This past weekend could have, quite possibly, been the best weekend of my life. Four friends and I took an incredibly spontaneous trip to Venice this weekend to experience the last days of Carnivale. Carnevale is essentially a Mardi Gras celebration that attracts thousands of people from all over the world to eat, drink, drink some more, and celebrate Fat Tuesday.
After purchasing fairly cheap tickets on the train (including one ‘standing’ seat on the return trip), we still had no idea of where we were going to stay because all the hotels, hostels, and budget hotels had been booked as of AT LEAST a year ago. Our options were to either get lucky by finding a cancellation spot, or staying up all night. Either way was fine. Anxiety built up during our three-hour train ride as we began to realize that staying up for over 48 hours in the heart of Venice while it was raining probably wasn’t the best idea. Right when got off the train we took a boat taxi to the center of Venice--St. Mark’s Square to find a hotel. We were immediately bombarded by hundreds of elaborately dressed tourists and found our way to a hotel that was able to accommodate our group in a two story penthouse sweet for half the price! We definitely got lucked out. After going to all the tourist hot-spots around the area we took some time in the afternoon to sit down for a couple bottles of wine. And by a couple, i mean more than 3 or 4 (sorry mom and dad). We then went to the middle of the square and watched huge spectacle performances and live bands performed while joining in on congo-lines and crazy dance moves. Because the nightlife starts so late and it was only 9:00, we were determined to keep going. We went home and took a nap, then returned to Jardini. Jardini. was a huge warehouse that the city renovated for the weekend and turned into a huge club of over 40 rooms. Each room had its own theme, DJ, and live performing band. It was so much fun to see the locals (of all ages 16-75) have so much fun.
We got up early the next morning and took a private boat to the island of Murano to see the glass factories on the island. We were able to watch a demonstration of how glass is blown and then view a glass museum.
Overall I had a really great time in Venice. No gondola due to the weather, but definitely worth while.
2 comments:
sounds like fun!!! what mask? i think you all just got real ugly in the last couple of weeks.good luck with your classes and the best way to unwind in italy....VINO !!! CIO, DAD
Where did you get your masks? They look pretty cool! Glad you're having so much FUN !!
Love You
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