My next trip: Austria & Southern Bavaria

In April I will be attending a conference in Innsbruck, Austria. I thought that it would be nice to have a look around the area, before and/or after the 5-day conference. I've already been to both Austria and Germany, but there are many places I haven't visited in both countries, including this Alpine town famous for its ski facilities. 

Innsbruck

Travel guides vs. travel blogs

Do you use travel guides, either when you're planning your next holiday or when you're on the road? In spite of the fact that I read a lot of travel blogs, I do use guide-books as well. In fact, I love them!

Some travel books I keep in my room

Compared to travel blogs, I find guide-books on specific destinations more reliable on things concerning history and cultural insights. I tend to dislike people who don't make the effort of reading a little bit about the place they're visiting or they're going to visit. And mind that this doesn't mean only jotting down the names of a couple of places where you can eat or drink! Some of the most famous travel bloggers take pride in avoiding travel guides at all costs, but sometimes they misinterpret the places they are visiting, even inserting a couple of wrong historical facts in their posts. This hurts me, especially when it happens with my country, Italy, or the town where I'm living right now, Venice.

On the other hand, I find resources on the web more useful for things like updated information about bus timetables, hostel reviews and the like. Moreover, travel blogs can give you that personal experience a travel guide-book can never have. I read travel blogs because of the people who write them. I want to know what they found cool and what they found disappointing, I want to read about their misadventures and their discoveries. Above all, I like to read their personal opinions and views on the places they visit. 

There are two favourite books I love to browse.

The first is Travel Eyewitness (published in Italian by Mondadori). It's a book full of images and can be very helpful when you're planning what to see, because it gives you a comprehensive view of a country or a city, together with plans of the main attractions, just to give you an idea on how big and how many things there are to explore. The Travel Eyewitness series also helps me identifying things and paying attention to details: it has plenty of pictures of architectural details, which I love. It's also an excellent book to keep at home and it's perfectly enjoyable to browse after your trip. 

Reading about Campo Santo Stefano while looking at the church of the same name

I prefer a Lonely Planet guide when I'm on the road for many reasons. One is that Lonely Planet is geared towards independent travellers and it gives plenty of advice on how to get from A to B with public transport, and it provides you with detailed maps for when you need to find that bus station or the exact location of a museum. It also gives good advice on restaurants and cheap eateries. I like to read about the options I have - in terms of attractions and activities - before leaving, and then I store my guide in my backpack (if it's not full already!).   

Planning my trip to Crete

The Austrians in Venice

So, I'm going to Austria next month. By the way, did you know that Venice was occupied by Austria in the 19th century? But what did the Austrians do in Venice? I guess that they didn't just sit and stare at the beauty of the town.

In 1797 Venice was invaded by Napoleon, after more than 1000 years of independence. Napoleon gave it away in the peace treaty with Austria. The Austrians were never really accepted in Venice and in 1848 the city organized a rebellion against the Habsburg Austrian empire that resulted in the formation of the republic of San Marco, which lasted a year. Venice and its territories remained Austrian until 1866, when the former independent Republic was annexed to the newly unified Italian kingdom.

• The spritz.

The origins of spritz are unknown, as it is the case with many of Venetian dishes, included tiramisu, but it is believed that the Austrian soldiers stationed in Venice created this drink, by watering down Venetian wines with sparkling water because they found them too strong. Later, other "corrections" were added, and nowadays spritz is mostly made with either aperol, select, or bitter, all aperitif drinks. There are endless variations to the spritz, also changing from city to city. The spritz is now popular all over northern Italy, and it's spreading to other parts of the country, as well as to other cities. I've seen it in London, for example!

Holding a spritz

• I Nizioleti

"Nizioleti" are the beautiful squared frescoes that indicate the names of calli, bridges and campi in Venice. Sometimes they have funny names, like Ponte delle Tette ("bridge of the boobs"), or Sotoporgego del Casin dei Nobili ("close of the noblemen's casino"). The former indicates an area that was supposedly inhabited by prostitutes, who showed their "merchandise" from the windows. The latter also reveals the libertine past of the city, as it recalls a casino frequented only by noblemen. The nizioleti were adopted during the Austrian domination. Before that, only the number on a street door could indicate that you were at the right address, and people knew the name of the streets by heart. As a matter of fact, in Venice houses are numbered within districts, not streets, so that your address could be simply San Marco 3567. Even today, when you give a Venetian address, you give the name of one of the six sestieri, the neighbourhoods, and the door number, but never the name of the street. 

Me pointing at a 'nizioleto' displaying the name of the town where I come from, Treviso



• The railway bridge.

The Austrian emperor, Ferdinand I, decided he wanted a railway connection from Milan to Venice, the two biggest cities of the Lombardo-Veneto. In 1842 the first part was inaugurated: it was the third railway ever constructed in Italy. At the beginning the railway connection arrived until Mestre,  in the mainland, and from there people had to take a boat to reach Venice. In 1846 the railway bridge that connects Venice to the mainland was inaugurated. You still cross that railway bridge if you arrive to Venice by train or by car. It is very scenic because you can see all the lagoon in its beauty.





What you can expect to see from Ponte della Libertà (photo by Marco Trevisan)



The Carnival of Venice: the good and the bad

The world-famous Carnevale di Venezia, the carnival of Venice, is one of the most attended festivals in the area. Carnevale is a long-standing tradition in Venice, but nobody knows when it started and why. What we know is that it became very famous in the eighteenth century, when Venice was famous for its libertines and mask balls.

 

Photo I took of my friend and travel blogger Diana (Close to Eternity) at the Venice Carnival

Carnevale is celebrated everywhere in Italy, but only in Venice it acquires this characteristic aura, with traditional masks walking down the narrow calli or celebrating in St. Mark's Square. Some masks have become famous, like that of Colombina, who originally was a character from commedia dell'arte, or that of il dottore della peste (the plague's doctor), with the characteristic long nose to protect himself from the bad smells of the infected people. Some of the costumes are very expensive, others are "knocked together" from random clothes and old costumes you have at home.

Masks are sold all year around in shops in Venice, you can buy one for 5 or 50€ , according to the material, the design, and the complexity of the decorations.

Masks for sell around Campo Santo Stefano

There are entertainment and music events everywhere in town, and people are up to pranks like shoving the famous coriandoli (confetti in English) up your face.

Things you can eat during Carnival: frittelle (fritters with cream or other fillings), and galani (a fritter-biscuit sprinkled with icing sugar). You can buy some in any pasticceria (pastry shop) around town.

Galani

The Carnival of Venice is the best and the worst moment to visit Venice. It is certainly a unique celebration, but it falls on a season that is relatively cold and wet, and the streets can get really crowded, to the point that you'll have to shove your way through the main streets.  The city gets flooded with a jovial atmosphere, but it's nearly impossible to get on a vaporetto (water boat). I suggest that you weigh these points BEFORE going. If you don't like crowds, don't go! If you like fancy costumes, don't mind a bit of confusion, and you have already seen the main sights in Venice, it's a fun moment to be in town.

Another picture from the Venice carnival

On two separate Sundays in St. Mark's Square you can see Volo dell'Angelo (Angel Flight) and Volo dell'Aquila (Eagle Flight), when a girl is chosen to be sent on a rope from the clock tower to the centre of the square. This year for Volo dell'Aquila the girl chosen was Carolina Kostner, a famous Italian ice skater who won a medal at Sochi Olympic Games.

Volo dell'Aquila with Carolina Kostner

I must be honest: I have never been a huge fan of the Venice carnival. I much prefer the celebrations in small towns, where you can simply enjoy the parades of allegorical floats. Perhaps I have seen the Venice carnival too many times, and perhaps it's that I don't like the crowds when I have to do my daily chores or I go out for a drink with my friends. Moreover, even though Italians celebrate carnevale all over Italy,  in Venice the celebrations  seem to be geared towards tourists rather than locals. Everything is about reviving the traditions that were almost lost, rather than observing a celebration that has been going on in the same way for centuries. As a matter of fact, the Carnival in Venice as a huge festival has been"recreated" since 1979 only.

Unofortunately, this year the Carnival has been exceptionally wet, with days when the horrible weather even stopped the concerts and the celebrations around town.

A rainy Carnival in St. Mark's Square

What do you think: would you go to the Venice Carnivel in spite of the crowds and the cold weather?