Buonasera! This weekend was absolutely incredible. If you ever get the chance to go to Carnival, GO!!!
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| our bedroom |
After arriving around noon in Venice on Saturday, we were ready and raring to go. After finally figuring out which water taxi we needed to be on, we arrived at our port and were greeted by the owners of our hostel. They personally led us through the maze-like streets of the city and brought us to our Hostel. I wish you could have seen the look on our faces when they opened up the door to our humble abode. This was no hostel, it was a PALACE.
After this we set off to find San Marco Square, the big piazza where most of the Carnival activities happen. Along the way, we went into [no exaggeration] 30 or so of the most incredible mask stores you've ever seen. Each mask was more beautiful than the next and, even though I didn't buy one, I fell in love with a few. Some are sold at outdoor vendors for as cheap as 10 euro per mask and others are kept behind glass windows and sell for 350 euros! Maybe one day....
As the sun started to set, the crazies started to come out! Costumes went from small eye masks and decorative face paints to full blown outfits and masks and wigs. Everyone was SO into the festival and the live music and mini parades just added to the atmosphere. Sadly, the festival began to wind down around midnight and we headed back to the palace for a good nights sleep.
The next day we woke up around 9, refrehsed and ready to enjoy our last day in Venice. Monica, the owner of our palace, made us a lovely breakfast of toast,
orange juice, yogurt and coffee and we ate every last crumb. We packed our bags and bid farewell to Monica, promising to return sooner rather than later.
We spent the rest of the day wandering around San Marco and the rest of Venice. The city really is unlike anything I've ever seen before. The bridges, the water, the buildings...It's all so unique and breathtakingly beautiful. We arrived to San Marco just in time to catch the tail end of the opening ceremony of Carnevale di Venezia which was quite an experience. Picture 1000s of people [literally 1000s, no exaggeration] packed into a square like a can of sardines, all pushing as much as possible to get to the front of the square. We spent about 30 minutes stuck in a swarm of people, clinging on to each other for dear life.
After we finally made it out of the chaos, we started walking towards the water and away from the crowd. On the way, we stumbled across a procession of people dressed in ornate costumes! We hemmed and hawed and took photos for about an hour...these outfits were unbelievable! I'll include some photos of a few of my favorites but I just recommend going to carnival yourself...It's worth every penny!
We had accomplished everything we set out to do except for ONE thing...Gondola ride! We stumbled into a little alley and flagged down an empty gondolier and set off for our 30 minute adventure. It was honestly one of the most relaxing experiences I've ever had. The soft rock of the boat and the cool wind in our faces was almost enough to put me to sleep [except for the pesky rain drops that started falling harder and faster]. We listened to Fabio, our driver, as he whistled softly and told us stories about ancient Venice and the festival itself.
Tired, slightly drenched and very cold, we boarded our very last boat for the water taxi back to the train station. We were relieved to finally be on our train [and stationary] and we all fell asleep within moments. It's definitely safe to say I'll be returning to Venice/Carnival sometime in the future. It was fun and exciting and will most likely prove to be one of the best weekends from my semester abroad!!
Upon returning to Italy, I quickly shifted from vacation to school mode and started studying right away. 3 finals, not a lot of sleep and LOTS of notecards later, I'm finally done with my exams and I'm free until March 13th [insert huge sigh of relief]. The exams I had didn't hold a candle to the impossible tests we are given at UVA but I'll say that they were not as easy I was expecting. All in all, I'm fairly certain I did well :)
SO, for now I'm relaxing a bit and will begin packing soon for my 10-day UK getaway with Brigid, Devon and [our soon to be new roommate] Mandy. Our itinerary is as follows:
London for 4 days --> Dublin for 3 days --> Edinburgh for 3 days
Start preparing yourself now for what is sure to be the most epic blog update ever upon my return to Firenze. To all of my Wahoos out there reading, have an amazing spring break and enjoy the [much needed] break from school! Ciao for now
:) Marlene
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| private terrace |
Beautifully decorated with antiques [ex: piano, paintings, armoire], I literally could have stayed here forever. The 4 of us shared one huge master bedroom that featured a massive king size bed, a beautiful chandelier and a private bathroom [bidet/tub/shower all included]. Still not impressed? I won't fail to mention the secret garden, terrace and private entrance.
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| with our wine! |
After we finished gawking at the beauty of our guesthouse, we promptly changed into Carnival attire and decorated our faces with glitter, paint, feathers and the like. A few of our friends had told us about this wine bar that will fill up your water bottles [any size] for just 2 euros a liter. We asked the family that owned our hostel if they knew what we were talking and they just began laughing and explained that this was their bar and it was directly beneath our hostel [cue absolute euphoria...now!] We stopped in after a hearty pizza dinner and filled our water bottles with some of the best wine I've had since being in Italy.
As the sun started to set, the crazies started to come out! Costumes went from small eye masks and decorative face paints to full blown outfits and masks and wigs. Everyone was SO into the festival and the live music and mini parades just added to the atmosphere. Sadly, the festival began to wind down around midnight and we headed back to the palace for a good nights sleep.
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| beautiful breakfast on sunday morning |
The next day we woke up around 9, refrehsed and ready to enjoy our last day in Venice. Monica, the owner of our palace, made us a lovely breakfast of toast,
orange juice, yogurt and coffee and we ate every last crumb. We packed our bags and bid farewell to Monica, promising to return sooner rather than later.
We spent the rest of the day wandering around San Marco and the rest of Venice. The city really is unlike anything I've ever seen before. The bridges, the water, the buildings...It's all so unique and breathtakingly beautiful. We arrived to San Marco just in time to catch the tail end of the opening ceremony of Carnevale di Venezia which was quite an experience. Picture 1000s of people [literally 1000s, no exaggeration] packed into a square like a can of sardines, all pushing as much as possible to get to the front of the square. We spent about 30 minutes stuck in a swarm of people, clinging on to each other for dear life.
After we finally made it out of the chaos, we started walking towards the water and away from the crowd. On the way, we stumbled across a procession of people dressed in ornate costumes! We hemmed and hawed and took photos for about an hour...these outfits were unbelievable! I'll include some photos of a few of my favorites but I just recommend going to carnival yourself...It's worth every penny!
Absolutely stunning costumes!!
Upon returning to Italy, I quickly shifted from vacation to school mode and started studying right away. 3 finals, not a lot of sleep and LOTS of notecards later, I'm finally done with my exams and I'm free until March 13th [insert huge sigh of relief]. The exams I had didn't hold a candle to the impossible tests we are given at UVA but I'll say that they were not as easy I was expecting. All in all, I'm fairly certain I did well :)
SO, for now I'm relaxing a bit and will begin packing soon for my 10-day UK getaway with Brigid, Devon and [our soon to be new roommate] Mandy. Our itinerary is as follows:
London for 4 days --> Dublin for 3 days --> Edinburgh for 3 days
Start preparing yourself now for what is sure to be the most epic blog update ever upon my return to Firenze. To all of my Wahoos out there reading, have an amazing spring break and enjoy the [much needed] break from school! Ciao for now
:) Marlene
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