Buon Carnevale da Venezia

Buon Carnevale – Happy Carnival! Carnevale technically lasts from December 26 to Ash Wednesday (February 26, 2020), and this past weekend, tourists from all over the world came to Venice especially for the last weekend of Carnevale. In terms of its purpose, Carnevale can be compared to Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday. Overall, it is a time to indulge in meats and sweets before the arrival of Lent.

Carnevale was first hosted by Venice in 1162 to celebrate a war victory. Venetians came dressed in decadent outfits with face-concealing masks. The event became a way for townspeople to forget their status for a short period of time and celebrate with the rich and poor together. Today Carnevale brings in millions of tourists who want to dress up in 18th century garb, party with Aperol Spritzes, and experience quintessential Venetian revelry!

Upon our arrival in Mestre (a town just outside of Venice) on Friday morning, my friends Teresa, Mackenzie, and I dropped off our backpacks at our hotel and boarded the bus across the street that would take us to Venice for just €1,50. Despite it only being 11 AM, the bus was filled with people of all ages and nationalities. The city was packed! Despite the attendance for the weekend being in the thousands, most of the crowds were in Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square) and cramming onto the most popular of over 400 bridges in Venice. (Fun fact: Pittsburgh has approximately 11 more bridges than Venice!) Although we spent plenty of time gazing up at the golden mosaics on the ceiling of St. Mark’s Basilica and taking photos of elaborate Carnevale costumes in the square, we also took time to wander the less commerical streets of Venice.

For most of the day on Friday, we chose to do just that. We turned down any cobblestoned alleyway that peaked our interest and crossed dozens of both wide and narrow bridges. Before coming to Venice, I had not truly understood how the city is constructed. Venice is often referred to as an island, when in reality it is composed of 118 islands connected by bridge and boat. There are no cars (or Vespas) on the island, so every narrow pathway is safe to travel down.

My favorite part of the day, however, was when we went to Libreria Acqua Alta. This bookstore is famous for its unique storage of books. Due to Venice’s constant flooding, Libreria Acqua Alta protects the books by stacking them in bathtubs and gondolas. They also stack up useless books (like old encyclopedias) into a staircase for toursists to take photos. 5 cats live in this bookstore, and I was able to meet two of them during my visit.

Dining is very expensive on Venice’s mainland, so we ordered pizzas for lunch (under €10 each) and ate dinner in Mestre in order to save money for lunch and dinner on the mainland on Saturday.

On Satuday my friends and I set out with a slightly more organized itinerary. We traveled in a different area of Venice that we had not seen on Friday. We circled the tip of the island before spending time gazing off of the Ponte dell’Accademia (a little less famous than the Rialto Bridge) without being pushed out by fellow tourists.

After a quick lunch at an outdoor cafe, Teresa, Mackenzie, and I got in line for our gondola ride! We payed about €30 each, but it was absolutely worth the cost. It was so delightful for me to finally be on the water. Our gondolier did not sing, but he was wearing a striped shirt as he paddled us around. We floated down narrow streams until the water opened up to the Grand Canal. We quickly diverted off the busy canal and docked in between two islands. Our 30 minute gondola ride was complete.

We spent the rest of the day perusing shops filled with Murano glass, resting in the bright sun by the docks, and stepping across new bridges. We grew hungry but found that most of the restaurants we passed were far beyond our student budgets. Finally we stumbled upon a reasonably priced restaurant for dinner. My friends indulged in quattro formaggio gnocchi and calamari, while I enjoyed salmon and fresh vegetables. I only just tried salmon over Christmastime, so I was excited to try the freshly caught Venetian fish. They even served the vegetables and a bit of melted butter in two seashells next to the salmon. We shared some house white wine while we ate and saved room for dessert (tiramisu for my friends and chocolate cake for myself).

Although we did not stay for the nightlife after our meal, my friends and I passed plenty of characters! Everyone was dressed up in all kinds of costumes for the last Saturday night of Carnevale. Teresa, Mackenzie, and I made our long trek back to the hotel (about a dozen or more bridges but a quick bus ride!) and turned in around 10 or 11 PM. Even though our train was not until 1 PM the next day, we all were looking forward to a peaceful rest after our long day on foot.

We had no trouble getting back to Rome, but as we were on the train, we saw the news that the coronavirus had become more threatening in Italy. The day before I left for Italy, there were two cases on the coronavirus; the couple was traveling on a cruise that was docked and quarantined at a port fairly close to Rome. Over the weekend that I was in Venice, two elderly people died as a result of the coronavirus in Milan, which is only about an hour train ride from Venice. I believe there were also two reported cases of coronavirus in Venice, but it seems to me as these individuals were isolated as necessary.

Since I have left, Venice and Milan have cancelled the rest of Carnevale and Fashion Week, respectively. These regions have halted all transportation in and out of the towns with affected people. Many train stations and airports have brought in scanners that can take people’s temperatures while going through security to keep those with any coronavirus-like (or flu-like) symptoms, such as fever, from entering isolated locations (such as trains and planes). I did not have to go through anything of the sort, but many students in our program who traveled this weekend did.

For the upcoming weekend, we students were planning to attend a Duquesne-organized academic trip to Orvieto, a location outside of the affected regions. Some students were signed up for the optional excursion to Milan on Sunday. These trips have both been cancelled. The Italian government has asked all schools to cancel field trips outside of their campuses for this weekend as not to move large groups across local borders, hence why Orvieto has been rescheduled to April. Milan’s cancellation needs no explanation.

I am not sharing this information with you to scare you. In fact, I am sharing all of this information with you to assure you that I am healthy and safe and that these countries and Duquesne in Rome want us to remain healthy as well. The campus is taking precautionary measures, such as supplying us with hand sanitizers and masks as necessary to ease our minds, while also supplying us nationally recognized and communicated facts about the coronavirus. All of us Duquesne in Rome students are subscribed to receive emails from our embassy here in Rome, so we are updated promptly when there is news of any sort that may affect us.

I urge you all (family and friends alike) to remain calm about the virus. It appears as though coronavirus is causing more hysteria than it is deaths. As of right now, I am not concerned for my health or safety. If I get quarantined or sent home, then I will be concerned. And both of those situations are highly unlikely. Chances are that I will be coming home on my scheduled flight in April just as healthy as when I left the United States but with many more experiences than I would have if I had never left America.

If you want to receive updates as they are released, feel free to subscribe to the STEP Program with the U.S. Department of State. https://step.state.gov/

As of now, I am back at the convent. Midterms are next week, so I am taking this week and the weekend to focus on my studies. On Sunday, a few friends and I are headed to Pisa for a day trip (Pisa is safe from the coronavirus at the moment), so I intend to have most of my work done by then.

Stick around to see ridiculous pictures of me in front of the Leaning Tower. Arrivederci!