I'll be Siena you soon!: veNICE

Venice during Carnivale was madness in a good way. So many people mulling around in crazy costumes. I'd forgotten how small the walkways and streets are in Venice (it's worse than Grand Central during rush hour). We were literally on top of each other while walking and trying to get to San Marco took a good two hours or so but it was well worth it. The energy was fantastic as were the costumes. I loved how everyone was totally into Carnivale, kids, parents, and drunk college students alike.

The food wasn't great/Venice is kind of expensive but I wouldn't have missed the experience for anything and I feel like I would definitely go back during Carnivale some other time. We stayed on Lido which I can imagine is pretty in the summer but at this time it was a bit cold. The ferry ride was pretty though.

The masks were really pretty. There was a wide range of quality (from 6 euro to 200+ euro) but all of them were so unique. The long nose ones were popular (alla cyrano de bergerac? or Pinocchio?) and I got one that is white with gold trim. Buying a mask during carnivale is pretty much a must since there are eeeeverywhere. The costumes, below, were intense and intricate.

At night, we headed to San Marco and it felt like there were a million things going on at once. There was a huge stage complete with a ringmaster. There were a few marching bands playing cheesy music from Grease, Abba and other things of the sort. There was a comedy acrobat duo, a kind of Balkan brass band, some kind of theater troupe, and then some dude cranking out techno from a huge speaker (this one was popular with the college students and I definitely got my rave on). The grand finale was a helium-type balloon suspended by two strings guiding a woman who spun around and around in the air over our heads.

Here are some pictures so you get the gist of what it was like:

My travel mates: Fumie and Arielle