Carnivale Day Two

Jackie and I slept in while Casey and Amanda went to check out some sites. We woke up and decided to get gelato for breakfast. The "cookies" flavor was awesome! Though it didn't match well with the strawberry (fraggola) - also good in its own right. We spent the rest of the morning shopping (window shopping really), before meeting back up with Amanda, Casey, Maya, Christine, and Luca. Luca took us to a counter-deli type place (cheap and a favorite of the locals)- and I got a sandwich with some prosciutto. Basically that's the meat of choice in that area of Italy. It comes in a variety of forms.

We wandered around the shops before getting some more gelato (cafe and stratiatella for me this time) at San Marco. The place was great and cheap - a shop on the corner of the square by the water. We ate by the water and the gondolas for a while, just hanging out and catching up. Luca's cousins Nico and Pirate Hat guy (I can't remember his name) joined us there. They seemed nice enough, but they couldn't speak a word of English, so sometimes it was a little awkward. Our conversations pretty much consisted of "I like to eat nutella and gelato." We hung out some more by the water, shopped, and checked out more sights in San Marco.

Christine, Me, and Maya

Our Venetian tour guides

Later at night, dressed for the celebrations, we went into the plaza by our hotel (Plaza del San Maria Formossa I think). There was an Italian band dressed in Elton John- style outfits, singing old and awkward American songs (think "Freak Out," "YMCA," etc.). But everyone was into it, so it was a wicked fun dance party!

We headed to Plaza del San Margarita to meet up with Christine, Maya, Luca, and his cousins. The only problem with that plan was that San Margarita was a while away through a maze of alleys, canals, and bridges. We had to go toward the Academy. On the way there we ended up in back of a band of clowns. As they played and marched through the streets a larger and larger group followed. They would stop periodically in plazas and everyone would dance. We spent a good deal of time following them before we realized we were getting further from our destination. Upon getting redirected, we headed to the Plaza to meet my friends. The crowd there was huge, but the music was terrible - a dj spinning boring, trippy music.

Leaving the plaza we followed a boombox which was attached to an amp attached to a car battery. Again, a huge group of Carnivale celebrators followed the contraption and it would stop in various plazas for people to dance. We danced the night away with people from around the world in the streets of Venice. Amazing! I was sad when we had to part from Maya and Christine, but we had such a good time all in all.

Casey, Jackie, Me, and Amanda

This time was such a different experience than the last time I was there. It was even more crowded than in the tourist season of summer, but it still had a great vibe. It is always, and was this time especially, a feast for the eyes. A feast for the senses may be a more accurate description. I love the colors and activity. It was such a blast, and I'm so glad I was able to do this with my friends.

Venice is one of those places I am in love with. I would never want to live there - the flooding and tourists make life so difficult. However, given the opportunity, I wouldn't mind visiting over and over again.