Carnevale in Venice

Last Sunday, I found myself in Italy all alone with time to kill.  Brenden was away in Washington D.C. at a work conference and I had all Sunday to waste.  I decided to take the short train ride to Venice to check out Carnevale, the famous festival that runs the two weeks before Ash Wednesday.  Carnevale is one of those things I felt I needed to experience while living a stone's throw from Venice.  Unfortunately, I experienced it and will NEVER go again!  

The sites of Venice during Carnevale

Here are ten thoughts I had after a day in Venice:

1. Carnevale is SERIOUSLY crowded.  I've seen Venice crowded and packed with tourists in the middle of summer and I thought it couldn't get any worse.  The small streets of the city were packed...wall to wall packed. I've never actually thought that I could be trampled in a crowd or claustrophobic when outside.  I had both feelings last Sunday.  It was nearly impossible to walk at some points and I found myself in massive amounts of people traffic. (And European people traffic is pretty much the worst kind of people traffic there can be!)  I actually had an agenda for the day and did not get any of it done because I couldn't even get to where I wanted to.  I usually enjoy Venice, but the lack of any space made it impossible.

Glad it wasn't crowdwd

2. Carnevale is kinda a combination of a lot of American holidays- Halloween, New Year's Eve, Mardi Gras, and the Fourth of July.  People come to Venice in costumes and walk around the city throwing confetti and spraying silly string.  The costumes range from women in elaborate historical dresses to men dressed in drag and from adults in clown suits to children wearing Spiderman and Buzz Light Year outfits.  It's a very strange combination that makes for some good people watching.  The pastry shops sell traditional Carnevale snacks which I unfortunately could not eat because they have not yet made them GF.

Just a typical site in Venice

3. My favorite people watching moment of the day came while trying to exit the packed St. Mark's Square.  There was hardly any space to stand, let alone sit, but some creative American college students found a small corner of space.  A group of girls huddled around each other, cell phones in one hand, cartons of cheap wine from the local grocery store in the other, talking loudly about their exploits.  Lately, I've been able to spot American college students (especially girls) studying abroad from miles away.  This group was no exception.  Stay classy, America.

4. When my Mom visited Venice in the fall and saw all the traditional masks on display, she wondered why anyone would buy them.  During Carnevale, everyone actually wears the masks!  It was amazing to see people walking around with their eyes shielded by beautiful masks (probably made in China).  At one point, two Italian men got in a small altercation while trying to navigate the crowd.  The men, both in masks decorated with sequence and feathers, were on the brink of a more aggressive fight.  I couldn't take them seriously though.  Typical Italy.

Not for me...but pretty to look at!

5. Random fact of the day- Carnevale literally translates to "Farewell to Meat".  Horray Lent!  (Side note- I personally feel like I should be medically exempt from the no meat on Friday rule during Lent.  Without meat and without wheat, I'm really left with very little else.  Anyone want to put in a good word for me with JC?)

6. Venice is not the only Italian city to celebrate Carnevale.  In fact, most cities and towns around here have their own local festival.  I didn't get the chance to check out any others, but since Venice's is the most popular, I think I got a good taste of the festivities.

There were plenty of signs advertising Carnevale...but it was hard not to realize it was going on!

7.  There are actually events that take place during Carnevale in Venice.  I stumbled onto one of these in St. Mark's Square while I was trying to go to Mass.  What I think was happening was that an "angel" was descending into the square to present something to the Doge (the old governor of Venice).  I really couldn't see a thing, but I took this picture because everyone else was!

8. Despite being stuck behind crowds all day, it was somewhat entertaining at times...Especially when stuck behind these nice ladies:

9.  While I don't think I'd actually ever buy a big mask, I did enjoy looking at them.  Stores sold all sorts of masks and had elaborate window displays. 

10.  As miserable as the day was, I find Venice to be among the most unique and beautiful cities I've ever visited.  And since I didn't get to do what I actually wanted to do on this trip....I'll be back (just after Lent!).

I thought I might actually get shoved into a canal.