carnevale di venezia

After having been in Rome for nearly 3 weeks, we decided to venture to Venice for Carnevale.

To get to Venice, we took a 7 hour night train, which was rather interesting. We boarded the train at 10 pm, and fell right asleep. However, we were woken up at 3 am as two strangers entered our car.

We arrived in Venice at 5 am, where we decided to see if our hotel would check us in so that we could maybe catch some sleep before an exciting day. However, to our dismay, our hotel room was not ready, and we were stranded. Luckily, McDonalds opened at 5:30 am, so we were able to stay warm inside, and we all passed out on the table.

By 8 am, Hotel Bologna (why Bologna when its in Venice is beyond me) checked us in, and we decided to head out to see the city. We walked all over Venice in search of the most perfect masks. The girls decided that finding a mask was like finding a prom dress, when you saw it, you would just know it was yours. It only took my indecisive self a mere 6 hours before I located this mask. Black (of course), it is speckled with gold flakes, studded with real swarovski crystals, with feathers that fade from maroon to green. It is amazing!

We went inside St. Marks, the Doges palace, walked across the

Rialto bridge, went to the glass blowing island of Murano, and took a gondola ride around all through the city.

At night, we went back to St. Marks Square to participate in the festivities of Carnevale. Everyone was dressed up and wearing their masks, dancing and watching as live music and shows flooded the square.

On our second night of Carnevale, things got a little crazy. After having figured out that the night life in Venice is not like Rome (they don't stay out nearly as late), we decided to start the night much earlier. By 9 o'clock we were having a grand old time. However, things went quickly downhill as we were all separated. Venice is a fairly hard city to navigate, and I hate navigating, so to my luck, I was with Peter, our resident tour guide here in Rome (he spent last semester in Rome and we rely on him for everything--from questions about bus routes to where to get the best gelato). To make the situation even better, everyones phones were starting to die. Before we were separated, we were all going to the same place: Campo San Margharita. So, thats where we headed.

As we walked through the narrow streets of Venice, over bridges, around corners, we finally made it there, and found everyone. We spent the rest of the night dancing in Campo San Margherita.

In the morning, we all made it on the train (a miracle), and headed back to Roma.

On the train, we discovered that our friend had been pushed into a canal sometime during the night. His thoughts? "Well it was deep... I mean, I was swimming." Classic.

Until another adventure,

ciao,

chrissy