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Altered reality during Carnevale in Venice |
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Source: Inquirer |
Author: Augusto Villalon |
Date: 2001-04-02 |
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IN SPITE of its strong links to history, Venice shows
that a heritage city is not a mere monument to the past
and that life thrives within it with strong 21st-century
vibrations. Carnevale, the annual pre-Lenten festival,
bends reality in Venice, altering its historic aura with
revelry and a walking feast of costumed fantasies. Carnevale shows that the
preservation of old cities is empty without the continuation of its traditions.
Dara Villonco, who studies in Florence, went to Venice during Carnevale
and saw how the festival transforms a historic city. Her letter is one of the few
exceptional ones I have received in a long while, and it deserves to be shared.
"I went to Venice and all I have to say is this: Carnevale in Venice is an
experience and a half! It was such a magical weekend that I don’t think I’ll ever
be able to describe everything I saw and felt.
"Anyway, the train ride from Florence is relatively smooth. Looking at the view
of the countryside from the window is so relaxing. I see vast tracts of land
sweeping past with the occasional isolated farmhouse dotting the green fields.
Trees surround some farmhouses, making the houses look as if hidden by a
lace-pattern screen made of dried inter-twined branches. It is eerily enchanting
during winter and spring, so you can only imagine what it looks like in summer
when you probably won’t even see the house because it will be in the middle of
a dense patch of green forest in the middle of nowhere.
The vineyards and olive orchards are bare, grape vines and silver-tipped olive
branches are stripped of their leaves and fruit, but your mind just cannot help
but imagine what it looks like filled with green leaves during the summer.
"We arrive in Venice. Every time I step out of that train station, I feel like I am
on a movie set. The sight that greets you when you pass through those glass
doors is enthralling—it just knocks the wind right out of you. The sight of the
water, the boats, the buildings makes time cease to exist, transporting you to
another world. The city is just the perfect setting for a fairy tale. You half expect
seeing gold-leafed, horse-drawn carriages and angels floating down from the
sky. It also doesn’t help it is Carnevale and you have all these people walking
around in costumes. Stifling your imagination in Venice is absolutely impossible.
Amazing feeling
"Going to the Guggenheim reawakens my love of museums. I can’t really
explain the most amazing feeling when you actually see one of your favorite
paintings in front of you. I am really surprised to see Magritte’s ‘Empire of
Light.’ Actually, surprise isn’t even the right word to describe it—I am
overwhelmed.
"We walk around a lot. Venice has two faces—during the day, it is full of
people, the mood is festive with much laughter, and an inexplicable
vivaciousness permeates the air. Music plays in just about every corner of every
piazza—Brazilian, Peruvian, reggae—you name it, they have it!
"There are people painting faces (a very lucrative business during Carnevale),
an old man making giant bubbles, and even a small troupe of circus performers
wandering around. Two Punch and Judy shows, a ballet and a play all go on at
the same time, making it difficult to decide where to place yourself with so much
happening all around.
"As twilight descends, Venice shows her other side. The city is still beautiful and
romantic but in an eerie, dark, gothic kind of way. The narrow streets are like
Escher drawings with so many little bridges and paths leading nowhere. Adding
to the confusion, the buildings look the same in the dark. While walking,
thinking that the next turn will harbor a bridge, you instead find yourself in front
of another watery dead-end. It is spooky, deathly quiet and you hear the
‘clack-clack’ of your heels as they hit the cobblestones.
"Lights strung over the streets make evenings special. Some are in the shape of
masks. Others dangle in midair in varying lengths, giving the impression you are
walking under a waterfall of starlight. The Rialto Bridge is spectacular at night
because as you walk under it and look up, you see a ceiling of lights that
twinkle like stars. If you’re lucky, you’ll see people dressed in 17th century
costume coming down the steps and I swear, you’ll have to keep pinching
yourself to make sure you’re not dreaming.
Costumes with style
"And the costumes! Aaaaaaaaargh! I can’t even begin to describe them!
People really plan out what they are going to wear for Carnavale. Venetians
have taste—they make and wear their costumes with style. Hindi lang
pa-bonggahan. You can see that a lot of work goes into the making of the
costumes. We see a bunch of 40-year-old women dressed up as the 101
Dalmatians, old people dressed up as the Bavarian Royal family, a group of
men dressed up as the entourage of Poseidon, Lord of the Sea—it is just
amazing!
"They seem to make something out of nothing! One of the more interesting
costumes I see is by an old woman who wears a dress made of folded-up shiny
paper in the shape of cones. She emits bolts of lightning as she moves.
She is with her husband dressed as an 18th-century magistrate. They are so
cute! We watch a soccer game with the players dressed in costume wearing
their ‘family colors’—like how they played centuries ago. It is pretty cool.
"There are really elaborate costumes. Two men are dressed as a pair of
flamingos. Their headdresses must have at least been 4 ft tall and they wear
pink stockings, pink tutus and these killer pink platform heels that would put Ru
Paul to shame. The cool part is that they even act like flamingos—whenever
one of them will gesture, the other one will mirror and imitate.
There is a costume that looks like a second person is perched on the shoulders
of another but, in fact, it is just a massive sculpture with a mask attached to the
person walking around with it. It’s hard to explain. You just have to see the
flurry of feathers, masks, beads, brocade, crinoline, crushed velvet, fine silks,
fake precious stones and color—lots and lots of color—swirls of shapes that is
Carnevale.
"Probably the only thing I can find wrong with Venice is the food. Eating in
Venice isn’t exactly something of a culinary delight or adventure because to get
a good meal, you have to fork out a lot of money. If you want to eat good
food, you have to make sure of one of three things: Have money to spend,
make sure your parents are with you or make sure you’re with somebody
else’s parents! If nothing works out with the first three suggestions, there is
always McDonald’s!"
Reality bites back at the sight of McDonald’s.
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