🇮🇹 Venice 2024
7th – 14th February 2024.
Another visit to Venice Carnival. We last went in 2022. This time we took Mummio with us.
The weather wasn’t too good for this year’s visit. Still, we managed to get out twice in costume. Other costumes seemed to be a little subdued this year but we made improvements in ours. We certainly looked good and attracted a lot of photographers in St. Mark’s Square.
The apartment was lovely in the northeast side Cannaregio district of Venice. The apartment was well-appointed but classical Venetian in taste which was great apart from trying to follow instructions to get rid of the rubbish.
The Glass Slipper ball was excruciatingly expensive (£500 each.) To me, it lacked the intimacy of the previous ball and had dance music from the start which I didn’t really enjoy. The 7-course meal was OK but nothing to write home about. The entertainment (dancers) was also mediocre. The high point was making a glass slipper in the furnace. The ball was held on Murano, an island known for glass making. We actually visited Murano a few days later. Unfortunately, it was pouring with rain and once you had seen one glass shop you had seen them all.
The weather kept us in and around the area. Mummio kept walking and didn’t seem to want to stop and look at anything. We only went into one church and that was only for 5 minutes.
We went to our hotel of 2-years ago for a tasting-menu meal. This knocked the spots off the Ball meal but again wasn’t cheap.
We went to the Arsenal for the water show – this year inspired by Marco Polo, which was excellent – but seemed shorter and less ambitious than two years ago.
The highlight for me was the opera. Instead of the Pallatsio music of two years ago, the opera took place in the splendid Teatro La Fenice. The opera was The Barber of Seville which was highly amusing as well as very clever in the Rossini style.
The whole trip was brilliantly organised by Diem. We both agreed there wasn’t the magic of two years ago but nevertheless a great trip.
