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Carnival In Italy

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:10:57 +0000

The religious festival of Carnival or Carnivale as it is known in Italian, is taken rather seriously on the predominantly Catholic peninsula. This occasion of joy and celebration occurs some 40 days before Easter and is seen as a final oppurtunity to cut loose, celebrate and indulge oneself before Lent begins. The 40 days leading up to Easter in which Christians prepare for the crucifixion, death and ressurection of Christ by making personal sacrifices themselves. The event is celebrated in many cities, the most well know of which is Venice.

Carnival, or ‘Carnevale’ in Italian, is a celebration which occurs some 40 days before Easter. It is a final opportunity to eat well and enjoy oneself before the restrictions of Lent take hold, and is celebrated with enthusiasm in many Italian cities, especially Venice. The tradition of getting dressed up at Carnival is one that goes back many year to a time in which the class system played a major role in society. The aim of wearing the disguises and masks in places like Venice for example were so that no one knew who you were and so that people were able to mix freely as identiy and who one was, or more to the point who one wasn’t didn’t play a significant role. The Venetian carnival masks are known as ‘maschere’ and are often handmade and hand painted, they make great souvenirs or gifts.

The main point of Carnival is fun. Children throw confetti in the streets, people play pranks on eachother and tell jokes, colourful parades make their way through the streets, balls take place and the streets are packed out with all sorts of forms of entertatinment, and music, complimented by the great variety of food and drink on offer.
Carnevale is a time when the pressures of everyday life are forgotten in a joyous rush of celebration, where the rules that shape the rest of the year do not necessarily apply. Children throw confetti in the streets, and pranks and jokes are tolerated and expected. Parades, balls and parties of all kinds are packed out, with entertainment and music complementing the food and drink on offer. The Gaudy gondola parades and the masked parades in St. Mark’s Square are the unmissable events of the carnival season. The Cannaregion distric also hosts a special carnival event for children which means that noone is left out of the celebrations.

Venice is not the only Italian city to go wild at this time of year; Viareggio on the Tuscan coast puts on a parade of papiermache floats. Away from the mainland, Oristano on Sardinia add an equestrian theme to the proceedings, with its La Sartigilia festival featuring a horse race and jousting tournament. At Ivrea in Piedmont, festival goers throw oranges at each other in celebration.
The saying ‘A Carnevale Ogni Scherzo Vale’, or ‘anything goes at Carnival’ perhaps best sums up the feeling of liberation and celebration that surrounds this festival. Visitors to Italy at this time of year should be ; they might not want to come home.

picture: Alaskan Dude/ flickr.com

Goodbye to plastic bags

admin — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 16:08:25 +0000

As from the 1^st January 2011 the slow ban of all plastic bags will begin to take place in and around the whole of Italy. Local shops, clothing stores and supermarkets will no longer be allowed to offer customers plastic bags with their purchases. Reports have shown that Italy uses 20 billion plastic bags a year – almost 300 bags per person. The ban is slowly being introduced so from the beginning of the year shoppers will no longer be offered plastic bags at the checkout and will have to bring their own re-usable carriers to the stores.

Supporters of the ban say that the carriers take a lot of energy to produce and most importantly are an environmental hazard. The Italian Government hopes that this new initiative will encourage Italians to be more environmentally friendly and reinforce recycling within the community.

From the beginning of the month only bio-degradable, paper or cloth bags are allowed to be offered in stores.

800 museums, art galleries and heritage sites strike due to funding cuts

admin — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 12:25:26 +0000

A vast mejority of Italy’s cultural attractions will be closed on Friday 12th November due to funding cuts proposed by the government. It is predicted that hundreds of museums, art galleries and heritage sites will be affected by the lack of funding. The government has advised that cuts are being proposed in order to encourage private investment and help ease strain on publichfunding but Italian cultural heritage experts predict that famous sites such as Florence Cathedral and Nero’s Golden House are vulnerable to collapse if these cuts go ahead.
Hundreds of tourists will be affected by the strike as most cultural attractions will either completely close on Friday or have restricted opening hours.
Italy has more World Heritage sites than any other country. Therefore residents are extremely concerned that this 280 million euro cut, set to take place over the next three years, will raise further questions as to whether Italy can maintain these cultural attractions for not only the sake of the tourism industry but also its heritage.

A lot of touristic attractions are available in the Lake Como region.

Casinos to boost Italian tourism

admin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:15:47 +0000

According to Reuters, Italian Tourism Minister Vittoria Brambilla is planning on opening 10 to 15 luxury casinos to boost the Italian tourism sector. These casinos would be housed in five star hotels and form part of a 19 point plan set out by Brambilla to help tourism in Italy, especially in the poorer southern areas. However, her plans still need to be approved by the government and the local municipalities where the casinos will be situated. There are currently four northern municipal-controlled casinos in Venice, San Remo, Campione near Como and San Vincent. The new casinos will include two re-opened casinos in Taormina in Sicily and San Pellegrino Terme near Bergamo. So far this year, casinos have taken 347 million euros in bets with Venice taking the largest amount. If Brambilla’s plans are approved then these new casinos could be the boost that Southern Italy needs to finally break out of the shadow of the North.

New tourist attraction for Florence?

admin — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:59:20 +0000

Florence already has many sights which tourists flock to year upon year, such as Florence Cathedral. However, if Italian art expert Maurizio Seracini is right, there will be one more reason for tourists to visit. According to The Telegraph in the UK, Seracini believes that he may have found the missing The Battle of Anghiari masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci hidden behind The Battle of Marciano in the Chiana Valley by fellow Renaissance artist Giorgio Vasari. Seracini claims that a mini military banner in the fresco saying “Cerca Trova” – seek and you will find – is a clue left behind by Vasari to indicate the presence of da Vinci’s masterpiece beneath his own. And now he has been given permission to use high-tech gadgets to discover whether there is anything beneath the fresco. If his hunch is right and da Vinci’s masterpiece is underneath , then it’s a very exciting discovery and another reason to go to Florence!

Italy wins travel award

admin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:56:07 +0000

The Italian State Tourist Board must be grinning from ear to ear with the news that Italy has been voted the best European destination for a long holiday in the Sunday Times Travel Magazine Reader Awards. They beat Greece and Spain into second and third place for the title because “with its mix of ‘the best sights, smells… and designer bags,’ you know ‘there’s a holiday for everyone in Italy. The newspaper even recommends some experiences for readers to experience such as food in Siciliy and the beaches along the Tuscan coast. But really I’m not surprised really that Italy won. Seeing as I write a blog about Italy, I know what a fantastic place it is. I’m just glad that it is getting some recognition and that people are realising just how unique and interesting Italy is!

If you want to discover this wonderful country, just sleep at the Bed and Breakfast Costasecca.

Saint statue to recycle solar energy

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 06:56:37 +0000

Maybe it’s just me, but I find the idea of a 60 metre statue of a saint having the ability to recycle solar energy really weird. But that’s the plan of the curators of the shrine of Padre Pio. They want to build a statue of the friar atop a hill in Rignano Garganico, where it will be able to collect and recycle solar energy thanks to a new paint being developed by scientists in Bologna. When it is finished, the statue of Padre Pio will be the world’s first example of ‘green’ religious art. However, the statue will cost several million euros to build, which the curators say will be collected from the followers of Padre Pio. Padre Pio’s shrine in Foggia draws almost a million visitors every year and makes millions of euros for the local economy. The annual turnover of the shrine is said to be close to 120 million euros, which includes souvenirs, two magazines, a satellite TV station, and the offerings of its pilgrims. This is all well and good, but the idea of a giant statue of a saint which can recycle solar energy still sounds like some space age project that will never really work!

Does Venice really need Yoko Ono?

admin — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 08:37:15 +0000

To the disappointment of thousands of people (perhaps), Yoko Ono has cancelled her performance at the La Fenice theatre in Venice to commemorate the September 11th attacks. The only reason she gave for the cancellation was that it was a “personal decision”. I’m not a huge Yoko Ono fan, although not as bad as those who blame her for splitting up The Beatles, so I can’t really see the big deal about her pulling out. Apparently she is a “pioneer in performance and conceptual art” and “she remains one of the most influential artists today”. Really?! As far as I’m aware, most people only know who Yoko Ono is because of John Lennon. Or maybe I’m just not in touch with the art world, seeing as some of her works are currently being shown at the Palazzetto Tito in Venice. But I’m sure Italy must have enough artists to fill the gaping (?) hole left by Yoko Ono’s cancellation……

Massive bill for Japanese tourists

admin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:18:47 +0000

Now I’ve been to quite a few Italian restaurants in my time, but never have I received a bill for €695 for lunch. But that is exactly what happened to a Japanese couple in Rome last month at the Passetto restaurant. The tourists say that a waiter offered to bring them a few dishes which they did not choose and were then brought wine. However, when the bill came they were amazed to find that they had been charged so much money. Understandably, the story has angered mayor and does not do much for the reputation for Rome, which is already thought of by many as fairly expensive. So the moral of this story is, check what the price of what you’re ordering before you order or you may have big surprise when you get the bill!

Acqua Veritas

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 05:15:26 +0000

Italy has long been the world’s largest consumer of bottled water, but now Venice is fighting back! According to the NYT, venetian officials have now started a campaign to encourage more people to drink tap water instead of bottled water. They are fed up of the amount of plastic bottles floating around the city and the sheer cost of rubbish collection. Therefore they have come up the brand Acqua Veritas. I think that it is a fabulous idea! Not only because I am fairly eco-conscious but also because I think it will improve the reputation of the city. This is a fairly light-hearted story and so the more publicity it gains, the more people may want to visit Venice. So not only a good environmentally friendly idea, but perhaps also a good tourism marketing campaign.