What a wonderful and fascinating place! Normally I shy away from cities. I suggested Venice for our 5 year anniversary and also that Ritz always wanted to go to a masked ball. What better way to combine all than with a trip to the famed Venice carnival.
We stayed at the Ai Riali hotel quite close to the Rialto bridge. It was a four star hotel. The room was a little small but we are certainly used to small spaces. The concierge was very helpful throughout our stay. Breakfasts were surprisingly good with many options including full English.
It was the culture, architecture, paintings and of course the whole way of living on the water that was fascinating and stunning. What struck me the most was the quiet. No roads, no constant engine noise and no road noise from tyres.
Venice is 600 years old and we immersed ourselves in the culture by visiting a number of churches, St Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace with it’s maze of underground tunnels leading across the famous Bridge of Sighs to the prisons. We also immersed ourselves in the carnival itself. Our matching costumes were made in the UK and we bought additional wigs, shoes and accoutrements online. Ritz did a great job coordinating everything for the carnival and an alternative look for the ball itself. We had decided to buy authentic masks in Venice. We were lucky to fi d a shop selling heavily discounted, but still quite expensive, masks. They looked great and our fear of not fitting in quickly evaporated as we took to the streets and headed for St Mark’s square on the Thursday.
We were quickly engulfed with people who wanted to take our picture including semi-professional photographers. It was a surreal experience. We couldn’t move two steps before someone wanted to take a photograph. A busier Saturday was doubly so. By that second outing we knew how and where the pro photographers wanted us to stand. There was no doubt we looked good and were up there with the most popular costumes. It also felt good. It was amazing to make people smile. They wanted photographs with us as well as of us; with their kids, and their dogs. It actually made you feel good and slightly superior. Our first trip ended with a gondola ride in costume. The gondolier was excellent and took so good photos of us.
The ball was very good although a little disorganised at the start. Plenty of drink and reasonable food (except for the risotto!) We made a couple of acquaintances from the USA and a bushcraft fanatic. One guy’s costume cost in total £10k. He comes every year.
We booked a trip to the opera. The Musica Palazzo was La Triviata. The singing was outstanding although I missed the Grand Opera style of a full orchestra. An Upright piano, violin and cello didn’t quite cut it. I liked the intimacy, but it was difficult to see due to the seating arrangements. The palazzo was in poor condition as well.
We saw some amazing paintings. I think it was the whole ambience of the place I loved; the narrow streets – preferably when it was quieter, the water business. the food a restaurants were also very good almost without exception. The wine was expensive in the restaurants though.
We finished off the trip with a water show called the Nebula Solaris. The concierge managed to get front row seats for us. This included being provided a water-proof poncho! I can only describe the show as Cirque on water. A combination of people dancing on boats, fire, water spouts and amazing images ‘drawn’ in water fountains. A spectacular show lasting longer than I thought.
It was an intriguing and wonderful place and a visit I won’t forget in a hurry. Are we going to sell out costumes? No… because we will be going back!
