A wonderful thing about the holidays in Italy is that the Christmas season doesn't end on the 25th, but keeps going until Epiphany!One sure sign of the holidays here in Venice is the Christmas carnival on the waterfront.
Know the fun series, the Xenophobe's Guides? There are actually also a number of cultural differences among Italians, and so they've published the same series about them here!
In the one on Venetians by Sandro Mattiazzi called Veneziani: Figli del leone alato ("Children of the Winged Lion"), locals speak fondly of this travelling carnival that comes back every year. Some people who live in the immediate area complain about the crowds and the lights and the weight of the rides and the trucks that bear them (brought in by barge), which they say undermine the stability of the waterfront.
I don't know if that's actually true, and most Venetians instead look forward to it reappearing like Brigadoon in the winter mists, whether or not they always go see it themselves. I recall reading in Mattiazzi's book folks' saying something like, "It makes me happy just knowing that it's back."
No comments:
Post a Comment