Last day in Venice and concert at San Palo church – Choir Tour Day 4

Venice is a beautiful city, but also overwhelmingly touristy and it became almost an art for me to learn how to escape that and find the few pockets of genuine Italy hidden amongst all the souvenir shops. 

Yesterday after singing at San Marco, I wandered around looking for these places.  I ended up finding a small grocery store on one of the emptier streets where the locals live. (One of these “locals” happened to be an Indian gondolier who offered me a free gondola ride because I had “beautiful big eyes”... which I politely declined).

I always like going into grocery stores when I’m in foreign countries.  It gives me a bit of a sense for what people actually eat every day and while most things are typical, there’s always some different unique “staples”.  

Then I came across a small hole-in-the-wall Venetian tapas and wine bar.  There were several older Italian men smoking and drinking outside it and blocking the entrance and they looked a little intimidating, so I had to walk by a second time before I got the courage to go through them to get in.  There were a lot of interesting finger foods, so I picked out a pumpkin sausage croquette, tiny battered sardines, stockfish with garlic, and a few others.  This was accompanied by a glass of wine of course.  I enjoyed my small lunch in the corner of the little place while hearing the sounds of Italian around me.

After that, I wandered into an antique book and paper shop and spent a long time looking through a crate of old music scores and opera playbooks, finally selecting a few interesting things to take home.  My afternoon ended with a nice stop in an archway by the canal, where I sat and wrote in my journal for a bit and just absorbed the nice weather.

We had a group dinner that evening, and after that I went with a few members of the choir to sit by the Rialto Bridge and have a traditional Venetian drink – aperol.  It was a beautiful evening by the water, and a perfect end to our day.

The next day we had most of the day free before our evening concert, so I went for another walk, this time over the Rialto Bridge.  Even though there were tourist shops over there too, they were more mixed in with places that locals needed, like bakeries, meat shops, grocery stores, etc.  I went into some of these and bought some coffee and other treats.  I also ended up buying a handmade Venitian mask that I couldn’t resist even though I initially thought I didn’t want a mask.

Me wearing my mask...
and an Italian top that I actually bought in Toronto

View from the Rialto Bridge

 

Then I found the market and felt right at home. It was just like the open air markets in Portugal.  So many bright and delicious fruits, vegetables, and other things and locals haggling for prices.  I waited patiently near one popular seller where many people were lined up to get their produce weighed and bought a small container of delicious strawberries, which I then sat and ate by the water.

After some more wandering the streets, I found another one of those little hold-in-the-wall ‘tapas’-like places.  This one also had a restaurant in the back but I could tell from the menu that it was “westernized” food so I ended up ordering the seafood risotto that was up at the front counter, and taking home a container of those hand-held snacks that seem to be popular with the locals (this time it included things like fried zucchini flowers stuffed with cheese and fish croquettes).

At Cafe Florian

After a pit stop back at the hotel (which included a very rare experience for me – a nap – with the hotel room window wide open and the warm air and sounds of Venice as a lulling backdrop), I went over to the historic Cafe Florian, which has been around since 1720 in St. Mark’s Square (and has seen the likes of Goethe and Charles Dickens),had an excellent espresso there  before going off to visit the music museum, a tiny exposition of string and other instruments from Vivaldi’s time.

That's the Venitian Music Conservatory on the left

 I then found another archway by the canal away from the bustle of tourists and sat there to eat the snacks I had procured from my lunch place.  As I was eating, the building in front of me seemed to have music coming from all the windows – people were practicing the piano, violin, trumpet, clarinet, and there was even a vocalist warming up. I felt right at home in that cacophony of rehearsing. Intrigued, I tried to find the other side of this building (which is more difficult than it first appears to be, with all the canals and bridges to contend with) and eventually succeeded.  It was the Venetian music conservatory!   It was not open to the public so I couldn’t go inside but I still thought it was a neat accidental discovery. There was a group of little Italian boys playing a very intense game of soccer in the front courtyard, which I enjoyed watching for a while.

Poster outside the church advertising our concert

Finally, it was time for the concert.  We were singing a lot more repertoire than the previous day, and went through a lot of it in a dress rehearsal before the concert, while tourists poked their head in, stopped to listen a while, and took photos and videos of our rehearsing.

It was exciting to finally get to perform a full programme, and there were some magical moments performed to a full house. Our rendition of Bach’s “Singet dem Herrn” was probably the best we’ve ever done. It was my favourite part of the concert.  When everything just clicks into place near-perfectly like that it’s almost like an out-of-body experience.  Bach isn’t the master for no reason.  One concert-goer called his experience at our concert a "perfect moment of happiness". That is no small praise.

After our concert, some of us celebrated by having the most delicious Italian pizza at Rossopomodoro, as well as the tastiest olive oil in which to dip our bread. The restaurant was recommended to us by our guide (a local) and was a perfect end to our time in Italy.

Singing in Basilica di San Marco - Choir Tour Day 3

Since I’ve done one other European choir tour before as a grad student, I know that I personally need a lot of time before each concert in order to shift from “vacation” mode into “performing” mode, so this morning after breakfast, I went out into St. Mark’s square (Piazza S. Marco) and walked around the Basilica we’d be performing in,  absorbing the building from the outside and imagining what it must have been like back in the late 1500’s/early 1600’s, when Andrea Gabrieli and his nephew, Giovanni Gabrieli lived, worked, composed, and had their music performed here. They must have walked around outside this building, seeing the same walls, taking some of the same steps, that I was.

Thinking and feeling these things helped me to feel like all those centuries that had gone by were sort of overlapped with ours, and I felt a kind of bridge between the past when this music was first performed and the present time, when we were about to perform it again, during mass, just like it would have been long ago.

As I walked around the Basilica, I saw all the tourists taking pictures and walking around outside, and I really felt how special it was that I get to “vacation” this way... we get to immerse ourselves in the music from this place, perform it, and actually BE a part of the culture we are visiting.  I can’t imagine any other way to visit a country properly.  To sing music in the place it was born... in this case, almost literally... It’s a surreal and moving experience that I can’t compare to anything else.

We all walked over to the cathedral together in our concert clothes, and were led into a side entrance where we had to wait until they were ready to take us in.  Our conductor at the last minute managed to persuade the priest to let us sing up in the choir loft, right where the organ was, above the congregation.  As soon as I saw the ceilings with their complex gold mosaic artwork, all the various choir lofts with their huge archways, and all the other intricate artwork and architecture, and heard the bells calling everyone in to mass, I had an even greater sense of feeling side-by-side with the ancient past.  It’s impossible not to feel something special in a place like this, even if you’re not religious (I don’t subscribe to any one particular faith but music is my religion). I can’t imagine the awe and wonder of people who would come to mass in a place as incredible as this, with so many images in the mosaics to contemplate, and so much gold and colour and intricacy to be moved and humbled by.

 

And, of course, the music.  We had someone cueing us as to when it was the appropriate time to sing in each part of the mass.  I’m not sure if I should even try to describe the experience, for some things just defy words. Actually singing in that space, where these pieces were born, where both Gabrielis had been and heard their own music performed so many times before, sending our sound out and up into those domed ceilings and hearing it echo back to us... it was something else. I was so moved by it all that before the last piece I already had a few tears in my eyes but shook them away as we still had one more piece we needed to focus through before we could fully process the magic.

And it was magic, that performance.  Everything just gelled in a way that it hadn’t quite yet done so before, even though we’d rehearsed those pieces so many times.  I love choir moments like that... pure oneness, with the music, the composer, each other, our conductor, history... there really is no better way to so intimately experience a culture.

Wandering Venice - Choir Tour Day 2

Gondolas

After a boat ride from the airport to Venice proper, we checked into our hotel rooms and quickly got ready for our first rehearsal.  After polishing up some details in the music, we were free for the rest of the evening. I had not had much sleep or food in a long time, but I can go for a very long time on coffee and some not-quite-infinite-but-close wellspring of internal energy when there are things to be done and I was eager to DO Venice. 

After a cappuccino and a small square of pizza on the go, I wandered around leisurely, unable to resist checking out every little narrow street, every little courtyard, every random side street that led straight into the canal or just a wall with a door that didn’t open.

I had a European GPS with me that didn’t have the Italy maps loaded properly, so I was on my own for navigation... and for those that know me, letting me lose in the complex streets of Venice is a recipe for getting lost after about three seconds. However, what better place to get lost? I had a map, and tried very hard to keep track of where north was, but it was often impossible.  There was a virtual geocache* nearby that I decided to try and find without a GPS. I google-mapped it and compared that to my paper map of Venice and much wandering and turns down blind alleys was done... it was so much fun, just exploring

that way and trying to navigate around the city.  Finally, after about 45 minutes, I decided to check down this one tiny dark street that looked very narrow and like it led to nowhere. Suddenly to my surprise I come out into this brightly lit courtyard with an incredible spiral staircase!  I had found it. Unfortunately there was a gate and it was closed for climbing but it was beautiful nonetheless.  A little piece of out-of-the way Venice I never would have otherwise seen.

Glass bead shop...not sure what these
 powders are for but I liked the colours

I love graffiti like this... especially the French addition

I continued walking around after this, not wanting to squander any daylight hours sitting inside a restaurant, even though I was getting hungry.  It was raining, but I didn’t want an umbrella or rain jacket as they were cumbersome, and a little rain never hurt anybody. It was actually nice, because it got rid of a lot of the tourists.

Piazza San Marco at midnight

I finally ended up near this little wine bar and decided it was a good place to finally stop.  A menu not in English is my bare minimum criteria for selecting a place to eat in a foreign country, and this place at least had that. 

It was also quiet and out of the way.  I had a lovely meal of pasta with shrimp and zuchinni, and a very good white wine recommended by the waitress to go with it. On my walk back to the hotel I stopped for some gelato and enjoyed the soft creamy texture as I went up and down bridges and down poorly lit alleys (it’s now 11pm) in an effort to find our hotel again.

The night was not over, however...

For you see, Italy was playing England that evening in the FIFA soccer world cup. Before I left, a coworker suggested it would be fun to watch an Italy soccer game with the locals, and I really wanted to try it. When would I ever get such an experience again, to be in Italy on a day they were playing such a major game?  I walked around the now nearly deserted streets of Venice at midnight, and soon found a small bar with a crowd of people outside.  All the Italians wearing their sports jerseys and smoking and drinking outside intimidated me a little, but I was determined and made my way through the crowd up to the bar to order a beer. They recommended a local beer that ended up being very delicious – it was a blonde, but had hints of stout and somehow a lovely hint of mango aftertaste.

watching the game...

I will point out that I am not a soccer fan. I am not usually a sports fan in any way. But sports are important to many people and they are an intricate part of culture just like music is, and I wanted to experience as many aspects of Italy as I could. And did I ever! Everyone was so passionate, singing the national anthem as loudly as they could when they game started, and constantly yelling, cheering, and singing for goals or good saves. The bar just erupted with everyone standing up and yelling after the two goals.  Even during replays of the same goal!  The passion in that tiny place was incredible and I was so glad to be immersed in it. It was also really funny to hear them yelling obvious insults at people on the TV and gesticulating ALL in unison even though I had no idea what they were saying; I could just tell by their tone of voice. I don't think I've ever paid so much attention to a sports game in my entire life...  I just got so caught up in their energy. Italy won 2-1.

I walked back to my hotel through the dark streets of Venice and settled down for a well-deserved sleep in preparation for singing at San Marco the next day and a totally different cultural experience.

*geocaching is a treasure hunting game where people use latitude/longitude coordinates to look for a small hidden container. A “virtual” one means you’re looking for an interesting permanent structure in the environment  - statue, particular part of a building, waterfall, etc.

Reflections from the plane - Choir Tour Day 1

I wouldn’t really be a wandering Canadian if I didn’t at least try and blog about my travels.  I am currently on route to Venice, Italy, participating in the Ottawa Bach Choir’s European tour.  Venice is our first stop, and we will later go on to Leipzig, Germany, Lübeck, and then over to Gröningen and Amsterdam in The Netherlands.

As I write this, I am still in the air, high above Europe and looking down at clouds and as-yet unidentifiable parts of the continent.  It’s 5:18 in the morning Toronto time, but I’ve had some coffee and am trying to adapt to local time as early as I can.  Sleep is for those who stay home.

As we left Toronto at 9:30pm, the moon was giant and deep orange, rising above the lights and chaos of the city – a nice send off.

This is a terribly blurry picture but I hadn't had a
chance to fiddle with the ISO when I saw the moon

The flight attendants introduced our choir over the speakers, which was a nice touch. After catching up with a few people, I eventually slept for several hours, only to be woken by the sun peeking over the horizon.  Morning in Europe but still only 2am Toronto time.  But how could I go back to sleep, with the sun shining like that, lighting up the clouds in pink here and there, until eventually the entire sky was full of pink and orange clouds and it was officially morning.

Sunrise over the clouds

I wrote these thoughts in my paper journal at that moment – “It’s jarring; a bit of time travel. I wish I could see what was under this swirling mass of clouds.  Often flying this high above the clouds, it seems as if you’re not moving at all, but with the sun there, it feels as if we’re getting closer to something wonderful and mysterious.  Don’t know if I should go back to sleep. I don’t want to miss anything. Every sunbeam on every cloud. Every second ticking by. Life is short, and sleep is for those who stay home.”

I often feel overwhelmed by the idea that I’ll never get to visit and experience every place in the world.  There are so many countries I’d like to visit, cultures I’d like to immerse myself in, and so many parts of even my own country that I’d like to see and experience.  People often comment to me that I always seem to be traveling somewhere, or going from one experience to another without taking a rest. They wonder where I get the energy or the time. I have no answers to these questions, for I don’t know any other way to live. I am constantly aware of the very brief time we have here on the planet to do anything at all, and I can’t fathom any other way of life but to squeeze in as much LIFE as possible.

I need to cut this post short - we’re passing over mountains and I don’t want to miss this.

Mountains... either the Alps or Dolomites?
Not sure where we were but they were incredible regardless