January 31st
Thursday night we got tickets to go see what we thought was going to be a dance concert. We got there all excited and out of breath from the scalette and climbed to the 3rd floor to find our balcony seats. We had our own little box that had a lovely view of the whole theatre. The lights lowered and on came a little old lady, who spoke for a while in Italian, then the curtains parted and onstage there was a big screen in the back, a band on stage right and a row of people in chairs on stage left. To be quite honest, none of us knew what was going on. There was an old man that sang songs and then the people in the rows came up in turns and read from a script. Then there were clips shown on the screen in the back, some of it was silent and then other parts we fully equipped with audio. We think the first part of this little treat was about a woman, Carmella, who the old man loved but died. Then we put a little more of it together and we think that the old woman who spoke at the beginning was the wife of a famous director/writer/actor who recently passed away. We think what we saw was a sort of tribute to him. But quite honestly we are still trying to understand what we saw… it was definitely faaaar from normal. I would equate it to a bad acid trip. Very weird.
February 1st
Then we had Friday off, a much needed three day weekend with nothing to do! We took a trip for groceries and then decided to purchase our last jar of Nutella. Ohhhhh Nutella; I’m sure you’ve heard me mention this divine product numerous amounts of times. Well, since I’ve been in Italy I have consumed approximately 3 jars… clearly an obese amount. In the spirit of Lent we decided it was necessary to give up Nutella, just to make sure our hearts still pump when we return to America. But while I strive to live without it, I highly advise getting some for yourself. This way I can live vicariously through your delicious adventures, haha. Oi, I hope I make it 40 days!
February 3rd
Carnivale was also this weekend. I don’t know if you know what Carnivale is, but it’s a big celebration here the weekend before Fat Tuesday. Venice holds a huge celebration; it’s about the equivalent to Mardi Gras in the U.S. I went to the one in Macerata on Sunday with some friends. There were huge floats and people dressed in costumes all over the place. Kids were throwing confetti, silly string and shaving cream attacked from all directions and endless amounts of scrumptious food lined the streets. It was a fun way to wrap up the weekend.
February 5th
Tuesday we had an excursion to Ascoli Piceno. Tuesday was Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday when Lent starts. Today was a great day to go on an excursion, because there are so many fun celebrations that go on. We took the morning to tour some churches and look at some architecture in town, and then had lunch at this quaint little restaurant just off the beaten path. The pasta we were served had this amazing tomato sauce that when you ate it you just felt like home was running down your throat… soooo yummy.
Then we had the rest of the afternoon to do what we pleased. We took this opportunity to engage in a rather brutal confetti war. Oh yes, it was nearly fatal. Armed with bags of confetti and silly string, it was every man for himself. Once our bags ran out we took to scrapping the street to gather more confetti. We were in the town square and just annihilated each other with fists full of shreds of paper, aiming for unexpected participants and open mouths. I am pretty sure that even after coughing up a considerable amount of confetti, I still have some lodged in the deep valleys of my lungs. Quite amusing though, I think all the little kids were jealous of how much fun we were having.
After a truce between all, Amanda and I went around to see the different areas of the town piazza’s and the shows that we being put on. There were a lot of people in costume everywhere, and we observed that most men were dressed as women… weird? We saw one show where people were dressed in horse costumes (one person the head, the other the behind) and they were riding around in a carousel. Then there was a ring master that had to keep catching them when the horses would run away into the town. All the while men dressed as women pranced around inside of the ring and tried to get little kids to join the carousel for a ride. I took a video of it; my explanation hardly does it justice. I will try to post the video on YouTube soon.
Then, I waited in a pushy line for 12 minutes just to get pizza that scorched the roof of my mouth and left me still hungry. Once we were all thoroughly confused about this holiday and jealous we didn’t have sufficient costume, we slowly boarded the bus with the promise of a cozy bed waiting for us at home.
Thursday night we got tickets to go see what we thought was going to be a dance concert. We got there all excited and out of breath from the scalette and climbed to the 3rd floor to find our balcony seats. We had our own little box that had a lovely view of the whole theatre. The lights lowered and on came a little old lady, who spoke for a while in Italian, then the curtains parted and onstage there was a big screen in the back, a band on stage right and a row of people in chairs on stage left. To be quite honest, none of us knew what was going on. There was an old man that sang songs and then the people in the rows came up in turns and read from a script. Then there were clips shown on the screen in the back, some of it was silent and then other parts we fully equipped with audio. We think the first part of this little treat was about a woman, Carmella, who the old man loved but died. Then we put a little more of it together and we think that the old woman who spoke at the beginning was the wife of a famous director/writer/actor who recently passed away. We think what we saw was a sort of tribute to him. But quite honestly we are still trying to understand what we saw… it was definitely faaaar from normal. I would equate it to a bad acid trip. Very weird.
February 1st
Then we had Friday off, a much needed three day weekend with nothing to do! We took a trip for groceries and then decided to purchase our last jar of Nutella. Ohhhhh Nutella; I’m sure you’ve heard me mention this divine product numerous amounts of times. Well, since I’ve been in Italy I have consumed approximately 3 jars… clearly an obese amount. In the spirit of Lent we decided it was necessary to give up Nutella, just to make sure our hearts still pump when we return to America. But while I strive to live without it, I highly advise getting some for yourself. This way I can live vicariously through your delicious adventures, haha. Oi, I hope I make it 40 days!
February 3rd
Carnivale was also this weekend. I don’t know if you know what Carnivale is, but it’s a big celebration here the weekend before Fat Tuesday. Venice holds a huge celebration; it’s about the equivalent to Mardi Gras in the U.S. I went to the one in Macerata on Sunday with some friends. There were huge floats and people dressed in costumes all over the place. Kids were throwing confetti, silly string and shaving cream attacked from all directions and endless amounts of scrumptious food lined the streets. It was a fun way to wrap up the weekend.
February 5th
Tuesday we had an excursion to Ascoli Piceno. Tuesday was Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday when Lent starts. Today was a great day to go on an excursion, because there are so many fun celebrations that go on. We took the morning to tour some churches and look at some architecture in town, and then had lunch at this quaint little restaurant just off the beaten path. The pasta we were served had this amazing tomato sauce that when you ate it you just felt like home was running down your throat… soooo yummy.
Then we had the rest of the afternoon to do what we pleased. We took this opportunity to engage in a rather brutal confetti war. Oh yes, it was nearly fatal. Armed with bags of confetti and silly string, it was every man for himself. Once our bags ran out we took to scrapping the street to gather more confetti. We were in the town square and just annihilated each other with fists full of shreds of paper, aiming for unexpected participants and open mouths. I am pretty sure that even after coughing up a considerable amount of confetti, I still have some lodged in the deep valleys of my lungs. Quite amusing though, I think all the little kids were jealous of how much fun we were having.
After a truce between all, Amanda and I went around to see the different areas of the town piazza’s and the shows that we being put on. There were a lot of people in costume everywhere, and we observed that most men were dressed as women… weird? We saw one show where people were dressed in horse costumes (one person the head, the other the behind) and they were riding around in a carousel. Then there was a ring master that had to keep catching them when the horses would run away into the town. All the while men dressed as women pranced around inside of the ring and tried to get little kids to join the carousel for a ride. I took a video of it; my explanation hardly does it justice. I will try to post the video on YouTube soon.
Then, I waited in a pushy line for 12 minutes just to get pizza that scorched the roof of my mouth and left me still hungry. Once we were all thoroughly confused about this holiday and jealous we didn’t have sufficient costume, we slowly boarded the bus with the promise of a cozy bed waiting for us at home.
This is Megan, she got ambushed by a bunch of 12- year- olds... clearly she lost the war.
This is one of the floats in the parade in Macerata on Sunday... don't ask me why they had a Bin Laden float, I have not the slightest idea.
A little snapshot of men dressed as women- hotties.
One of my favorite little kids that was dressed up for Carnivale on Tuesday. They were cute at the beginning of the day, but as it got later I got just as whiney and tired as them.
A little snapshot of men dressed as women- hotties.
One of my favorite little kids that was dressed up for Carnivale on Tuesday. They were cute at the beginning of the day, but as it got later I got just as whiney and tired as them.
1 comment:
Still waiting for the mohawk pics!!! It's such a normal look here in CA!! Sounds like you are having a perfect time...can't wait to see all of the photos and hear all of the stories (even the ones you're not telling your mom!!hehe)
love the blogs...love you even more!!
"aunt" Deb
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