Venice Carnival 2020 – San Valentino

***Due to the amount of photos and videos in the post, this is going to be a photo & video-log***

Pasticceria Tonolo is my go-to place in Venice for morning pastries.

The line is long but the staff does a great job in turning things around. This is not a sit down type of place. You’d be lucky to find an area to stand next to the counter, enjoy your espresso and munch on. Frittelle is Venetian donut only served during carnival time. There are many variations of Frittelle, Fritelle Veneziane (featured above) is unfilled with pinenuts and raisins. As with all donuts, it’s best served warm.

I am in Venice on Valentine’s Day.

When the weather’s good, I prefer to stay outside.

Museums are reserved for rainy day.

Heading towards Punta della Dogana, in search of a certain sculpture, I stop at this iconic view.

There’s a group of masked students

outside Santa Maria della Salute

Palladio designed the church in the form of a rotunda in response to the 1631 plague.

The Byzantine statue of the Madonna with Child was brought here from the Candia Cathedral to commemorate peace with the Turks at the end of the Candia War.

Lunch at the nearby Impronta Cafe

is a delicious squid ink pasta with seafood, cherry tomatoes and almond.

After which, I hop on a water bus at San Tomà

Enroute to San Marco

A quick walk around the piazza

is enough for the hustle and bustle.

Moment of peace is sequestered just a water taxi away

on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore

whose Capannelle affords one the best views of Venice.

Back to San Marco, I found this pair

of elaborate costumes and masks next to Palazzo Ducale.

As they move, the crowds follow.

Late afternoon light is fabuluous for photographing these beautiful figures.

Obviously the pros reckon the same.

As night falls, the ball is set to start

Yup that’s Rose and Jack kissing in the background.

The Official 2020 Venice Carnival San Valentino Night Ball begins with a love confession

Not the one pictured above with Prince Maurice and Federica Cacciola. It was actually an Asian couple. For their privacy, I did not take photos.

Followed by performances of the Venetian dancing schools.

The stage opens up for tango.

There’s also the “School of Kiss” to teach the history of sign of love,  as well as the making of L’elisir d’amore by venetian barman Gennaro Florio.  As crowds gather, I decide it’s time to call it quits.

Dinner is a hearty plate of Bigoli in Salsa – whole-wheat bigoli pasta, with anchovies and onions – the saltiness from the fish is well balanced by the sweetness of the onion. How something so simple can be so satisfying. 

As to the name of the restaruant, now that I think about it, it must have been Ristorante Bakaro on Campo Santa Margherita. But Bigoli in Salsa is served everywhere in Venice and I’ve yet to have a bad meal in the city.

So this is my second day in Venice Carnival 2020. I am sure the city is in a completely different place right now. But I have no doubt that it will recover and I long to be back.

Finally, here is Teatro La Fenice’s performance of National Anthem of Italy and a message to share with you. Have a lovely weekend everyone! Stay safe!