There are only a few regions of Italy to go before I meet my goal of posting about each one individually. We technically touched on Veneto with the Cortina post (https://auntastasia.blog/travels-in-cortina-dampezzo/), but if I am going to write about Veneto, it really should be Venice, and I have been reluctant to do that. It’s not that I don’t love Venice – who doesn’t love Venice? But the point of my musings has been travelling through food, and you know what I don’t love about Venice? The food. (I have a couple friends who are going to be very upset with me if they see that statement). Take the traditional Venetian dish of sarde in saor for example – sweet and sour sardines are just not my thing. Don’t get me wrong, I have had some excellent food in Venice, but my favorite food in Venice was not traditionally Venetian. I even have a lovely region-specific cookbook (if you have been paying attention, this does not surprise you), but I have not made any of the recipes from the Veneto my own.
I am, however, going to shamelessly steal my spouse’s photos from a trip we took to Venice eight years ago, but I will start with a quick comment about traveling to Venice. I have heard and read complaints about how crowded it is, and the statistics about tourism bear that out. Things will likely be better after the 2021 ban on large cruise ships going into the city center. But even before the cruise ship ban, it was possible to see Venice without crowds everywhere. We went in January when it was a perfectly pleasant 50° F, although the locals thought it was cold and that we were crazy to be walking around in sweaters without overcoats.
As for the photos, let’s start with the carnival masks that were displayed in one shop. The artistry is extraordinary.
I love the traditional masks (although we could probably all do without the classic plague doctor mask these days). Masks can be found everywhere, from inexpensive versions on street carts to shops full of true art, and the themes range from the traditional to any number of modern, original designs.
My love of Venetian carnival masks is not new. The slightly beat-up paper mache mask below has been with me since 1991 and still hangs on my wall.
Staying with the theme of iconic images of Venice, let’s not forget the gondolas.
So, I’m not going to share a recipe in this post. I will end by saying make yourself a nice Bellini with some good peach puree and prosecco, imagine yourself at Harry’s Bar, and have lovely thoughts of the beauty that is Venice.
We were once going to attempt to build a gondola in the wood shop here (the birthplace of several cedar-strip canoes over the decades) until we learned that the hulls of gondole are asymmetrical along the keel, and we couldn’t reach a consensus whether to build a right-handed boat or a left-handed boat – there are a few of each of us here. Too bad; it would’ve been a hoot poling one in the annual Dragon Boat races here on the Grand River.