Heading out of town at 2:10 on Thursday afternoons has become a bit of a habit at this point; this past Thursday was no exception. I am so grateful for this Fulbright experience, and the freedom it has given me to explore... learning and growing along the way. I am taking advantage of the many Friday programs Fulbright lines up for us, and when we have Fridays off... well, I'm taking off... to see and do more... I just feel like it would be a waste not to live the full experience and potential.
This week, I drove to Ljubljana Thursday afternoon and met up with Tanja (a friend I met at the MMW show back in September)... I stayed there for the night and we hit the road early for the coast. I've experienced a bit of Slovenia's dynamic diversity, but until this weekend, had never visited the coast. Though the Adriatic access is limited (only 42 kilometers of Slovenian coast), it is incredibly beautiful. The color is not like any other waters I've seen. Of course, the waters surrounding Greece, Scandinavia, and Maui have all blown me away... but the actual colour of the Adriatic is different. Of course, my camera won't be able to tell the whole story, and either will I... but, it's different.
Our first stop was Piran, a quaint harbour town with a resident artist community and laid back feel. The vibe was mellow enough to calm (even) me for a short time... which is pretty impressive, given my constant urge to seek activity.
We went to Portoroz for lunch. Portoroz is the most touristy town in Istria (the southwest region of the Slovenian coast), so we didn't stay long, but having lunch by the beach is alright with me.
In the afternoon, we met our friend Barbara at Mesečev Zaliv (Moon Bay). We spent the rest of the day hiking up along the top of the moon and down to the sea. Not surprisingly, I was reminded of my moon, as we hiked the switchbacks to the water... I just smiled picturing Luna flying by me to see what's ahead and coming back to check in...
Perhaps the coolest thing about our hike is that we saw a total of three people all afternoon (and Tanja happened to, coincidentally, know them all). One of the people we did meet is Gregor Šubic, an international filmaker who recently completed a rad documentary on the birds of Montenegro: Ambassadors of Montenegro. What a funny dude... when we ran into him, he just got done with a mountain bike trek to the sea (where he took a dip in the chilly chilly waters)... pretty extreme. He dug through his gear to find me a copy of the documentary, so now I have some inspiration to visit Montenegro!
In the evening, we went back to to Izola, where Barbara lives... and met up with Frenk, another friend from the MMW show. We chilled out and at Barbara's place, a rad little pad on the top floor of the building (overlooking the sea)... and eventually made our way into Koper for a nightcap. But, the morning would come soon, and we had big plans!
Saturday morning rolled around and we were off to Venice for the acclaimed Carnevale di Venezia! People around Europe (and perhaps the rest of the world too) are buzzing about the Venice Carnival, and I just had to check it out for myself. From Rio to N'awlins, carnivals are the rage right now, and this wild Baroque extravaganza in Venice is Europe's most important.
Venice is magic. It's true. I've heard about it all my life, but finally getting a chance to walk the narrow alleys and witness the flooded streets was pretty spectacular. While the streets formed canals, filled with water, the bridges and alleys were flooded with people! I hear that Venice is always crowded, but there is an extra 300,000 people crammed into the city this week. We constantly tried to search for 'the side street with fewer people and less traffic,' but after thirteen hours of cruising the city we realized that it didn't exist.
The Venetian Festival has a rich history, celebrating expression throughout the classes. During the carnival, people don masks to hide their identity and ignore social classes. The masks create all sorts of characters and themes.I've definitely never seen anything like Piazza San Marco at high noon on Saturday of the Venice Carnival. The square is defined by three arcades and St. Mark's Cathedral on the eastern end... and it was completely filled with people (many in costume) and music... it's quite the site!
This old woman made me laugh and laugh (and fall apart). She sat on her terrace overlooking the crowded Riva degli Schiavoni, playing with the festival-goers... though it seemed she was not interacting with specific people, rather the idea of the crowd itself. We had a lot of fun speculating what she was actually thinking to herself and imagining her connection to the carnival over the years. I was so happy to capture this shot of her peeking out of the open door to flash her mask at the sea of people.
In the evening, we had a pretty bomb meal... totally living up to my expectations and memories of the delicious Italian fare. Although, after a day of walking the carnival, my plate of pasta wasn't enough to fill me up... so I had ordered a second meal. Ah, then I was content.
As the sun set, many of the families left the carnival for the day... so, it was time for the party people to come alive. We went to check out the music at Indi Pendi. The opening slot was this dude, DJ Stra, from Venice... I had a chance to talk with him for a bit, and he turned me on to some other cool local artists. Next, was Grimoon, a cinematic pop act from France. But, the headliner was the most interesting band I'd seen in a while: Mariposa from Bologna. Yes, interesting usually means experimental and weird... and that's exactly what Mariposa is, all over the place... a strange ambient twist of Flaming Lips meets Brian Eno meets TV on the Radio meets Devotchka meets Pavarotti. This is them singing Ave Maria (a cappella) during the encore.
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