All the Craziness that is Carnivale!

I'm a little bit behind yet again since I was supposed to write about Venice Monday and I just never got around to it!

Venice is my new favorite city in Italy!  The morning started off with the sun rising as I got ready to load the bus at 7:30 am.  The ride took about 3 and a half hours so they played the movie Casanova but I was so tired that I fell asleep about half way through the movie.  Just as the movie was ending I woke up and was greeted by rain and snow falling as we entered Venice.  The city center isn't accessible by bus so we all unloaded and waited at the dock for a boat to ferry us over.  The ferry ride took about half an hour and was freezing but we were all too excited to mind much.

As soon as we got off the ferry it was chaos.  There were people literally covering every square inch of space visible and everyone was either wearing a mask, a costume, or both.  Some how we managed to hear our tour leader shout to follow him to the glass blowing demonstration but following him seemed to be nearly impossible.  The crowds made it difficult to see our tour guide and follow him while trying to soak in the atmosphere of Venice.  At one point we were standing in a narrow road (even narrow as far as Italy is concerned) and we stood still for a good 5 minutes since there were so many people, no one could move.  We finally made our way through the crowds and over the bridges to the Murano Glass Factory.  The demonstration lasted all of 2 minutes but it was still cool. 

After the demonstration we were escorted by our glass blowing guide into another room covered from floor to cieling with hand blown glass items.  I was scared to move in fear of hitting something or hitting into someone else who would hit something since it was so crowded.  After a brief explanation of the different types and colors of glass available at the store, our guide said that there is a special going on for students!  I was so excited when he pulled beautiful drinking glasses and flower vases from the shelves, that is until he said that each glass was over 100 euro and the vases were over 150 euro.  No thanks.  After that disappointment we walked around the museum/shop looking at all the beautiful glass until I decided to buy a pair of earrings for 25 euro.  They are a beautiful aqua glass set inside cubic zirconium stones.

After the glass blowing tour we were free to roam the city but of course my first priority was food!  It was almost 2 o'clock by then and I was starving.  We tried walking around to find somewhere to sit and eat but unfortunately everything was either pack or insanely over priced.  The group of 10 decided to split up so it would be easier to eat and since half of the girls weren't that hungry.  Anna, Ashely, Nina, Nicole, and I continued our hunt for food when we finally settled on a little restaurant near the main piazza, San Marco.  The restaurant was of course over priced but they had Bellini's and I was tired of searching.  I settled on just ordering some spaghetti in a meat sauce and a Bellini.  The pasta was okay but the Bellini was delicious! (They are a Venician specialty!)  After lunch we strolled to Piazza San Marco to check out the Carnivale!

The carnivale was huge but very different then American carnivale.  First of all there are no clowns or animals in a ring.  They do however have a theme each year and this year the theme was 19th Century Women so a lot of the costumes were designed from the 19th Century which was amazing!  The main attraction is the people dressed up walking around but also there is a main stage that displays comedy shows, musical performances, and skits.  Anna and I stopped to watch for a little but we had no idea what was going on since it was all in Italian.

It started to rain so the other girls went to look for shelter but Anna and I were unfazed by the drizzling and continued to walk around people watching.  A few times poeple even asked us if they could take pictures of us since they liked our masks so much!  It was strange at first but everyone was taking pictures of everyone so we got used to it!  As we were walking around I continued to look for another mask since I wanted one with feathers.  I ended up finding the most perfect mask that was purple, had feathers, and glitter!  We continued to prance around the city taking in the sites until we happened to find April, Jenn, and Chelsea!  Together we went in search of somewhere for Anna to get tiramisu since its her favorite dessert and it was first created in Venice!  It was surprisingly difficult to find a place that served tiramisu but once we did we sat down and since I don't like tiramisu, I ordered another Bellini!

After our little snack we walked around and into the different shops looking at glass, food, and most of all masks! Mask making is considered a serious profession in Venice and it takes years to develop the skills to produce a quality mask.  Some of the masks were so ornate, I would be afraid to wear them without breaking it!  The most expensive price tag I could locate was 11,500 euro!

Of course as we were getting ready to meet back up with the tour bus to head home, we bought some gelato.  I saw cookie and immediately had to have it, good choice since it was delicioussss.  I tried to savor it, but it was just so delicious that I finished it before we even got back to the ferry!  We found our way back to the ferry and checked in with our tour guide and then patiently waited to load the ferry while it started to rain again.  We waited from 6:30pm until 8pm....IN. THE. RAIN.  Tired and wet, we loaded onto the ferry and then onto the bus.  Thankfully, they played the Italian Job on the bus ride home since it the beginning of the movie is filmed there.

I crawled into bed just before midnight and as the rain began to pour.