wearing my mask and posing with someone in a very pink traditional costume.  Unfortunately, I didn't have a costume but I did put my hair up in a bow on top of my head in an effort to be more festive, although it isn't very visible in the picture.

Making the masks.  That's me on the right!

In Piazza San Marco celebrating Carnevale!

Venice, the Floating City

Venice isn't just all about Carnevale though.  Historically, Venice was a very wealthy city, especially during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, due to its importance in the spice, silk, and grain trade routes.

Today Venice survives mostly on tourism.  It is considered one of the most romantic European cities and is the setting for many famous works of literature such as Shakespeare's Othello and The Merchant of Venice, as well as many others, including Henry James' The Aspern Papers.  Venice is also famous for Murano or Venetian glass and there were many stores selling beautiful jewelry.

Because it is made up of 117 islands it is very easy to get lost in Venice.  My friends and I spent over an hour wandering in tiny alleys, crossing small bridges, and pushing our way through enormous crowds just to make it to Piazza San Marco!  After that we took the water taxi back to the train station, which is the system of public transportation used in Venice instead of having a bus or metro.  Not nearly as practical but definitely more fun. :)  In fact, here is a video I made of our Water Taxi ride which includes a few guest gondola appearances.  The music in the background is La stravaganza by Vivaldi, a famous composer who was born in Venice.

Below are a few more pictures from my visit to Venice.  Thanks for reading!

This is what the water taxi looks like.  A one-way ticket from San Marco to the train station costs 7 euros!!

Some folks enjoying a gondola ride

Piazza San Marco

A fleet of gondolas following us on our water taxi ride

Laundry day :)

Sicily Trip: Food and History

Hello everyone!

I can't believe it is already February!  We finally finished our fall semester and right after we finished finals, our entire program went on a trip to Sicily.

Sicily is the island right next to the toe of Italy's "boot"

We flew into Palermo, in northwest Sicily.

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean and was known as the "pearl of the Mediterranean." Throughout its history is was sought after by many nations.  Here is a quick outline:

• In about 750 BC, it was colonized by the Greeks.  It was part Magna Graecia, along with the rest of Southern Italy that was under Greek domination. There are many ruins of Greek temples and cities that we visited during our trip.  It also reminded me very much of Greece, so the Greek influence is still evident today. 
• The Romans took over in 242 BC and Sicily became the first Roman province outside of the Italian peninsula.
• After the fall of room, the Byzantines conquered Sicily, bringing the Greek Orthodox tradition and Greek language to Sicily again.  
• From 827-1091, Sicily was under Arab rule, adding a new language, religion, and new foods to the mix of cultures.
• Next, the Normans (from northern France) conquered Sicily and build many grand churches and buildings.
• In the 1280s, the Spanish took over Sicily, along with many other southern Italian cities on the mainlan
• Finally in 1861, Italian unifies and Sicily becomes part of Italy!
• Today, Sicily is its own region (province) and is known for its rich history, great food, and unfortunately, a strong mafia presence.

Food in Sicily

Every region in Italy has its own special cuisine and Sicily is no exception.   Sicilian food is very different than Tuscan food we have here in Florence and this is largely due to the great mix of cultures in Sicily.

The use of sugar, citrus, melons, saffron, and spices is due to the Arab influence; in fact, Sicily is famous for have decadently sweet desserts.  Fava beans, pistachios, fish, and olives are from the Greeks, and the Normans introduced more meat dishes in Sicily.  The Spanish brought products from the Americas, like chocolate, peppers, and tomatoes, which are a big part of Sicilian cuisine today.

N.B.: I didn't actually take pictures of the food, so these are all gleaned from the internet. 

1. Pasta alla Norma

  

A very simple dish, made with pasta, tomatoes, fried eggplant, and ricotta cheese.  It was very different for us because in Florence we usually eat our pasta with tomato sauce only.

2. Arancini/Arancine

These are balls of rice, usually stuffed with ragù, tomato sauce, mozzarella, and peas, although the stuffing can vary.  They are then coated in bread crumbs (so not gluten free) and fried.  Arancine means little oranges.

3. Caponata

This is a starter made from fried eggplant, celery, capers, and sweet vinegar.  They also add tomatoes, peppers, and/or olives, depending on where you buy it.  It is a very sweet dish - a sign of arab culinary traditions.

4. Marzipane

In Sicily you can buy marzipan fruits almost everywhere.  They are especially popular around Christmas and All Saints Day.  Marzipan is a paste of almonds and sugar, and here it has been dyed and shaped into all sorts of fruits, including lemons, watermelons, bananas, etc.  It is not fruit flavored though, it only tastes like almonds.  I did actually try this and I surprisingly enjoyed it!  Mine was a little orange :)

5. Cannoli!!

Most Americans are familiar with cannoli but did you know they are a Sicilian specialty?  You won't find these in Florence, that's for sure!  The crispy pastry shell is stuffed with a sweet ricotta cream and served with chocolate chips, pistachios, or candied fruit on the ends like the in picture above, or plain.  The name means little tube and comes from the Sicilian cannolu, plural cannola.

Fun Fact: Canolo is the singular, and cannoli is the plural, so "cannolis" isn't a thing.  You can have 1 canolo or 1000 cannoli :)

Let me know if you've ever tried any of these dishes before and what you thought of them, or if you haven't tried them, which ones you think you'd enjoy :)

Un abbraccio!