Divided Italy celebrates 150 years of unity

Italy celebrated yesterday (17 March) the 150th anniversary of its unification. But the country has never been so divided, with separatist forces gaining ground in the north and south alike. Anniversary celebrations took place all over Italy. The government decided to call a national holiday to mark the special occasion.

Separatist movements are gaining ground and the government itself is dominated by a party (Lega Nord) which began its political life by explicitly calling for the secession of the wealthier north from the rest of the country.

Lega Nord's anti-national stance was blatantly confirmed during yesterday's celebrations. In addition to four ministers, just one of the right-wing party's 85 MPs was present at a solemn ceremony in the packed Italian Parliament in Rome.

A gallery of pictures is here

The Venice Carnival Photo Book

My  photo book  "Carnival in Venice 2011" is out, it is about 40 pages and more than 50 photographs. You can take a look at the preview of few pages

The Venice Carnival - Photographs by Marco Secchi

Every year Venice celebrates Carnival, which lasts for two weeks and ends on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, so today was the final day! Compared to last year, the last day of this year's Venice carnival is estimated to have witnessed a rise in tourist numbers. The combined figures offered by Venice police and hotel operators suggest that as many as 160,000 tourists were in Venice for the annual carnival's closing Sunday.

It has been a very busy and intense 2 weeks, but with lots of fun as well and hundreds of pictures.

Eight letters

This is all that matters now And that was all that happened anyhow You can look back but don't stare Maybe I can love you out of there

And when I went away what I forgot to say Was all I had to say: Eight letters, three words, one meaning

And outside forces didn't make it easy So I thought I'd go before you leave me Self-preservation was no explanation for anything

(Gary Barlow)

Vaporino

When you walk in the winter fog, there seems to be no division between water and embankment, life and death, love and hate. You feel that you can walk through walls, through sky, through time.

My Venice is the Venice of winter, the Venice of Cannaregio, the Venice of fog. Walking down the Fte Nove  in la nebbia, wearing rubber boots against the high water, it is hard to tell where terra firma leaves off and sky and water begin. The city seems to hang in the air like a mirage. Sounds bounce off the waters and deceive you with their closeness or farness. Figures appear and disappear around corners. The past beckons. It is quite possible to believe that it can take you and never give you back.

Related articles

• The peaceful pleasures of Venice in winter (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Venice Frittelle - Venezia Fritole

Image via Wikipedia

Frittelle...Fritoe, or fritters, are the most famous dolci or sweets of  Venice during the Carnival Season.

Frittelle begin showing up in pastry shops, Cafes and  bakeries, mid Januaryand  during the weeks leading up to il Carnevale di Venezia. When Carnival is over, frittelle disappear from the store windows almost as quickly as tourists in masks.

Frittelle come in a variety of styles, both filled and unfilled, the available choices usually include:

Frittelle veneziane. No filling, but with raisins and pine nuts mixed into the fairly heavy dough. After frying, the frittelle are rolled in granulated sugar.

Frittelle con crema chantilly. Filled with a light vanilla-flavored pastry cream and rolled in granulated sugar.

Frittelle con cioccolata. Filled with a mild chocolate-flavored pastry cream and rolled in granulated sugar.

Frittelle con zabaione. Filled with a Marsala-flavored pastry cream and rolled in granulated sugar.

The most famous and renowned places were to get the Frittelle and my vote

• Pasticceria Tonolo: Contrada San pantalon in Dorsoduro 10/10
• Pasticceria Didovitch: Campo Santa Marina     8/10
• Pasticceria Bonifacio Calle degli Albanesi San Marco 9/10
• Panifico Fornareto Calle del Forner Cannaregio  8/10
• Coffe Pasticceria Pitteri Strada Nuova Cannaregio  9/10 but poor Cappuccino!
• Dal Mas  Cannaregio Rio Terà Lista de Spagna, 150  8/10
• Rosa Salva  (6/10)

The worst Frittelle (IMHO Majer (San Giacomo dell'Orio) : just one word Terrible!!!

This year prices are around 1.10 and 1.30 Euro each  but I have seen also a few outrageous 1.80

Stop dreaming, Start flying

Paradise and Hell panels by Hieronymus Bosch on display in the Tribuna room at Palazzo Grimani on January 10, 2011 in Venice, Italy. The  exhibition will stay open until 20th March 2011

Hieronymus Bosch born Jeroen Anthoniszoon van Aken c. 1450 – August 9, 1516 was an Early Netherlandish painter. His work is known for its use of fantastic imagery to illustrate moral and religious concepts and narratives

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• Gilliam reveals the surreal world of Monty Python art (artisticallyconnected.wordpress.com)

Ephiphany

Regata della Befana with Arzana'

La Befana vien di notte Con le scarpe tutte rotte Col cappello alla romana Viva, Viva La Befana!

Old wood

If gondolas are the most famous boat in Venice, they are not the only one. All kind of crafts go tirelessly all over town. A large part of them are made out of modern materials, but many old and classical wooden hulls are still in use.

Related articles

• The peaceful pleasures of Venice in winter (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Venice in Winter (travel.nytimes.com)

Driftwood

Everything is open Nothing is set in stone

.....

You're driftwood floating underwater Breaking into pieces, pieces, pieces Just driftwood, hollow and of no use Waterfalls will find you, bind you, grind you

.....

So I'm sorry that you've turned to driftwood But you've been drifting for a long, long time

The Video by Travis is here

Christmas in Venice

Father Christmas wearing boots to cope with seasonal high water walks along Riva degli Schiavoni in Venice.

The Christmas of most of the old Italian writers as well as  Dickens and even  Hollywood movies is all about family, friendship, compassion and goodwill for all , it is about the “Christmas Spirit”  that  stands for core religious values. On the other side The Christmas that you see every day is about demanding or try to sell expensive gifts, selfishness, eat as much as you can, getting drunk.

I hope you belong to the first category but whatever you choose a Merry Christmas to all my Catholic friends!

A usage of one of my images in Vanity Fair Italy

Related articles

• The spirit of Christmas... (thewayoftheweb.net)
• Christmas Spirit -- it's what you make it (scottpaterson.org)
• The True Spirit of Christmas (socyberty.com)

A way of life

Acqua Alta or the high tide in Venice is a way of life and people live with it....but few things  still surprise me!

Here a grocer from St Erasmo sells his vegetables in Murano during the high tide.

Photo Galleries  1 and 2

Related articles

• The peaceful pleasures of Venice in winter (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Mamma Mia! Venice Is Under Water! (perezhilton.com)

The Glass Alchemist

Elena a glass artist in Murano blows glass next to a glass furnace on December 18, 2010 in Venice, Italy. There are only few female glass artists is Italy and they face continuous challenges in a traditionally male dominated field.

There are not many people (and things!) that I admire and that I could watch for hours while they work, without losing concentration after few seconds. I have seen them all...and often better.  Elena is an exception, seeing her at work with glass is unreal....

Elena Rosso Website

The snow has landed

On the Venice Lagoon between the white snow, the dark green of the water and heavy sky

Some of the images have been used by MSNBC photoblog

Love Conquers All

While searching for traces of the Templars,  I  found today in Venice the following inscription at La Maddalena church "Amor Vincit Omnia"