Isabella's in Italy: Venice and Carnevale

Last weekend took a day trip to Venice for Carnevale. It is located in northeast Italy and was roughly about 2.5 hours from Florence by high speed train.

What is the Carnevale di Venezia (Carnival of Venice)?
Carnevale is an annual celebration that takes place during the days leading up to Lent. The holiday ends officially the day before Ash Wednesday, a day known as Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras, which is observed by gathering for a huge feast and eating food that one will abstain from eating during Lent, such as sweets or meat.

Although Carnevale is celebrated all over Italy (and many other countries as well), Venice is particularly famous for their celebrations and history of elaborate masks that come from the Italian theater, the commedia dell'arte. Everyone dresses in creative costumes and masks and at night there are parties and music. You will also find confetti (in Italian: coriandoli) all over the streets during Carnevale. Check out the steel drum players we ran into:

Before going to Venice we had a workshop where we made our own masks using the original technique. Below is a picture of me in Venice wearing my mask and posing with someone in a very pink traditional costume. Unfortunately, I didn't have a costume but I did put my hair up in a bow on top of my head in an effort to be more festive, although it isn't very visible in the picture.

Making the masks. That's me on the right!

In Piazza San Marco celebrating Carnevale!

Venice, the Floating City

Venice isn't just all about Carnevale though. Historically, Venice was a very wealthy city, especially during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, due to its importance in the spice, silk, and grain trade routes.

Today Venice survives mostly on tourism. It is considered one of the most romantic European cities and is the setting for many famous works of literature such as Shakespeare's Othello and The Merchant of Venice, as well as many others, including Henry James' The Aspern Papers. Venice is also famous for Murano or Venetian glass and there were many stores selling beautiful jewelry.

Because it is made up of 117 islands it is very easy to get lost in Venice. My friends and I spent over an hour wandering in tiny alleys, crossing small bridges, and pushing our way through enormous crowds just to make it to Piazza San Marco! After that we took the water taxi back to the train station, which is the system of public transportation used in Venice instead of having a bus or metro. Not nearly as practical but definitely more fun. :) In fact, here is a video I made of our Water Taxi ride which includes a few guest gondola appearances. The music in the background is La stravaganza by Vivaldi, a famous composer who was born in Venice.