Crazy Lives of the Gilleo Five: Carnevale di Venezia

PARTY PARTY PARTY!

Carnevale di Venezia is an 11 day party. It starts two weeks before Ash Wednesday and ends on Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras) the day before Ash Wednesday. It is said to have brought in and estimated 160,000 visitors this year and they only had 2 accidental drownings.

Carnevale started as a time for celebration and expression throughout the classes, as wearing masks hid any form of identity between social classes. It used to be a nice low key event for children, but has since grown into a huge party with lots of drinking especially during the night hours.

During our Friday visit to Carnevale we found many people dressed in glamerous traditional Venetian costumes, but not much more than that. Guess all the excitement is during the nights and weekends. We had a good day taking in all the beautiful costumes, masks, and scenes. We stopped for a YUMMY lunch at Hard Rock, met up with Clark's boss who came in from Germany, and then headed back home.

Throughout the end of February and most of March each little town in the area has their own little Carnevale celebration. We decided to take the boys to the one in Pordenone, but it was cold and so the boys weren't to happy. It was fun seeing how the Italians do parades, and they don't throw candy they just shower the crowds in confetti!! It was fun to see how "Americanized" their parades are and it was neat being able to stand in the crowd and sing all the American songs they were playing. I got flashed by an Alien from Planet Maron, and a drag football player. I really must have stood out as AMERICAN amongst hundreds of Italians!! :)