Blog week 5
I invited David to write in this week’s blog and he has done such a wonderful job that there is little for me to add, except to reinforce how well the students are doing, and how much fun it has been to share this adventure with them. We had our first ‘aqua alta’ (high water) experience this week and as I write, there are shoes drying on heaters in the apartments.
Post Carnevale, Venice is “ours” once again, and our life here has returned to the pace that we love. We are all well and the adventure continues.
Ciao,ciao
John Rawlings , Director FVCC Semester in Venice
David Ackroyd’s blog
“The captains and the kings depart, the tumult and the shouting dies.”
Rudyard Kipling (…I think).
Carnevale is over and la Serenissima is serene once more. About the only reminders of ten days of continuous revelry are billions of pieces of soggy confetti and decaying strands of canned spray “string” that defy the efforts of Venezia’s finest street cleaners. Despite all its wonders and joy, I think our kids are glad to have “their” Venice to themselves once more. As we watched the hundreds of thousands of visitors intently scanning their maps (which, by the way, are virtually useless since no two-dimensional medium can possibly portray with any sort of accuracy the labyrinthine calles, rivas, campos, campiellos, vias, sotoportegos, ramas and fondamentes that compose this most magical maze of a city) or trying to follow the upraised umbrella of their harried guides along with thirty or forty fellow-countrymen through the chaos of revelers, we just sat back, smugly ordered another cappuccino and patted ourselves on our collective back that we didn’t have to be back on the bus by noon.
It’s been another busy week despite the decline in population and decibel level. On Monday we fought the crowds swarming over the Rialto Bridge for a little “on location” study of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and then adjourned to Ca’ Mocenigo, the former palazzo of one of Venice’s most prominent families, part of which has been turned into a small cinema. There we watched an Italian film called “Goldoni” (which thankfully, for me at least, bore English subtitles), the story of the author of A Servant of Two Masters and how he changed the face of Italian theatre in the 18th century. It wasn’t exactly “Gone with the Wind”, but since A Servant of Two Masters has been an integral part of our study of the evolution of the Italian drama and we had done a reading of it, seen an abridged version live on the opening night of Carnevale as well as a full-length production by the brilliant Teatro Piccolo di Milano on video, it was a serendipitous addition to our students’ understanding of this vital period in the history of theatre in Venice and, indeed, all of Europe.
Tuesday night was the grand finale of Carnevale. On closing night back in 2007, John, Souheir, Ruth and I watched a forty-minute fireworks display over the lagoon that outdid any Fourth of July celebration I have ever witnessed from Boston to Los Angeles. But the economic pinch has tweaked the derriere of this little slice of heaven, too, so instead of thousands of pounds of gloriously exploding fireballs, pinwheels and bombs reflected in the rippling water of the Grand Canal, we got a Bee Gees cover band. A little anticlimactic to be sure and, yes, the crowds were somewhat smaller than in previous years, but Piazza San Marco was not the only place celebrating Fat Tuesday and the youngsters went off to Campo Santa Margherita, hangout for the college set, where they found entertainment more befitting their age and tastes. We oldsters called it an early night, relieved of the pressure of trying to keep up with college kids.
Wednesday was a long day for our students beginning with their usual four-hour Italian language immersion. After a break for lunch, they returned to the classroom for a session covering the history of La Fenice opera house and the Teatro Olimpico, which we visited the following Saturday via the ferrovia (literally “iron road”, more commonly translated as the railway). More about that later. After class we once more invaded the Rawlings’ apartment for a showing of the DVD of The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons. I think the students were impressed not only by the power of the play and Pacino’s performance as Shylock, but having visited the Ghetto here, by the portrayal of the realities of living as a Jew in Renaissance Italy, despite the relatively enlightened treatment by the Venetian government.
But probably the student’s favorite part of the day was the dinner that followed the film. In all modesty, I think my antipasto went over well despite its considerable departure from the cuisine of the Flathead: grilled slices of eggplant wrapped around slices of prosciutto crudo and Ermenthaler cheese (from Switzerland and my new favorite) and baked in the oven with parmigiano-reggiano cheese sprinkled on top. This was followed by pasta with yet another luscious tomato/meat sauce of myriad flavors, textures and subtleties concocted by Souheir. A day filled with intellectual and artistic challenge fittingly ended with full bellies as well as full minds and souls.
On Saturday our young scholars left the cozy confines of Venezia for the first time since they arrived over a month ago as we traveled to the lovely town – and UNESCO World Cultural Heritage landmark – of Vicenza, about a 40-minute train ride depending on which train you get. (Some, or so it seems, stop at every station, crossing any vegetable stand along the way and can stretch the ride to double its normal length.) There we met the delightful Daniela, our guide for the day. Keeping an eye out for the unusual – for us – phenomenon of automobiles, she guided us to many of the landmark buildings designed by Vicenza’s most notable citizen Andrea Palladio (1508-1580), brilliant architect whose landmark creations grace all of northern Italy, including Venice itself, and whose influence changed the face of renaissance Europe and is even reflected in Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello, in Virginia. The hills to the south of Vicenza are dotted with graceful and elegant Palladian palazzos and in the glow of the haze unique to the Veneto, appear as a dramatic backdrop to the charms of the city below.
Perhaps the most unique of Palladio’s creations is the Teatro Olimpico, Europe’s oldest indoor theatre. This splendidly preserved structure is a juxtaposition of a classical ancient Greco-Roman theatre with an elaborate Renaissance stage set executed in architectural and painted forced perspective. The set that graces the stage of the Teatro Olimpico today is the one that stood in the same spot when the theatre made its debut with Oedipus Rex in 1585.
And so ended my third week with this terrific group of young people whose enthusiasm and attitude are both inspiring and refreshing. It’s a little hard for me to accept that I will be leaving them in just a little over a week.
Ciao,
Davide
David Ackroyd, visiting Professor of History of Theatre in Venice
Caitlin’s Blog
Wow what a fun week! I don’t even know where to start! The first couple days of the week were rather tiring (the last two days of Carnevale) adding to the extra work load of Theatre class on top of the language classes. I must admit though, my favorite day so far has been our trip to Vicenzia on Saturday. We had to get up early ( 6 AM!!) and rush to the train station. My apartment group, being the people we are, managed to narrowly make the train. After we got to Vicenzia we had an interesting tour and we went shopping! It was so weird seeing cars again…I had almost forgoten about them, and the fact that you must look both ways before crossing the street.
But the best thing, I must admit, was the train ride home. When travelling by train in Europe, the cheapest way to travel is on the boring slow train. One of the more expensive ways to travel is on EuroStar. John had specifically warned us NOT to accidentally get on one of the EuroStar trains, because one; they are very expensive and two; if you don’t have the right ticket and get on the train you have to pay the difference which is not a little sum. So, on our way back Kyle, Erika and I got on the first train that pulled into the station. We stepped on and immediately wondered if it was the wrong train. It had awesome star-wars like doors that opened with a swoosh at the push of a button, really comfortable seats and tables for each seat. It also had complimentary condiments. For some reason we just decided that it was simply a different train, but still the one we were supposed to be on. As soon as the train started moving I was a little more unsettled. It moved with such speed (200 mph!) and it was so smooth. This could not have been worth the €4.25 we paid to ride the “cheap train.” I just dismissed it and sat back.
Not too long after, the ticket checker came by. He took one look at our tickets and got an extremely “not happy” look on his face. He said “There is a big problem here, these tickets are not the right ones.” I’m sure he was trying to keep in a bout of laughter at the looks of astonishment and fear reflected in the three faces that looked up at him. He said we would have to pay the difference and then stomped off rudely and left us to be. We all looked at each other in total surprise and wondered what to do. We calculated jumping train, or killing the steward and disposing of the body. None of these appealed to any of us so we decided to deal with it and pay the fee. We prepared ourselves to be out €100 each, but as the train neared our stop the steward never reappeared. We didn’t know what to do and even went to try and find him, but he was nowhere to be found. We got off at our stop and continued searching for a steward and Erika finally found him. We went over to him and Erika and I smiled sweetly and asked how much we owed. The steward got a big smile and said that “we didn’t have to worry about it.” All of us were so excited and we thanked him profusely.
I will always remember our train ride home from Vicenza. The one where we managed to ride on a train way over the value of our ticket, get caught, and then let off.
Erika’s Blog:
This is all about trains: The train leaves for Vicenza at 7:56. It always leaves on time. Our plan was to roll out of bed at 6:45, run to the vap stop at 7:06, make it to the train station with plenty of time to spare, maybe grab a cappuccino, but no dice. In reality, we did roll out of bed at 6:45, but didn’t actually take into account how early that really is and how well I do not function at such an outrageous hour. We’re all disgruntled and less than courteous to each other as we make it down to the vap at 7:07, and then in turn, must wait until the next vap comes, which also happens to stop at every stop on the way for much too long, and of course doesn’t stop at the stop in front of the train station, but instead the one several blocks and over a bridge from the train station. We prepare ourselves and run headlong through the slowest group of people, umbrellas breaking, wind and rain slapping our faces as if to shame us for being so inconsiderate of time, water spraying behind us and upon the unfortunate passersby, droplets of sweat cascading down our foreheads and backs. We ran as though our lives depended upon it, which is fairly close to truth when confronted with the eyes of a feisty Egyptian woman. We jump onto the train, lungs burning, chests heaving, eyes watering, legs shaking, and collapse into our seats moments before the train starts moving, greeted by an all too cheerful “Bourngiorno!” from our fellow students who walked to the train station and had a delightful train experience with plenty of time to spare. I highly dislike mornings, but the real cake is in the afternoon trip home.
Its 4:00 in the afternoon, it’s been raining all day, we’re tired and we’re all hungry and ready to come home for awhile. We check the schedule, which reads 4:56 for Venezia. We wait around, get a coffee, chill for a half hour and go to the platform, but see that the platform for our train has been changed, so we run to the next one, wait around for another half hour because the train is now delayed five minutes. The train finally arrives and we’re so ready to be on something moving the right direction, we just jump on. From the moment we stepped on, we should have known something was wrong. The seats were ten times nicer and more comfortable then the ones on the first train. Each set of four chairs had a little pull out table, and a drink cart with food and coffee rolls by us. We worry for a moment, Caitlin constantly saying “Are you sure we’re on the right train? This doesn’t feel like the right train.” I get up to go ask, but I caught a glance at the door and see it reads Class 2, so we just roll with it. We start moving and Kyle says “huh, this train feels like its moving a lot faster then the other one.” Caitlin and I nod our heads in agreement, but really think nothing of it. Suddenly, the man in blue appears with the ticket puncher. He grabs our tickets, and says “Wrong train.” The blood drains from our faces. What does this mean? “You pay the difference.” Being frugal, I ask “What is the difference?” He glares at me and mumbles “She wants to know the difference?” and walks off. We all stare at each other, realizing we were actually aboard a Eurostar, the fastest and most expensive train in all of Italy. We couldn’t help but laugh at our own ignorance and helpless predicament, contemplating how we are going to pay for these seats we so easily took for granted moments before. We considered our options: how were we going to pay for this exactly? Have you prepared yourself for how much this is actually going to cost you? What would happen if we just ran off the train and ran out of the train station? Would we be blacklisted forever from all trains? We can never return to Europe again. Or, they’ll post our faces at all the major airports and take us in the moment we’re found so we are forced to live as fugitives for the rest of our lives. What would happen if we beat down the little blue uniformed man with our umbrellas or Kyle’s messenger bag? Should we just jump off this train right now? In the midst of all this turmoil and anxiety and complete ridiculousness, we were slowly approaching our destination and the man is nowhere in sight. We begin to wonder where he has gone, if he’s just messing with us now, because we are prepared to pay and forego food the rest of the week, but we don’t even know how much we’re paying. We can’t stay on the train because it would leave Venice with us on it, but we can’t just leave because the man hasn’t returned to take all our money away. We decide to get off the train but wait on the platform and try to find a train official because, as much as we hated it, we really did want to do the right thing. The train comes into the station at 5:30, a full half-hour faster than the train we took in the morning, and there are no train officials in sight when we get off. Suddenly, we see the man in blue and we all think “ah here it comes” but he just shakes his head and says “oh it’s ok.” Three of the most beautiful words in the English language! We follow him just because we couldn’t believe our ears and he just smiles and says “its ok, you go.” I could have kissed that little man whom we contemplated moments ago beating down then making a run for it. I started laughing and smiling like a little girl. The tickets, those beautiful cheap tickets, are going in a frame on the wall!
Ciao!
Kyle’s blog
This week in Venice is also a blur! The close of Carnevale arrived, as well as the tons of garbage. Although there are still more people than normal, the crowds have reduced greatly.
The group went to Vicenza on Saturday for a theatre class trip. We visited the Teatro Olimpico, which was stunning. The pictures I took don’t do the scene any justice, for it is something to behold. Its design is an optical illusion, whereby a forty-foot background looks more like a huge stretch of streets and tall buildings. Perspective is key! In addition to beholding that architectural genius, the scene’s surrounding art was extravagant.
Our Saturday began early in the morning. I had ten minutes to get ready (ignored my alarm). We rushed to the train station. After the Teatro Olimpico, the group was free to go where they wanted – to explore the city of Vicenza a bit. We went to some museums and then went… (ugh) shopping. Half way through the afternoon, my roomies and I left Vicenza (on the wrong train). That last bit is a story I think Caitlin was going to share.
Sunday was spent waking up late. After a while, I decided to go to the Lido beach, which was great fun. I came back to Venice later in the night, met up with some friends, and had fun – before I realized how dead-tired I was.
My train of thought is diverting greatly now. I am once again spent. Nutella’d bread sounds good. Maybe some cereal. No, I think I am dehydrated – need water…Maybe water and cereal.
Alyssa’s blog
This week has been a busy one! Its all work, work, work! Today (Sunday,) we were able to relax a little bit, slow down, and clean our apartment. There was confetti everywhere! Remnants of Carnevale… The huge crowds have left, the vaporetti are no longer tilting over capacity, and it takes a lot less time to get places once again. The crazy fun is over, but it feels good to have “our city” back. We like the quiet Venice, where the noisiest sounds come from the church bells.
This weekend we were in Vicenza, which was really noisy! And there were cars! But someone should have told me (after they warned me about the cars) about the bikes! It was a near collision when I crossed the street after “checking for cars.” Haha! Lived through it though. Vicenza was our first visit to a city in the mainland of Italy. Very cool! There are things even more ancient over there. We explored an archeology museum. All the exhibitions were explained in Italian, so we had to guess, and no dates were specified (other than discovery dates) but we know we looked at things from the Stone Ages: Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and the Neolithic. Then of course the Bronze, Iron and Roman Ages. We saw really old combs that were very sophisticated and could be folded like a pocket knife. Also the central metal tips off battle shields were fascinating.
We are getting ready for another wonderful week here in Venice! This week I hope to find more local favorite spots, meet more people, speak more in Italian, and explore, explore, explore!
Ciao!
Alyssa
Jessica’s Blog
I woke up this morning with the sun shining through my windows, filling my room with that common Venetian optimism. I did nothing but clean the apartment, eat food, watch movies and relax. It has been wonderful, and I am perfectly content with quietly observing our little neighborhood from our apartment windows. Today was the only day we have had to relax this week and it was very welcome. This last week was the busiest we have seen yet! Our Italian language classes have continued and are still able to make my brain feel like it has exploded inside of my skull at the end of each class, but very satisfying. Monday started off this way and continued afterwards with a trip to one of Venice’s only cinemas for a documentary on the life of Goldoni. Tuesday was the last day of Carnevale and we showed up that night in San Marco for a very horrible 70’s themed dance concert, but we saved the night by heading to Campo Santa Margherita to listen to DJ’s and dance the night away. It was a blast, and I have never seen so many people PACKED into one place before! It was great to see the funny costumes and festivities. Wednesday, as a result of the previous night’s entertainment, Jessica was one tired little woman. Once language classes were over we were able to head home for a quick lunch before meeting up with David for our theatre lecture. Once finished with that we meandered our way through the canals on the Vap to John and Souheir’s apartment to watch “The Merchant of Venice” and to eat dinner. The Spaghetti dinner was so good, and we were all very excited because the sauce had a lot of MEAT in it! I have found that Venetians don’t eat a lot of things with meat in them and it was a treat to eat a large quantity of it!
Thursday and Friday we continued on with our language class. But on Friday as we walked home from school we heard a loud siren going off throughout the entire city. It sounded like a bomb warning, but I was told it was the warning that Aqua Alta was coming. Once we got to our court we had to splash through about 5 inches of water to get to our door. It was a lot of fun to see all of the water in the streets, not something I could ever imagine without being here.
Saturday was almost a 24 hour day for most of us, but so much fun! We woke up early and hopped on a train to Vicenza (a little vacation on our vacation!). We spent the entire day exploring the city and we even got a tour of Teatro Olimpico, which was an amazing site to see! Now that we know what the trains are like here and how easy they are to use, I have started planning many other weekend trips and cannot wait to start exploring the world!
Next weekend Verona!
Little girl on the vaporetto
I think they were going for the 'sinister' look
Last night of Carnevale
With our tour guide Daniela in Vicenza
Vicenza
Outside Teatro Olimpico
Courtyard at Teatro Olimpico
In the rain with Daniela
Center of the "set" at Teatro Olimpico
David and Daniela explaining the Teatro
Teatro Olimpico
Teatro Olimpico
Teatro Olimpico
The streets of Vicenza
Streets of Vicenza
