Two weekends ago was THE craziest, most exilerating weekend of my life. On Saturday morning, we woke up at 6 am and headed to Termini to catch our 8:30 train to Venice. It was uber cold and there was snow on the ground but the trains were still running so we all decided to be troopers and treck north to Venice. The trip was organized by our Italian school so it was really nice to have a guide with us. We arrived around 12:30 and it was FRIGID! Not just cold, but it was "piercing your skin" cold. Since Venice is settled right next to the ocean and has many canals, the winds were fast as well. But, hey, we hadn't traveled 3 hours for nothing, so we out mind over matter and headed into town.
Here are some shoots from my first views of Venice:
The classic Italian gondola!
So, the reason we went to Venice on this specific weekend was to join in Carnivale. Carnivale is an annual festival held in Venice which starts 58 days before Easter and ends on Marti Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday. The celebration includes tons of costumes, parades, yummy food and contests.
Now, I don't get scared easily (or so I'd like to think) but, as many of you know (yes I mean you Trisha, Kerry, Sarah, Teresea and Ashley), one of the things that I am TERRIFIED of are masks. Yes, masks. I just don't like the whole concealment of identity- it freaks me out. Anyway, if you know anything about Carnivale you know that there are TONS of people walking around in masks. Somehow, I forgot this tiny detail but soon realized what I had gotten myself in to as soon as I walked into Venice.
masks, masks and more masks!
Anyway, after much coxing from my good friend Lauren [which went something like: "Okay Elise, on the count of three you're going to put ON the mask. Breathe. Nope! Pick the mask back up young lady! It's going to be ok honey... On the count of three.. one.. two.." I actually] I actually put on the mask. It was a small one, but still, it was a big step.
mask: ON!
Carnivale was by far the craziest experience of my life. There were people walking around with costumes of every kind and the wine was flowing [literally. there was a wine fountain.] We had so much fun walking aorund taking everything in. We stopped for a warm lunch, purchased some brule [hot, spiced wine] went into Basilica di San Marco and got to take in beautiful Venice! Even in the cold it was beautiful!
outside of Basilica si San Marco
so many people!
the port of Venice
I am so happy I got to see Venice. It was really a dream come true. Through out my trip, I have grown to love traveling more and more.
After a yummy apperitvio and a great dinner, our group of 50 students hopped aboard a a sleep train [thank God!] and took the 7 hour train ride back to Rome. It was my first time sleeping on a train and I loved it. Although I didn't actually get a lot of sleep, I loved the new experience.
Then around 6:30 am our train pulled into Termni...
check out my next post! the adventure continues!
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