Colors (and Tastes) of the Holiday Season

Some kids dream of sugar plum fairies, others have their minds on marzipan (or "frutta finta", as Sandro calls it).

On the Feast of Santo Stefano, As It Was, Never Was, and Is

The Festa di Santo Stefano was, according to William Dean Howells (who takes his information from Giustina Renier-Michiel's Origine delle Feste Veneziane), "one of the rare occasions of the year when the Doge appeared officially in public after nightfall." Each year on this day, December 26, the Doge boarded a magnificent ship (though not the grand il Bucintoro) and, accompanied by a beautifully-lanterned flotilla of nobles and other citizens, made his way across the basin of San Marco to the church of San Giorgio to pay his respects to the body of the martyr buried there.

The photos of this post (and the lone image of my December 13 post) were taken exactly two weeks ago, at about 4 in the afternoon, far down the Riva from the Doge's old residence, but I was assured by one of the people filming the short ceremony that it was meant to commemorate the Doge's annual mini-pilgrimage.

Sandro and I were walking home from his school and it was the bagpiper that first got our attention. I sincerely doubt that bagpipers were involved in the traditional ceremony of December 26--though it was a nice addition to a foggy afternoon. And when the Doge, after freeing himself from what appeared to be some rather complicated state business on his cell phone, boarded the waiting ship (Il Nuovo Trionfo), it was not to be taken across the basin to San Giorgio Maggiore but to simply pay his brief respects to a living presepe, or manger scene.

At this point I asked another member of the small film crew what was going on, but he'd hardly gotten much beyond what the previous guy had told me about how the Doge used to visit San Giorgio Maggiore when Sandro started complaining quite insistently that he was cold and tired and wanted to continue on our way home.

So, really, I don't know exactly what was going on, or for what purpose, aside from that it was a St Stephen's Day rite on a day that was not St Stephen's Day and that bore almost no relation to the traditional rite.

But it did remind me that one of the still-observed traditions of this day in Venice is for Venetian families to take a walk to see some of the local presepe, and this is why I post these images today: not so much as a picturesque celebration in costume of what used to be done during the long centuries of the late great Republic, but of what remains alive today.

Holiday Cheer This Evening: Buying Wine "Alla Spina" in Cannaregio

For those interested, I should note that this little wine shop (which is even smaller than it appears in these images shot with a wide angle lens) is located beside the Cinema Giorgione, a short distance from the church of Sant' Apostoli (heading in the direction of I Gesuiti). Upon the recommendation of a local friend, I ended up purchasing 4 liters of prosecco (frizzante, not firma) here, one liter of Raboso del Piave, and one liter of Pinot Nero for a Christmas day party we were going to attend. All alla spina, or "on tap". 

The total cost: 17 euro.

If you'd like to carry your wine home in glass bottles, you should be sure to bring your own clean empty ones. Otherwise wine alla spina will be dispensed into previously-used plastic water bottles, or, if you're willing to pay an additional 40 centesimi per liter, into new bottles shaped like those typically used for wine--but still made out of plastic. (I sprung for two such bottles for the red wines, mistakenly thinking they were glass.)

It's not unusual for the Italians I've met here to have very very precise notions about where and from whom to buy any and everything--from coda di rospo (tail of monkfish) to finocchio (fennel) to outboard motors. Each of the small wine shops you see around Venice get their wine alla spina from their own specific cantina (the name and location of which will be posted). When I arrived on Christmas day with the wine I asked my host, who's originally from Bologna but has lived in Venice for 5 years, why he'd specifically directed me to this wine shop. It certainly wasn't convenient to where he (or I) lived.

It turned out he'd gotten the recommendation from a mutual acquaintance of ours, a native Venetian but, even more crucially, a gondoliere. For, as my friend explained, this gondoliere lived no closer to this wine shop than either of us did, but as gondoliers famously drink dappertutto (everywhere) they can always be counted on to know the best places in the city to get whatever kind of alcohol you're thirsty for.

And though I can't pretend to know the first thing about wines, or to vouch for the taste of anyone at the party, all of the wines I brought seemed to go over quite well. For just 2.10 euro for a liter of Raboso, you may want to try it yourself.

Il Presepe che Viene dal Mare, Punta della Dogana This Evening

From tonight until January 6, Il Nuovo Trionfo, the beautifully restored trabaccolo docked beside the Punta della Dogana, will be lit up for the holidays. The trabaccolo is a traditional Venetian boat dating back to the first half of the 15th century (according to Wikipedia), which were common throughout the Adriatic into the 20th century. Il Nuovo Trionfo itself was first launched in 1926.

For much more about Il Nuovo Trionfo, including its history and its restoration, visit the website: http://www.ilnuovotrionfo.org/

As far as presepi (or manger scenes) go, the one displayed aboard Il Nuovo Trionfo is quite simple--just two-dimensional silhouettes--but the lights strung around the ship make for a lovely sight when viewed, say, from the molo near the Palazzo Ducale.

Supporters of Il Nuovo Trionfo gather tonight to celebrate the initial lighting of the presepe

Regata del Panettone of the Remiera Francescana

Races are often won or lost in the turn around the buoy, where things can get awfully crowded

The fourth annual Regata del Panettone of the Remiera Francescana in Castello took place this past Sunday morning. There were three races in all. The first race, the Donne e Campioni, paired a woman member of the club with one of the club's agoniste (or competive male rowers). The second race was between pairs of male rowers who were not agoniste but Amatori ("lovers" in the original sense of "amateur"). The third race, for Ragazzi, pitted pairs of the club's teen members against each other. Contrary to traditional regate, in which pairs of rowers are self-selected and have typically trained together for extended periods of time, the rowers in these heats were matched up by a drawing held the week before the event. The aim of the regata is to give less experienced rowers the chance to sample competition, but in a spirit of good fellowship and fun--two elements that aren't always present, or at least foremost, in some of the more venerable regate of Venice.

The course was a simple one, laid out in the lagoon north of the Arsenale and the Celestia vaporetto stop, which required rowers to go most of the way to Murano before making a turn around a yellow buoy and heading back to where they began. I missed the race of the ragazzi, but while both the eventual winners of the Donne e Campioni and the Amatori had comfortable enough leads to allow them plenty of room to make the turn homeward, those rowers behind them had to struggle with some heavy traffic, as you can see in the photo at top. And the race for third and fourth place pennants in the former heat came down to a photo finish (as you can see toward the bottom of this page).

After the races came the awards ceremony; after that, some rewards for everyone else (even non-competing members with cameras, such as myself): bigoli in salsa and, among other beverages, a cask of home-made desert wine. As the saying goes, there were no losers.   

The calm before the competition; the remiera is located within the Arsenale

Each forcola (oarlock) is wedged tightly into place with pennule (small wood splints); bad positioning of the forcola, or pennule that come loose, will also cost you a race

Rowing toward the starting line

And they're off! (above and below)

The eventual winners of each race have plenty of real estate to make their turns (above and below)

Sempre paparazzi!

Heading toward the finish, and fighting fatigue (above and below)

A photo finish

A well-deserved break after finishing second

A cup full of prizes: the smaller for i ragazzi, the triangular pennants for adults

Out of the Fog of Time

Palazzo Ducale from the Number 1 Line, This Evening (5 pm)