Carnevale en Venezia!

I just got home from an amazing weekend in Venice with my South African friend, Chenoa. She has been living in Italy for the past three months working as an au pair and she goes home on Thursday, so I had to see her before she goes back. She had the amazing idea to attend Carnival in Venice, so we spent three days in a dream city of filled with masks, music, and a special magic in the air. Venice is a beautiful city everyday of the year, but during Carnevale, the city transforms to be even more vibrant--it's incredible and completely unique to Venice.

We got in to our hotel in Mestre (about 15 minutes outside Venice) on Thursday night, so we stayed up late just chatting and catching up. Friday morning we enjoyed a breakfast at the hotel before catching the tram and then a bus into Venice. This was my second time to Venice, but it was just as breathtaking this time as the first time seven months ago. Chenoa and I actually went to Venice in July together with my host family while we were working as English tutors with ACLE for the summer, so this was our second time there together!

The first thing we did Friday morning when we got to Venice was get our faces painted! Once we were in the Carnevale spirit, we started walking around the city, but we didn't make it too far before we found a lovely little bridge off of the main streets. We stopped to take a few (hundred) photos before continuing on in search of the open-air Rialto market. However, our photo shoot lasted a little too long and we missed the market, so we just went to a little restaurant and had pizza for lunch and then went to meet my friend from Rome, Riccardo, and his friend, Enrico. Riccardo was visiting Enrico in Brecia, a few hours from Venice in train, so they came over to spend the afternoon with us in Venice! The boys got their faces painted too (like the rock band KISS!) and then we started making our way toward Piazza de San Marco, Venice's main plaza. We spent the rest of the night in a little bar near Piazza de San Marco, drinking and socializing! After that, we caught a bus back to Mestre and the boys caught a different bus to their hotel.

Saturday morning, we rushed to the train station in Mestre to see the boys off before their train left and then we headed into Venice again. We were determined to see the Rialto, so that was our first stop! We weaved through the narrow streets and over the peaceful canals, stopping periodically to take photos, and finally reached the market. There was a concert going on and the market was just finishing. The sellers were beginning to pack up their fruits, vegetables, fish, and meat, but we were still able to see quite a bit. After the market, we searched for a menu touristico and enjoyed a nice lunch at a not-so-authentic Italian restaurant. We were kind of disappointed, but we made up for it with the purchase of some authentic Venetian masks and some very authentic Italian capuccinos after lunch! Then we headed back toward Piazza de San Marco, on the way meeting an American boy, who was in Venice alone, on a spur-of-the-moment decision, so we invited him to hang out with us and we ended up spending the rest of the day with him. He was really nice and he also was willing to play photographer too : ) We spent the rest of the afternoon/early evening walking around the Piazza, marveling at the stunning and creative costumes. It's probably good we were with that boy because there were tons of people in the Piazza and it was good to have another set of eyes to make sure we all stayed together. There were a couple of times, after trying to snap a photo, that I thought I had lost Chenoa, but thankfully we always found eachother! We had dinner together at a little Pizzeria and then met up with a Venetian boy Chenoa had contacted through CouchSurfing. He took us to a concert in a different Plaza packed with students. The atmosphere was so energizing, but there were so many people in such a small space that a fight broke out near us! It was extremely scary being that close to something so violent, so after that we kind of went to a corner of the plaza behind the stage to relax and enjoy the music comfortably. We stayed a little while longer before making our way back to Piazza de Roma to catch our bus back to Mestre.

Sunday morning we set our alarm just in time to make it downstairs for breakfast and then showered, packed up, and checked out of the hotel at noon. We headed into town with our suitcases, in search of a gelateria because no trip to Italy is complete without a gelato! So we found one, enjoyed a delicious cone, and then walked to the tram stop where I could catch a bus to the airport and where Chenoa could catch the tram to the train station.

This weekend was hands down my best weekend since I've been in Europe. I adore Chenoa, she is one of my best friends and will definitely be in my wedding someday! It was so good to see her and I couldn't have picked a better place for our reunion than Venice. Venice (and Italy) is so enchanting to me. I know if I spoke Italian, I would live here in a heartbeat...

I was so sad to say goodbye to Chenoa, but I know that true friendship cannot be weakened by miles, and I am confident that we will see eachother again soon. Until then, never say never.

mai dire mai.