A quiz…. how well do you know Venice?

On July 2, 2014   /   Italy Travel Tours Blog  

Another in our series of light-hearted travel quizzes. Answers at the bottom of the page but remember, NO CHEATING…..

fen

One of Europe’s prettiest theatres is in Venice. Is it?

Teatro Massimo
La Strada
La Fenice
Venice Opera House
Teatro Alla Scala

Venice has an international airport called?

Marco Polo
Venezia Internationale
Ciampino
Ryanair European Hub No. 387
Fiumicino

acq

If you visit St. Mark’s Square in winter (Acqua Alta), what should you take?

A camera
Wellington boots
A wallet overstuffed with euros
A wry sense of humour
Some yellow rubber ducks
Most of the above

Which is the most popular in Venetian cuisine?

Pasta
Rice
Fish
Vegetables
Snails

murano

Where does most of the famous coloured glass come from in Venice?

Burano
Hong Kong
Murano
Bohemia
e-Bay
Torcello

What has caused the most toxic damage to Venice’s buildings?

Sea salt
Graffiti
Pigeon poo
Acid rain
Chewing gum
Nuclear fallout

Who of the following was not born in Venice?

Canaletto
Giacomo Casanova
Marco Polo
Leonardo da Vinci
Antonio Vivaldi
Titian

Which of the following is not illegal in Venice?

Roller skates
Skateboards
Prostitution
Scooters
Bikes
Feeding pigeons
Swimming in a canal
Eating in the street

shy

In the 1973 tv movie version of Shakespeare’s ‘Merchant of Venice’, who plays Shylock?

Sir Alec Guinness
Sir Laurence Olivier
Sir Richard Attenborough
Sir John Mills
Sir Ralph Richardson
Sir John Gielgud

gondola

Why are all gondolas painted black?

To discourage socio-economic competition
To honour victims of the Plague
So they don’t make the water look dirty
The paint prevents damage from sea salt
It’s the cheapest paint available

quad

The ‘quadriga’ (statues of the four horses) was stolen from?

Tripoli
Marseille
Rome
Constantinople
Athens

santa

Santa Maria della Salute was built?

In tribute to the Doge Pietro X11
In gratitude after the extermination of the plague
As a tourist attraction
By Napoleon Bonaparte for Josephine’s ‘drawing room of Europe’
To celebrate Santa every year at Christmas

L’Anguilla in canna’ is:

A can of jellied eels
Catching, by your teeth, a live eel in a barrel of water blackened with cuttlefish ink
A smoked eel panini sandwich
A Venetian flowering plant originally from the Caribbean
A deviant act, punishable by public flogging

The cheapest gondola ride (per minute/per person) is in:

Stratford-upon-Avon
Venice
Las Vegas

 

“Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go.”
― Truman Capote

If you have never been to Venice, visit as soon as possible; you’ll be totally overwhelmed. Have a look at some of the great tours that https://www.italytraveltours.biz/, the specialists, have on offer.

ANSWERS: La Fenice/ Marco Polo/ Most of the above/ Rice/ Murano/ Pigeon poo/ Leonardo da Vinci/ Prostitution/ Sir Laurence Olivier/ To discourage socio-economic competition/ Constantinople/ In gratitude after the extermination of the plague/ Catching, by your teeth, a live eel in a barrel of water blackened with cuttlefish ink/ Venice

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Carnevale di Venezia, a little (light-hearted and condensed) history.

On December 21, 2013   /   Italy Travel Tours Blog  

One of the greatest parties in the world, certainly the most flamboyant in terms of color, cost and style, the Venice Carnival has not had the unbroken history most tourists ven1believe.

The word “carnevale” derives from the Latin for “farewell to meat” and refers to the Christian tradition of giving up meat-eating in Lent (the time before Easter). Naturally, it’s a great opportunity to overindulge in the days preceding Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day, Martidi Grasso or Mardi Gras, whatever you want to call it, with plenty of merrymaking before the ‘suffering’ begins…. It’s a tradition celebration time in many parts of the world but, with the extravagant masks and costumes, Venice does it a little differently, with a great deal of style from the comic to the sinister, the bizarre to the beautiful.ven2

The wearing of masks for street parties in Italy long precedes Christian times. The Romans celebrated in the same vein, with even slaves being allowed to wear masks. A little like school uniforms, the mask was a social leveller offering little distinction between social classes (except the evident cost of the outfit! Sorry I’m a cynic). ven9

The tradition of masks in Venice can be traced back to the 1200’s but the heyday of the Carnival was in the 1700’s when, decadence really set in. This was possibly as a result of Venice´s loss of mercantile power and influence due to the rise of Dutch and British trade monopoly. What better way to forget your problems than in an orgy of vice, fornication, drunkenness, dancing, music, gluttony, gambling and general irresponsibility. Sounds good to me…..     ven3

After the dastardly French, under Napoleon Bonaparte, conquered Venice in 1797, the glory days of the Venetian Republic virtually ended, cash flow declined as did the carnival. ven4

Astonishingly fascist dictators and puritans have something in common, they’re all killjoys! The final death note of the carnival was in the 1930s when Mussolini banned it totally. ven5

Thankfully, Venetian businessmen, never ones to miss a moneymaking opportunity, revived the tradition in 1979 and the cash registers continue to ring more loudly every year. ITALY-CARNIVAL-VENICE

Whatever the history, the Carnival is one of the events that no tourist should miss, it´s spectacular. However beware…. trying to find accommodation in Venice during Carnival is more than a nightmare, it´s impossible. ven8

If you want to visit and I do urge you to go, use an experienced specialist tour operator such as Allegro Holidays (part of the award-winning Blue Danube Holidays Group), they will even help you rent costumes. For dates and prices, have a look at: http://www.allegroholidays.com/Carnival_in_Venice-Package-Independent.htm

ven7

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