I also experienced snow in Rome (what Mediterranean climate?) - the first significant snowfall in over twenty years, and the city shut down/went crazy. It was ridiculous to watch grown Italian men throwing snowballs at each other, but not so amusing to walk/slip an hour to school in the melting snow on wet cobblestone. I don't think my socks will ever dry, but it was certainly an experience to see snow on palm trees and covering St. Peter's.
So anyway, the main point of this post is Carnivale! It is Venice's signature festival, in celebration of Mardi Gras, and dates back hundreds of years, with a few historical interruptions. We took a 6-hour bus ride that became 8 hours, so we arrived in Venice with only an hour or so of daylight left, and took a waterbus around the city and along the Grand Canal with gorgeous views of the sunset. Venice is completely manmade and consists of 117 small islands spanned by bridges and I absolutely fell in love with it the last time I was there. I had already done the traditional Venice tourist-y things three years ago: gondola ride, glass and lace-making exhibitions, and wandering along the canals. This time around, I wasn't too disappointed to miss out on Venice in the daylight because I was so excited to see a totally different side of La Serenissima at night, with all of its residents dressed in masks and costumes, celebrating Italian-style.
We took the waterbus out to the island of Burano, which is famous for its lace and rainbow-colored houses (although it was dark by the time we got there, but we still got the idea). It was seriously way the heck out in the water, but was quiet and residential and more tranquil, while still maintaining the traditional Venetian look and feel (canals, little boats, bridges...). Our tour guide recommended a good place to buy authentic, beautiful masks for the festivities, and I absolutely love mine! (see photos below) We then stopped at a cute and quiet restaurant for pizza and pasta, and then decided to head back to the main island (San Marco) for the real party in St. Mark's Square.
From kids dressed as bears or Minnie Mouse, to teenagers in hilarious costumes, to adults decked out in Renaissance attire on their way to a ball, to tourists with masks, facepaint, silly string, and confetti, the atmosphere was incredible. We caught the tail-end of a fire show and saw a parade complete with a legitimate marching band (who knew they had these in Europe? all the band geeks among us were thrilled), and danced with thousands of people in the square to a DJ. Around midnight, we caught the bus home, and even though we had only been in Venice for a few hours, they were incredible, and showed me such a unique perspective on a city I already loved. We pulled into Termini (the main train station in Rome) six hours later, and after a Metro ride home, we all collapsed into bed...or so I thought. Apparently, my boyfriend had conspired with my roommates to buy me flowers from him for Valentine's Day, and so rather than come home and crash like me, they went to a florist at seven in the morning and bought them for me so that I would wake up to them. The roses were absolutely beautiful and I'm so happy to have such a wonderful guy (and girls) in my life!
So now my roommates (and everyone in the program, it seems) are writing a paper for a theology class I'm not taking, and I'm enjoying a night off from work, so I think I'll indulge in a little Keeping Up With The Kardashians online :) We're going to IRELAND this weekend, and I am unbelievably excited. Finally, people won't look at me like an alien - I'll belong!! Sometimes I feel like, even though I am actually Italian, I stick out like a sore thumb here, and a little time with in my other "homeland" is definitely something I've always wanted to do!
The Grand Canal
gondolier
Piazza San Marco
Vi voglio bene, ciao :)
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