Here are three versions of the blog post our friends Marco and Fabry sent us - the first one is in Italian; the second is the translation Marco, Carolina, Sharona ed io abbiamo fatto last week; the final is my own English "interpretation. There are also some cool pictures at the end.
Enjoy!
Version 1: In Italian
UN SABATO DIVERSO!
Questo è il breve racconto della giornata vissuta il 5 marzo a Venezia in occasione dell’ultimo weekend i carnevale in questa rinomata città dove è molto colorato e sfarzoso il rituale del carnevale.
Così partiamo alla mattina presto in direzione Venezia e ci diamo appuntamento con una coppia di nostri amici milanesi e due loro amiche francesi in quel di Mestre che è praticamente un sobborgo su terra ferma di Venezia e dove molti turisti preferiscono dormire perché meno costosa e comunque molto vicina.
Il posto scelto per dormire è una bella villa dell’800’ con poche stanze pulite e ordinate, ci piace!
Appena arrivati vediamo i nostri costumi di sartoria teatrale del 700’ veneziano davvero belli che i nostri amici di Milano avevano da tempo noleggiato per questo giorno.
Andiamo subito a indossarli e in breve tempo eccoci vestiti davvero da perfetti veneziani d’epoca.
Andiamo a prendere l’autobus che in 10 minuti circa ci porta già nella laguna veneziana da dove inizia il nostro itinerario a piedi verso la piazza di San Marco.
Con nostra sorpresa cominciano a fermarci e chiederci di fare la foto a noi o insieme a noi molti turisti e alla fine del giorno dopo aver perso il conto ne avevo contati più di 400!
Tante foto spiegano anche il ritardo con cui siamo giunti alla celebre piazza di San Marco e anche perché all’1 pm abbiamo deciso di fermarci in uno dei tanti ristorantini per pranzare visto anche i prezzi più che dignitosi.
Immersi nella storia dei nostri costumi e in quella della città d’arte veneziana folgorati dalla celebrità che suscitiamo nella gente come delle vere star ormai pronte ad ogni scatto fotografico arriviamo verso le 4 pm in piazza San Marco pienissima di persone. Qua troviamo anche le maschere e i costumi più belli che abbiamo visto in tutto il giorno ma anche i nostri notiamo essere all’altezza degli altri.
In piazza anche i giornalisti avidi di fotografare ogni cosa ci avvolgono con i loro scatti fotografici facendoci finire in chissà quale rivista o sito web.
Dopo tanto camminare verso le 6 pm decidiamo che il nostro giorno storico volge al termine e così con un taxi d’acqua raggiungiamo rapidi il punto bus dove siamo arrivati e da li verso la dimora del 700’.
Infine per concludere in maniera perfetta la serata andiamo in un bel ristorante di Mestre (3 forchette nella guida Michelin) e gustiamo una deliziosa cena anche se un po' costosa!!!
Ecco questo è stato il nostro sabato un po' diverso!!!
Version Two: English Translation:
This is a brief recount of the day spent, the 5th of March in Venice, for the occasion of the last weekend of Carnevale, in this famous city where the ritual of Carnevale it is very colorful and sumptuous.
So we leave in the early morning towards Venice, and we meet with a couple of our friends from Milan, and two of their French friends, in Mestre, a suburb on the Venezian mainland, where many tourists prefer to stay because it is less costly but still very close.
The chosen place to sleep is a beautiful villa of the 800's, with a few clean and orderly rooms - we like it! As soon as we arrive, we see our theater costumes in the 700's style, truly beautiful, that our friends from Milan had the time to rent for this day.
We go right away to wear them and in a short time, here we are, dressed as the perfect Venetians of the time. We take the bus that, in 10 minutes, takes us already to the Venezian lagoon, from where our intinerary begins on foot towards the Piazza San Marco.
To our surprise, many tourists began to stop us to ask us to take pictures of us, or with us, and at the end of the day, after having lost count, I had taken more than 400.
The Many pictures explain the lateness with which we come to the famous Piazza di San Marco, and also why, at 1 PM, we decided to stop at one of the many restaurants to have lunch for the view, also the prices were more than decent.
Immersed in the history of our costumes, and in that of the city of art, Venice, struck by the celebrity aroused in the people like true stars, by now ready fo every shot/click/photo, we arrived, close to 4 PM, in Piazza San Marco, very full of people. Here we also find masks and costumes more beautiful than we had seen all day, but also we saw that ours were equal to the others.
In the Piazza, the journalists were eager to photograph everything - they envelop us taking their pictures to end up in who knows what magazine or website.
After a lot of walking, close to 6 PM, we decided that our historic day is coming to an end, and so, with a water taxi, we rapidly gather at the bus stop where we arrived at the home of the 700's.
Finally, to conclude the evening in the perfect way, we go to a good restaurant in Mestre (3 forks in the Michelin Guide) and we enjoy a delicious dinner, even if a little expensive.
Here this was our Saturday - a little different!
Version 3: My Interpretation:
Last weekend, we spent Saturday in Venice for the last weekend of Carneval, in this famous city where the ritual of Carneval, a colorful, sumptuous party held for ten days every year.
We left our home in Forlì, a city about 3 hours south of Venice, in the early morning. We met a couple of our gay friends from Milan, along with two French friends, in the city of Mestre, the mainland part of Venice - it doesn't have the historic charm of the old City in the lagoon, but many tourists stay here because it's affordable, and it's just a short trip from Venice itself.
We're staying in a beautiful, historic villa from the 9th century, which offers clean, beautiful rooms for our overnight visit. As soon as we arrive, our friends show us the beautiful, theatrical costumes they rented for us at a costume shop in Milan - we'll be dressed as Merchants from the 8th century in Venice.
We immediately put them on, and were ready to begin our dat at the Carnival celebration, looking like true Venetians. A short ten minute bus ride brought us across the lagoon to the City of Venice, where we started our journey across the city toward the famous Piazza San Marco.
But on the way, many tourists stopped us and asked if they could take pictures of our beautiful costumes - by the end of the day, we'd posed for more than four hundred of them. These requests slowed us down considerably, and by 1 PM, we still had not reached the Piazza, so we decided to stop for lunch. We found a great little restaurant with reasonable prices and a great view of the activity out in the streets and canals of Venice.
After lunch, we continued the journey. Immersed in the history of the city and the character of our costumes, we felt like rock stars, the paparazzi snapping photos wherever we went. Finally, around 4 PM, we arrived in the Piazza San Marco, which was bursting with people, including many in costumes more beautiful than any we had seen earlier in the day. But we were happy to see that ours were at least as nice.
At Piazza San Marco, there were also journalists everywhere - the surrounded us, taking pictures of our costumes that ended up on who knows what magazine or website.
At 6 o'clock, after walking all day, we decided that it was time for our day in the 8th century to come to an end. So we boarded a a water taxi to take us back to the bus stop. On the way, we took some beautiful photos of Venice, including the sunset at the top of this article.
We concluded our evening in the perfect way - we gathered with our friends at a a good restaurant in Mestre (3 forks in the Michelin Guide) and we enjoyed a delicious dinner together.
It was a Saturday to remember.
