Masks

I'm not Catholic and I don't live in New Orleans, so Mardi Gras has always remained a mystery to me.  That said, I once worked with a very bubbly Catholic woman who made giving up something for Lent sound so fun that I sacrificed meat one year just to keep her company.  I told you about her before.    But I'm not writing so much about Lent just now as about masks.   

In her book, Encyclopedia of the Exquisite, the author talks about Venice under the heading 'Masquarades'.  She says that in the 1700s it was the habit of the nobles of that city to go out disguised for about half the year - between early October through Lent.  

 

The costume of the upper classes included a black capelet, black tricorn hat and a white half mask.  Some women chose a moretta, a black oval mask which they kept in place by clinching a button on the mask between their teeth; this mask and their silence was thought to be even more disturbing.  Children were frightened of these creatures.  The nobility found their anonymity to be quite freeing.  

However, according to two other sources, the wearing of masks dates back to the 1200's.  

 

Another tells that Carnival (another term for  the celebrations preceding Lent)   

is likely an English corruption of carne vale (Late Latin, literally "farewell to meat"), the name Venetians gave to pre-Lenten revelry as early as 1092.

Apparently, over the years things got ever more decadent. Venice with it's incredible wealth and unique appearance attracted travelers from all over the world.  Gambling and sex could be found everywhere; after all, everyone was anonymous.  [Never mind anonymous sex, how did one collect one's gambling debts?]  Women's clothing became more revealing.  Even nuns and monks are said to have joined in.  Rome turned a blind eye so long as the money kept coming in.  

In the late 1700s, thanks to Napoleon, Venice found itself under the thumb of Austria, their neighbours to the East.  Under the Austrians the whole mask-wearing and anonymous partying  was discouraged.  

Things apparently calmed down a bit, particularly as Venice no longer had a monopoly on trade from the east.  By then, however, masked balls had become popular in the rest of Europe and even amongst the colonials of the US.

Mask wearing continued in Venice until the 1930's when Mussolini banned the practice altogether.  In 1951, a wealthy art collector held a masked ball and in 1979 Venice revived it's Carnival.

So, being neither Catholic nor in a place that celebrates Mardi Gras (the most exciting thing they do here is make pancakes), why did I decide to write about masks and all?  So I could show you these photos I took in Venice, of course!

Last of the Women in Italy

These are the younger ones, in case you thought there weren't any women under 50 over there.

As usual, my photos are from odd angles.  

 

For example, the woman in brown was not the subject, it was the one in front of her dressed in black top, capri-length leggings and sandals.  Over it all she had a sheer black jacket the same length as the leggings and it struck me how the jacket made it all seem less casual.

Whereas the girl with the black leggings and the purple print top/dress had added a black knit shawl.  I couldn't wear a black knit shawl, but it looked great on her.

On the boat in Venice, the woman in purple 

had been shopping and was determinedly colour coordinated.

In Genoa, the couple at the table were probably work colleagues, all very serious in black until I spotted those electric blue shoes.  

I loved the prints these two women were wearing.

And Bill was very pleased to have spotted a photographic session in progress with that poor young woman rolling around on the concrete.  

You may not be able to see it, but if she is the coming fashion, extra large mesh fishnet stockings will be 'in' as well as fishnet...?arm warmers?  Better her than me...

More Italian Women

I liked the scarf on this lady's bag; it brought a touch of colour that made me notice her in spite of her otherwise neutral outfit.

I practically stalked this poor woman, I loved her red glasses that went with her hair.  Also, the striped trousers did their job and I always love red and grey together.

I can't remember if I snapped this photo because I was impressed with the lady-in-red's stiletto heels on the left, or because I was surprised by the green and red combination on the right.  

 

Whenever I think of those colours together I think 'Christmas!' but that's because I'm not Italian.  I suspect this is a patriotic look for them.

I mentioned before that linen was seen everywhere.  I liked the white linen with the woman's grey hair.  

She looked ice cool on a hot day.

Bill pointed out this oriental couple and though I'm not sure about the white gloves, I think it's about avoiding sun exposure.   

I thought they were a smart looking couple all the same, and I really liked the flowing lines of her skirt and her long jacket.

This flowing top looked very smart with jeans and heels, but she's obviously thin enough to pull off the look.

This gentleman's bag made me think he's come from work, but her dress said 'party' to me.

The most totally amazing outfit I saw in the whole of our holiday is to be this one.

Don't you think she looks extraordinary?

Women in Italy - Part 2

I gather from blogs and magazines that dresses are very stylish just now in the US, and perhaps they are here in the UK as well.  I'm not out and about when folks are commuting, so I'm not sure what they wear these days, to be honest.  

I did notice that older women in Italy tended to wear dresses and skirts, though.  Shoes are very important over there and perhaps dresses give one more opportunity to show one's shoes.  Or perhaps there are other reasons for this, like a conservative outlook or something.  Anyhow, here are some photos of older woman that I appreciated how they looked.

I liked how this lady's handbag went with her clothes and the contrast of her green suede shoes.  She looked a bit frail, but with plenty of dignity.

I liked the simplicity of this woman's linen dress, with a scarf and flat loafers.  

 

Linen was another strong theme for what women were wearing in Italy.

 

 

I liked these ladies' print dresses, but given my druthers, 

 

I'd probably go for the solid navy on the right.

I've never seen nuns dressed in other than black and white.

When I snapped this I was thinking 'native costume' but seeing her later seated with a begging bowl, and now spotting the stripey socks, I'm thinking perhaps she's a gypsy.  I think her skirt is very interesting, with vertical stripes and horizontal tucks.

This is one of very few older women I saw looking dressed up in a pant suit and she just didn't look quite right to me after all those dresses.  I can't believe she wasn't burning up in that suit, but perhaps she doesn't like her legs any better than I like mine...

Several Oranges and an Olive

Did you think I forgot to show you the Italian women I photographed on our vacation?  Well, of course I haven't, I've just been saving up, that's all.  Out of the 2000 or so pictures I took in Italy, there are close to 90 of various women, mostly ones I snapped because I liked how they looked.  So here goes.

Orange is a popular colour in Italy and it's no surprise, really.  I think bright colours look great with darker skin tones.  On the other hand, it wasn't necessarily dark skinned Italians who wore the orange.

This woman grabbed my attention with her lovely leather shoes that complemented the bright orange top. 

 

This woman reminded me of orange sherbet more than anything, next to her strawberry husband.  

I didn't manage to catch this young woman before she turned into the shop, but her orange dress perfectly matched her beautiful hair and she looked like a walking flame!

I noticed this girl initially because of her hair, but she is also carrying an orange purse.

You will have to look closely to find the woman with dark red hair, dressed in a light olive green colour.  I was admiring her clothes, a 3 piece knit set with flowing top and jacket and her lovely leather shoes.  She looked great from the front, but the outfit was -- as knits often are -- rather clingy.  When she turned sideways she was quite round in profile and it was a bit surprising. 

I still thought she looked very smart, but I'm afraid colour of her clothes and her red hair called to mind an olive stuffed with pimento.  That's OK - I like olives!

Intensive Night!

I saw this poster in Verona and it struck me in the face.  I can't recall seeing anything remotely similar -- any advert selling a beauty product to men, not like this -- in the UK.  According to Toad, cosmetics for men have definitely arrived in the US.

Given what women have done to themselves over the centuries in the name of beauty,  I was thinking it's about time!  I had to get home to Google translate before I could fully appreciate the ad:

Stomach and Abdomen 

Intensive Night

Reduces circumference while you sleep in 4 weeks' treatment

I'm sure it really works...aren't you?

Casa di Christopher Columbus

Another thing we went to see was the house of Christopher Columbus.  

It stood just the other side of the Porta Soprano from our hotel and was still in the process of being renovated, the top floor being largely non-existent. 



There really isn't much there to see.  We busily snapped pictures until the receptionist finished her phone call and noticed us doing this; she informed us that pictures were not allowed.  

I guess that, along with the dearth of things to see, caused me to think that if Casa di Dante was a high point, Casa di Columbus was a low.

Bill Bryson has lots to say about Columbus in his book At Home: 

Christopher Columbus is the best remembered of the early explorers but not the first...Columbus's real achievement was managing to cross the ocean successfully in both directions.  Though an accomplished enough mariner, he was not terribly good at a great deal else, especially geography, the skill that would seem most vital in an explorer.  It would be hard to name any figure in history who has achieved more lasting fame with less competence.  He spent large parts of eight years bouncing around Caribbean islands and coastal South American convinced that he was in the heart of the Orient and that Japan and China were at the edge of every sunset.  He never worked out that Cuba is an island and never once set foot on, or even suspected the existence of, the land mass to the north that everyone thinks he discovered:  the United States.  He filled his holds with valueless iron pyrite thinking it was gold and with what he confidently believed to be cinnamon and pepper.  The first was actually a worthless tree bark and the second were not true peppers but chilli peppers -- excellent when you have grasped the general idea of them, but a little eye-wateringly astonishing on first hearty chomp.

In any case, the main thing I took away was that the Columbus family were cloth weavers and merchants.  That, and it's not really worth paying  to go inside. 

As always, we enjoyed the warm evening, our last in Italy.  

It is definitely a sidewalk cafe society that Northern England can only dream about - unless you're a smoker, 

in which case you're doomed to spend your life out of doors, year round.  

 

I'm not leaving Italy altogether, mind, there is still a lot to show you.  

However, I find that after a couple of weeks on the road I'm ready to enjoy the comforts of my own home, to eat familiar food again, to know what the toilet facilities will be like...

Do you get homesick after a few weeks on holiday?

Medieval, Maritime & Movietime - Part II

Now, about the museum.

Genoa became an important port as early as the 8th Century.  The museum explained not only the history of the port, 

  

but about the evolution of ships, from 'coasters' that were beached on the sand next to the wharfs that constituted the port, to galleys and galleons, to vessels, to bricks or brigantines and so on, all the way  to a comparison of the characteristics of submarines built by different countries.  

  

Also, the development of navigational tools, what life was like on a ship if you were a galley slave or convict or working on a sailing ship.  

  

The food eaten on board, the goods being shipped, the role of cartography and the discovery of new lands, important persons involved in Genoese maritime affairs, loads of maritime paintings, naval battles, the shortening duration of a trans-Atlantic journey.  There was a whole section about immigration 

  

from Genoa, Italy's largest emigration port, to America.  

  

There were several life-sized ship 

 

exhibits we could walk around on.  Pictures were allowed  and pictures I took, to the point that Bill despaired of us ever leaving the museum.  

  

He was amazed at what all interested me enough to take a picture.  I thought it was all fascinating.  I knew also I would get too tired to see it properly if I stood and read every placard, so I took photos to read at home at my leisure...in the comfort of my computer chair.

 

One of the life-sized exhibits was of a submarine, but when we left the museum there was a real submarine we could go in and see.  

  

I surprised at how little this interested me, but perhaps I was satiated by then.

There was a viewing area on the top of the five-story museum giving some amazing views of 

  

the city of Genoa and pointing out various areas.  

  

Having a zoom lens on the camera was fun up there.

 

We spent most of the second day at this museum, but before heading back to the hotel we checked out this 

  


ship, which was visible in the harbour from a fair distance.  


 

Bill said it was a movie prop, so it's not like a piece of history or anything.


  

Still, it was intricately made and we had a blast climbing all over it and taking another million pictures.  

I've been rushing through, trying to finish up this trip, but I have one more post to finish.  I hope you aren't too fed up yet; I know I'm ready to be home again!