I
really have no idea how to begin explaining my first official travel week, it
still feels a little like a dream that I can't believe actually happened.
It all starts in Venice where we went for the first weekend of Carnival.
We thought this would be a great way to experience one of the most
well-known celebrations in Italy as well as a fantastic way to kick off our 9-day trip that also included Rome, Pompeii, and Paris.
I
was crazy excited about this trip especially because we were meeting up and traveling with
two of my best friends from back home, Aaron and Nickie. Because I knew I would get
to see Aaron for the first time in a few months the Friday we left, it
was absolutely terrible to sit through an entire day of class! However,
somehow I managed to survive and before I knew it I was waking up from my nap
on the train from Bassano to Venice completely freaking out because I realized
I had told Aaron to meet us at the wrong train station in Venice! It was
just the perfect start to the
trip and I couldn't believe that two hours into our journey I had already
messed up!! (Trust me - it wasn't the greatest confidence booster to kick
things off!) Nonetheless, two train station slices of pizza, a Diet Coke, and
an hour later we found Aaron (finally!) and were able to get on our way!
Thankfully we were able to check into the apartment we were staying in
and meet up with a few other people we knew who had come for Carnival without
any other problems...probably because I wasn't in charge of any of it!
When we woke up the
next morning we realized something very quickly...it was COLD in Venice!
Walking out the door was brutal and I'm from Minnesota - I should be used
to it! Apparently, we had somehow managed to visit Venice during one of
the coldest periods in 30 years and got to spend the weekend walking around and
ducking into random stores whenever we got too cold to keep going!
Thankfully, Carnival was exciting enough that it made up for the
temperatures, but I will tell you that (sadly) my most successful purchase up
to this point is the €10 stocking hat I bought in Venice that weekend!
But, beyond
that the weather, it was a fantastic experience to see all of the unique and
intricate costumes as well as all of the really goofy ones like the 3 Little
Pigs, the Teletubbies, and the Mask. People were obviously having a lot of fun with
it and the whole experience reminded me a little bit of the classier version of
Halloween! One of the best things we did happened while we were walking around shopping for our
own souvenir masks as we managed to wander into a shop where a man
and his wife were hand-making the famous masks right in front of you. Watching them
work and having them explain the whole process was so interesting and it helped
me understand much more about just how serious people take this celebration.
Other than the mask hunting, we got to see a parade of costumes, live
entertainment in San Marco Square, and a fountain filled with wine! Needless to say, we never had any problems finding
things to do!
The
cold definitely made the Venice stop of the trip a little more uncomfortable
but everything we did during our time there without a doubt made up for any of
the unpleasantness. Thinking back on it now, I'm really glad I got to see
the city and Carnival under such unique circumstances - it made our visit there
much more memorable and special. I will never forget how pretty it was
walking to the train station on Sunday morning over the famous Venice waterways
with the canal water frozen and the snow falling. Watching all of the locals
take pictures and just stand outside their shops in awe made me realize how
rare and truly beautiful what we were experiencing was. All and all I'm
guessing you can tell from this post that Venice was an amazing first stop on
our week-long adventure but I'm excited to say it only got better when we headed off to Rome. I think I'll break it up here though - Rome more than deserves its own post!!
San Marco's Square |
One of my favorite costumes! |
Costume Parade |
Me & Emily on one of the main canal bridges |
No big deal...just a snowy Venice (!!!) morning :) |