Venezia

Ciao, tutti!

Sorry it's been so quiet...it turns out that my Canon actually did meet its end of days in VERONA, and I have spent the last week aggressively battling with la doggana (customs) in Milano so that I can receive a package with my new camera. Argh!

But aside from the technical difficulties, I spent last weekend in VENICE, having what was easily one of the most fun and memorable weekends of my entire life.

Rachel, Lauren, and Rachel K. headed to Venice last Friday morning to celebrate the giant festival of Carnevale, an all-out celebration that occurs annually, 10 days before Ash Wednesday. And a celebration it was...the entire city was packed (Venice's population apparently doubles and triples during Carnevale!), and everyone, young and old, seemed to be donning some kind of costume, or at least a type of mask. Clearly, we had to join in the festivities:

The girls and I on the Ponte Rialto at sunset

Since Carneval is so popular, we weren't able to actually stay in Venice, but on a campground in little place called Fusina, about an hour from Venice by bus and twenty minutes by boat. Don't worry, this wasn't tent-style camping - we were able to secure a two-room cabin with a space heater and without running water or outlets! Yes!

Let's just say that when we returned to Bologna on Sunday afternoon, none of us had showered since Thursday or Friday. Ew. Although we were "roughing it," Camping Fusina definitely added to the fun of the trip - it was full of other Carnevale travelers such as ourselves, and many a good joke was made about our accommodations, even by strangers. For example, take the conversation we had with a taxi driver on our way back from Venice Saturday afternoon:

Me: Chi vive a Fusina? (Who lives in Fusina?)
Driver: Only little mouse.

Look for pictures of the infamous Camping Fusina on the webalbum, which will be up next week.

On Saturday night we decided to stay in Venice late to check out some of the Carnevale parties, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions of the trip. The entire city was celebrating - every piazza seemed to have its own DJ, and people in all sorts of masks and costumes floated from piazza to piazza celebrating and engaging in the festivities.

The nightlife at the piazza near the Ponte Rialto

Aside from the Carnevale craziness, Venice is probably the most beautiful city I have ever seen, and definitely the most unique. It's no wonder it was such a place of inspiration for so many great artists and thinkers - the city's architecture is stunning and the colors everywhere were absolutely brilliant. We got into some of the major sites such as la Basilica di San Marco and il Palazzo Ducale (the Doge's Palace), but the most fun was had just wandering the tiny streets and bridges of Venice. Beautiful canals and great cafes waited to be discovered around every corner, and we had a lot of good times and good laughs just getting lost.

Today I am headed to INTERLAKEN, SWITZERLAND, where I plan to ski the Swiss Alps this weekend! Those of you that know me well understand what a huge deal this is for me...!!! I'm going with a friend from Cornell and fellow skiing enthusiast, Jamie Brooks, and neither of us can wait to get there!

A presto!