TravelVoice Journal - Venice: My Most Enchanting Evening

Venice: My Most Enchanting Evening

by Norman Harrison

They say truth is stranger than fiction. What I will describe in the next few paragraphs is an incredible evening I will never forget. While I've wished for this night to be repeated, I know it can never be. All I can do is to attempt to share this experience with you in words, but there is no way I can express with mere words what it meant to me when it happened one magical evening in Venice.

Carnivale de Venice is the mother of all carnivals, pure madness shrouded in mystery. Venice, the magical city of dreams and romance, famous bars, and narrow, undulating streets, for centuries has been the subject for countless artists, poets, musicians, film producers, and novelists. Often called the city of mirrors because the mirror was invented there, Venice is unarguably the most picturesque city in the world.

Two months prior to the February carnival, I was lucky to get a reservation at the San Fantin Hotel, a small, inexpensive hotel near Piazza San Marco, the principal area for the Carnivale. From the hotel, I could easily walk to Harry's Bar and Café Florian. After hours of shopping, I discovered a specialty shop where I rented a costume for the event. One particular costume leaped out at me. It was a Phantom of the Opera costume, with a huge black velvet cape, a felt hat and black velvet breeches complemented by black and red shoes. My accessories consisted of elaborate bejewelled canes, rings with gaudy red Marillo glass, white stockings, white gloves, handkerchief, and a white mask. In one hand I carried an artificial red rose made of silk.

Revellers from all reaches of the world pack the Piazza, expressing their exuberance in garish plumage. Oh it is a sight to behold. On this particular day, a fine silvery mist fell from low grey clouds on the frigid afternoon. Thousands of umbrellas in every colour of the rainbow accentuated the festive atmosphere, a golden moment for photographers and artists. Because my costume was unique and romantic, it was a big hit from the moment I made my debut in Piazza San Marco. Hundreds of photographers follow revellers dressed in elaborate costume wherever I went.

Once the festival was a six-month-long event, but during WWII Mussolini put an end to it. It has made slow steady progress since it was renewed in the fifties and now once again it is the carnival of carnivals. Gondolas and ornate street lamps form the background as many people in costumes pose at the pier for much of the afternoon. Slowed by photographers, it was late afternoon before I got to Harry's Bar. Since I was in costume, the maître d’ led me to a special table where he told me Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, Sinclair Lewis, and Henri Matisse had been known to sit in another time. I ordered Harry's world-famous hamburger with fries and a glass of Roederer Crystal. The waiter brought a chilled flute and filled it with the amber champagne. Pure class is the only way to describe the experience. Where else can you buy a fifty-dollar hamburger and champagne? Worth every cent, I can assure you.

After the most expensive hamburger in the world, I strolled to the Café Florian, the meeting place for people in costume from every corner of the world. At eight o'clock, the throng outside the famous café was packed four deep, with hundreds of people straining to get a peek inside. Only costumed revellers and very patient patrons are allowed to enter. As was the custom, those in dazzling costumes went to the head of the line and were immediately led to a table.

The atmosphere inside the famous café sizzles with energy as brilliant flashes from hundreds of cameras illuminated the dimly lit, ornate bar. Most patrons wore elaborate costumes costing thousands of dollars. For several nights running I had visited and drank with the famous American artist, Leroy Neiman, as he sketched costumes for an upcoming series of paintings.

The café is a meeting place for costumes. I met two of the most dazzling people in the world while in that café, Pola Briget and her lovely daughter. Pola, a very youthful and lovely 83 year-old French singer, still sings as lovely as she must have in the thirties and forties. This fabulous woman can sing in 23 languages. The two women were so taken by the Carnivale that they flew back to France only to board another plane and fly back a few hours later. The Carnivale has a surreal, almost magical effect on people.

After several hours and two bottles of Prosecco, I strolled to the Hotel San Fantin and went up to my room. I had no idea how long I had slept when I was awakened by the strangest haunting sound. In the stillness of the early morning, I clearly heard the mellow sounds of a beautiful alto-saxophone playing "My Funny Valentine." It seemed the musician existed for me alone, as if he had magically popped out of another time and place into my world. I jumped up from the bed and ran to the window, drew open the curtains, and opened the window. Peering into the dense fog below, I could not even make out a shape. Faint yellow light from a street lamp merged into the darkness. For several minutes the music floated into my room surrounding me with those precious notes. Then, as quickly as it had begun, the music and the apparition faded into the fog and out of my life. Awed by the experience, I sat in silence for the next few minutes wishing for the phantom sax player to return. For a brief spell I had been given an almost miraculous experience that I'm certain nobody else in the world has ever experienced.

Never before or after, have I heard anything so lovely as that song played on that solo sax. It has become a fading memory of a very special night in Venice. Since that moment I cannot get enough of that song and find myself collecting every CD I can find with a sax playing that song. I can only urge the reader to take my word. This evening did happen. Go to Venice and let its magic come into your life as it did mine. If it does, your life will never be the same again. Bon voyage.

For more information about travelling to Italy contact the Italian Government Travel Office.

Norman Harrison
Norman Harrison lives and writes in Fontana Vecchia, located in Taormina, Sicily. The villa, once home to D.H. Lawrence and later Truman Capote, is now graced by the presence of another rising star. Norman is the author of two novels: The Millennium Conspiracy, a techno-thriller, and Tarnished Wings, an adventure romance. Both will be published in 2000.

A naval officer and pilot, Norman has flown to 43 countries and lived in six. He earned his B.Sc. from the University of Texas, and his M.A. from Michigan State; he is now an active instructor in aerodynamics and aviation safety for Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.

Norman Harrison
May 2000

Oh Savannah

Trevor Sinclair
June 2003

By Trevor Sinclair

My oh so patient partner and I arrived in Savannah after an extremely tedious drive from Atlanta. Trucks, eighteen-wheelers, trucks, trucks and more trucks. If I’d known more I would have flown. With ticket prices under $50 it’s gotta be worth it. The drive along the Interstate is very lush green and somewhat pretty, but it’s not as though there’s anywhere to stop, apart from finding the most wonderful fresh fruit in the small town of Dudley…somewhere off the freeway past Macon.

Venice: My Most Enchanting Evening

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