Lino strung the two flags across our little street. Only we would have been likely to walk that way, so we just went ahead and bedecked the day. It’s important to recognize that April 25 is also a national holiday: National Liberation Day, commemorating the end of World War 2, so bring on the banners.
Yesterday, April 25, was the feast day of San Marco, who is, as all the world knows, the city’s patron saint. Always the occasion for grand festivizing — ceremony in the Piazza, laurel wreaths on the main monuments, high mass in the basilica, and the iridescent tradition of the “bocolo,” (BOH-ko-lo) or long-stemmed red rose, that Venetian men give to the dearest ladies in their life.
A friend with her bocolo a few years ago.This year, not even the stray petal was to be seen. Except, I suppose, near the few people who had somehow managed to reserve their rose.
Yesterday, we were bocolo-deprived. Plant matter was represented mainly by the laurel wreaths, installed a few days early. As for the bocolo, there were and there weren’t. Of course we knew that the usual freelance vendors staking out via Garibaldi and environs would be nowhere to be seen, that was to be expected. But don’t be downhearted: The Gazzettino published a little article on Friday saying that a few florists were not only going to be selling roses, they’d deliver them to your doorstep. Wonderful! But the article did not publish any names or phone numbers of these florists. Saturday — the day itself — an article appeared repeating the plan, with the names and numbers of the participating florists. Lino immediately called to order one for me (and to discover the heretofore unknown cost, which I estimated would be 3 euros for the rose and 40 euros for the delivery), only to hear “Oh no, you had to book them.”
So this little misadventure will be filed under “You had one job!”, for the florists as well as for the Gazzettino.
This year, San Marco’s day was on Saturday. Shops now are usually closed on Sunday, so this means shop-owners got a rare two-day weekend. Were they happy? Well, Luca and Massimo on the fruit and vegetable boat apparently were — early on feast-day morning, we saw the remains of some pre-feast-day festa left behind where the bananas and apples usually reside.
But no matter! We had a fine day, sunshine, breeze, empty streets, sepulchral silence broken by the occasional bellowing and screeching of dogs passing in the street or on the bridge outside our house. (If you don’t believe that a dog can screech, you haven’t met that long-haired dachshund who evidently can’t stand anything about life, and whose owner must be deaf.)
We took our usual early-morning walk along the waterfront to the end of Sant’ Elena and home again (2.7 miles, for the record), plus our ten crossings of the bridge outside — our personal stone Stairmaster. And we feasted on little kidchops — removed from young goats, not the usual lamb.
We then “went to the beach” after lunch, which is what I call our hour of sitting on the edge of the canal a few steps from our front door. We’ve had two straight weeks of sunshine, so this interlude is a high point of the day; even though we aren’t tanning in any meaningful way. we’re stoking our Vitamin D. And we look at our little boat tied to its pilings directly across the canal, and the lush greenery that is growing on the bottom of the hull, and wonder when we’ll ever row her again. The easing of some restrictions are expected to begin on May 4, but we’ll know only on May 4 if that will turn out to be true. Or, if the Gazzettino is really up to speed, we’ll find out on May 5.
Friday was “Oh my God, we have to get the shopping done because the stores will be closed Saturday and Sunday!” Lines of people here are waiting to enter the only-two-people-at-a-time bread bakery and detergent/cosmetics store. The fruit and vegetable boat (covered by the awning seen in the middle distance) also had an unusually long line. As did the wine shop and the fish stall and the butcher. In the afternoon, there were 50 people in line outside the Coop, which now is closing at 7:30 PM instead of 10:00 PM. I, with my now-finely-honed skills, did the supermarket run on Thursday evening at 7:00 PM when there were only five people in line ahead of me. Of course, by then lots of shelves had been depleted (that’s the trade-off for coming late), but I was able to get what we needed in record time. I’d rather do without a few things than spend hours standing in line, even though it may be a great excuse to be out of the house.People are willing to do this. I don’t understand it, but I respect it. They’ve obviously got reserves of stamina and patience I can only dream of. (The supermarket is about 15 more people-lengths behind me.)Friday morning, long-overdue repairs to the wall damaged by the disastrous acqua alta of November 12, 2019, were suddenly underway.Saturday morning, everything was perfect again.Friday morning, the men were cleaning the monument to “La Partigiana” with hammer and tongs, so to speak, but more obviously rakes and scrapers. Spring cleaning at last?Saturday morning (which was also National Liberation Day), the finishing touches were applied with high-pressure water. The arrangement of roses reveals the mystery of the sudden attack of cleaning — at 10:00 AM Mayor Luigi Brugnaro offered the flowers in token of the city’s respects to the dauntless women of the Resistance.After the ceremony, these offerings remain: Roses for the partisan women, laurel to symbolize victory, and two long-stemmed purple iris that represent wisdom and royalty (it says in this book). The iris are an interesting departure from tradition. I wonder if we’d have had better luck calling up to order them instead of a rose.And laurel wreaths are bestowed on the major monuments. Here, Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was important for much more than the street.
Just beautiful. Thank you for letting me re-live our few but glorious days in Venice and letting me dream of coming back. Praying for all of us and Happy Liberation Day!
Thank you for sharing. This week was to be our 32nd visit to VCE. We arrived last, the day after the big Aqua Alta and watched the city recover slowly but with determination. I miss the sharing great food and wine in all our favorite stops. We will return, God willing at 83 time is not on our side.
Erla, remember the good old days at NG when you would have used three rolls of Kodachrome to get your 12 wonderful blog photos! And then had to wait for the lab to process the slides which you arrayed on your light table before selecting “the winners?” –gp
Yes indeed, those days were indeed good (and old). It was a system that really worked. I guess hose light tables are either at the Smithsonian by now, or are tres chic in some currently closed restaurant.
“…if the Gazzettino is really up to speed, we’ll find out on May 5.”
Oh, this really cracked me up! I’m still living the fantasy that we’ll be able to take our Italy trip booked for mid August to mid September. I haven’t canceled plane tickets yet, nor reached out to Air B&B, in the faint hope…
Alas. I think it may not happen, but still I hope.
Thank you, again, for your wonderful and descriptive view of Venice.
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Just beautiful. Thank you for letting me re-live our few but glorious days in Venice and letting me dream of coming back. Praying for all of us and Happy Liberation Day!
Thank you for sharing. This week was to be our 32nd visit to VCE. We arrived last, the day after the big Aqua Alta and watched the city recover slowly but with determination. I miss the sharing great food and wine in all our favorite stops. We will return, God willing at 83 time is not on our side.
Mi manca il isolato (vicinato?) molto. Un bocolo per te,
Cara mia.
Grazie infinite! Un tesoro da un tesoro.
Buona festa, cara!
Frances Starn recently posted..Magnolia Street and the Vienna Model
Hi Pal,
Every post tells me why you love Italy so much. Thanks.
Me and about a skillion other people love Italy. Still waiting for you to come over….
Molto grazie. You help me re-live the ambiance of Venezia.❤
My pleasure, absolutely. I hope you’ll come back — sooner rather than later. A lot sooner!
Brought back memories of the only time we’ve actually been in Venice on that day. Thank you, yet again.
(We’ll be back … some day)
Erla, remember the good old days at NG when you would have used three rolls of Kodachrome to get your 12 wonderful blog photos! And then had to wait for the lab to process the slides which you arrayed on your light table before selecting “the winners?” –gp
Yes indeed, those days were indeed good (and old). It was a system that really worked. I guess hose light tables are either at the Smithsonian by now, or are tres chic in some currently closed restaurant.
“…if the Gazzettino is really up to speed, we’ll find out on May 5.”
Oh, this really cracked me up! I’m still living the fantasy that we’ll be able to take our Italy trip booked for mid August to mid September. I haven’t canceled plane tickets yet, nor reached out to Air B&B, in the faint hope…
Alas. I think it may not happen, but still I hope.
Thank you, again, for your wonderful and descriptive view of Venice.
All the best, and stay safe,
Polly
Your faint hopes are also our faint hopes! Meanwhile, thanks for not forgetting us out here…. and for reading my scribbles.
Thanks Erla,I can’t tell you enough how much I enjoy and need your Blog.
Dian