2011 Venice Carnevale

As luck would have it, I picked the best time of the year to see something. Turns out because I made it to Venice during the end of February I was conveniently placed smack-dab in the middle of the city’s annual Carnevale celebration.

I had heard only rumors about its history and reputation but knew that whatever the event consisted of, it was going to be legendary. It wasn’t until after I arrived that I then learned to what extent.

My first impression was the 30-thousand plus visitors flocking out of the train station and if that didn’t get my curiosity peaked, the endless supply of masks and costumes of all shapes and sizes did. Little did I know, the Venice Carnevale celebrates centuries worth of tradition.

So in between getting lodged (literally) in the middle of skinny walkways and decoding a map that proved worthless, I settled on wandering and following street signs to get myself where the action was, and I found it!

I’ll tell you, getting out of the city was something more of a chore though. I think I asked almost  everyone in my entire, Italian waterway radius ‘Dov’è la stazione?’ In most cases, I received a simple hand gesture pointing to the sky.

Helpful? Not so much.

At least now I know to bring a Halloween costume and GPS for next time.