Carnevale in Venice

Carnevale.

That word has been on the tip of everybody's tongue since I arrived in Italy in August. All the best stories involve past trips to Venice for Carnevale, and it seemed like every party was just a preparation for the party, which lasts for almost the entire month of February.

After all the build-up, I obviously couldn't miss it, so I donned my mask (*ahem* bragging time - handmade mask, using only materials from the local dollar store...) and headed to Venice with a group of friends. My beautiful mask needed to make its glorious debut at Carnevale!

The minute we got off the train, I knew it was going to be an amazing day. There were people everywhere, almost all of them dressed up. People dancing and singing in the streets, artists painting peoples' faces, hundreds of vendors selling hats and masks, confetti covering everything, music and food and wine and concerts and Venice! Beautiful, beautiful Venice. It looked much different this time than when I visited last summer...

Finances allowed only a day trip to Venice, as couch-surfing was impossible to find and hostels in Venice cost about as much as a 5-star hotel in Bologna. I could have spent a week there and still not seen everything that Carnevale has to offer, but the time limit just added an incentive to see as much as I could! When we got off the train, our first task was finding vino. No, scratch that. Panino, then vino. No, scratch that again. Goofy hats and masks, then panino, then vino. No, okay: final answer. Bancomat (ATM), then goofy hats and masks, then panino, then vino. When you're traveling in a group of 15, that's kind of how decisions are made.

When we approached the bancomat, it looked like your average ATM. During the transaction, though, it showed its true colors and devoured my ATM card! Monster!! To add to my distress, (and I'm convinced that this was a part of the bancomat's evil scheme), it was Sunday and the banks were closed. There was nothing we could do, so I borrowed money from some friends and had my mom cancel the card.

Once we had successfully taken care of the next two items on our to-do list, (panino, vino) I was feeling much better - good enough to really enjoy the rest of our day. There were a lot of different events to see, but I think the best part was just wandering around and seeing all the amazing costumes. Venice was absolutely packed with people and everyone looked awesome - there were people walking around on stilts, dressed in full-body animal suits, and of course there were millions of different masks. My friend James got a lot of attention for his costume, a foam horse which he seemed to be riding. People were constantly asking to take pictures with him!

Venice is the perfect place for a giant festival like carnevale. The narrow, winding streets add an element of mystery - you never know what you're going to see around the next corner.

It's also hard to tell how crowded the city actually is, until you walk out into a huge open space like Piazza San Marco and see that it's completely filled with people, elbow to elbow. There were literally thousands of people crammed into Piazza San Marco for an evening show. The show featured a woman "dancing" in the air while hanging from a giant balloon. She was spinning and twirling to carnival music during a rainbow-colored light show. Amazing!

Most people complained that the show lasted too long (because yeah, how much can you do while hanging from a giant balloon) but I was so fascinated by it. I kept imagining how amazing the woman must have felt, spinning and dancing in the air like that - it must have felt like she was flying. I need to figure out how to get that job...

Every piazza had a different show or event going on. It's hard to choose a favorite, but I loved the open tango dancing (tried and failed - miserably) and one piazza with a really goofy band:

They were dancing with their instruments and it looked so much fun that we all joined in and danced with them. Perhaps, perhaps the wine had something to do with it, but they loved us! I think they were especially impressed with my rendition of the macarena.

Later on, I shared another dance with a tiny boy in a duck suit who was quite fond of my mask. I think it was true love.

I let him play with my mask for a little while but his mom made him give it back...

Even after the vicious attack of the bancomat, I had an amazing time in Venice. We stayed until the last train left for the night, and it was so crowded that we sat (and slept) on the floor for the 3 hour trip. I was exhausted, but it was one of the most interesting experiences that I've had since I arrived in Italy.

Tomorrow (in 4 hours, actually - technically today since it's after midnight), I'm leaving for Stockholm. I don't think wild horses could keep me in one place, but I have the entire world to see and just one lifetime to do it. Woo! Sweden, here I come!!

***All the photos in this blog were "borrowed" from friends - I unfortunately do not currently have a working camera. :(