Teatro La Fenice in Venezia (Venice)

The Phoenix

For a place that’s been called “a city of stone built on the water,” Venice has had a lot of fires.

In fact, Venice’s premiere opera house only came into being because of its predecessor’s destruction by fire. Symbolically, the new theater would rise from the ashes of the old one. They named it “La Fenice,” The Phoenix.

First opening in 1792, Teatro La Fenice is now one of the top opera houses in Italy and one of the best-known in Europe.

While the name was chosen to commemorate the theater’s origin, it turned out to also be an ominous foreshadowing. Teatro La Fenice has been resurrected twice, after catastrophic fires in 1836 and 1996.

The one in 1836 started because of some kind of malfunction with a new stove from Austria. The 1996 inferno, however, was intentional.

Two electricians doing renovation work on the theater were facing fines for being behind schedule. So they set the place on fire.

This (a) did not help get the project done on time, and (b) lead to each of them serving several years in jail. Not actually a helpful strategy for anyone.

I’m not sure if the electricians intended to burn it to the ground or just to singe it a bit to make their point. However, access to the theater was restricted due to the renovation project, and firefighters were not able to quell the flames before the building was destroyed. It would remain closed for the next 7 years.

House

La Fenice re-opened in 2003 with upgraded accoustics and an increased seating capacity of 1000, while its appearance matched the elegance of its previous incarnation.

There are five tiers of boxes, which had been “deliberately egalitarian in design” – until Napoleon came to power. To prepare for his visits to the theater, six individual boxes were combined into one royal box. This imperial loggia remains part of the current design of the theater, just above the auditorium entrance.

Opera

Despite a real history rife with operatic-level turmoil, the theater remains open today with a busy schedule that includes symphonies, ballets, and over 100 opera performances a year.

This September, we are looking forward to seeing “L’Occasione fa il ladro: ossia Il cambio della valigia” (The Opportunity Makes the Thief: The Case of the Exchanged Luggage), a single-act farce with music by Gioachino Rossini and libretto by Luigi Prividal.

The opera is a romantic comedy of errors that debuted in Venice in 1812.

It’s good to know that, after all that drama, La Fenice still has a sense of humor.

– More Info –

Teatro La Fenice:

Located in the San Marco neighborhood near the Doge’s Palace.
Open for self-guided tours most days, 9am – 6pm. €10 admission includes audioguide.
Event and performance schedule.
Libretti (lyrics) from past operas performed at Teatro La Fenice.
More on the theater’s history.
Detailed account of the 1996 fire, with photos.
What to wear to the opera, illustrated.
The first half of Season 3 of Mozart in the Jungle has some great shots of Venice, including scenes at La Fenice.

You can see a complete performance of “L’occasione fa il ladro” by another opera company at Schwetzingen Festival, Germany on YouTube.

Photos by Michele Crosera, courtesy of Teatro La Fenice.

July 22, 2017April 10, 2026

Love Unlocked

Over the past several years, the phenomenon of love locks (or “love padlocks”) has spread to 5 continents.

To symbolize their love, couples place a lock – often with their names written or engraved on it – on a bridge or fence or sculpture and throw away the key.

Locks Are Cheap

It’s an activity most popular with tourists, who often believe they’re participating in a harmless local custom. Perhaps they feel that snapping the lock shut binds them to the city, as well as their partner. Like carving initials into a tree, it’s a way people leave their mark on a place they love, unaware they’re damaging it in the process.
Continue reading “Love Unlocked”

July 4, 2017July 5, 2019

The Cracks in the Liberty Bell

The Liberty Bell is cracked.

Whether it’s broken, I suppose, depends on your point of view.

No one knows when the fissure first started to form.

We know there was an attempt to fix it by making the crack wider in 1846. But this ultimately caused another crack, making the Bell unringable and irreparable.

It remains on display at the Liberty Bell Center across from Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

While silent, it continues to reverberate as a symbol of a more free and just society.

Whether it’s broken depends on your point of view.

May 8, 2017February 5, 2020

Vacancy

Phillip read an article an old hotel that had been sitting abandoned for years with plans to tear it down when the city decided instead to preserve it.

He wanted to go find the Edwards Hotel on his day off, so we drove to the Peoria address in the article. It wasn’t hard to find.

Even from outside the chain link fence, it was interesting to guess what had been there originally and what had been added later.

Then we took a stroll around Old Town Peoria, where there’s currently not much going on, but they have a revitalization program in the works.

In the meantime, they have ornate, agriculturally-themed bus stops, a handful of historic buildings (including a church that was turning 100 the week we were there), and a nice little community center with paintings and quilts on display. It was all a cozy contrast to the hollowed-out hotel.

May 5, 2017May 21, 2021

The Opening Of The Fire Pit

After our morning hike at Tumamoc Hill, we returned to the Mission Garden that evening for demonstrations on agave rope making and roasting, tequila tastings, a display of products made from agave fibers, plant sale, and The Opening of the Fire Pit.

The day before – probably about the time Phillip and I were driving from Phoenix to Tucson – a group had gathered at the Mission Garden.

Jesús García, an Education Specialist at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, was demonstrating how to build a fire in a traditional roasting pit and fill it with agave hearts. They would be covered with metal from the side of an old washing machine and then layers of dirt to keep the heat inside the earth oven.

Other than the repurposed washing machine, the pit would be similar to the ones we had seen evidence of on our hike that morning, the charcoal gray rocks contrasting with the reddish desert clay only hinting at what was under our feet.

We don’t know exactly how the ancient roasting pits worked. Current tribes in the area have not continued this tradition. However, Jesús García pointed out that just a few miles south of the border, “the tradition is still alive.” He talked to his family in Mexico about the process, taking notes and drawing extensive diagrams about every step.

Adapting those techniques to the Tucson area has taken some trial and error. Apparently, last year’s cooking time wasn’t quite enough.

So this year, they would give the agave a full 24 hours to cook underground before literally digging in and opening up the fire pit.

That must be the magic number. It was soft and slightly sweet. Each variety had a different flavor. One tasted like sweet potatoes.

So what if you don’t happen to have access to a 5-foot by 6-foot roasting pit?

Carolyn Niethammer shared how she roasts quartered agave heads in her home oven – just roast at 350 for 17 hours (!)

Once they’ve been roasted, you can add them into other dishes.

With an electric skillet, she demonstrated how to saute up some agave along with nopales (prickly pear pads), peppers, and tepary beans, a drought-tolerant heritage bean that has recently come back into use. It was delicious!

[Update: I posted my video of her cooking demo on our YouTube!]

She followed up by passing around some “Aztec delights,” bite-sized treats she made from amaranth, chia, agave syrup, and chocolate.

It was a sweet finish to our Mission Garden visit.

Next Agave Heritage Festival events in Downtown Tucson:

May 6 + 7, 10am + 1pm: Fibers, Tequila and Fun at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Included with admission.
May 6 + 7, 10am: Agave Garden Tours at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Included with admission.
May 6 + 7, 10am: Rare + Collectible Agave Sale at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Included with admission.
May 6, 6pm: Agave Fest tequila party at Hotel Congress. $35
May 7, 11am: Agave Heritage Brunch at Carriage House. Proceeds from this brunch help benefit Mission Garden. $55

We were guests of Hotel Congress and Maynards Market + Kitchen.