Carnevale in Venice!

So this past weekend, I went to Venice for a night. I went with this school and it was awesome!

Carnevale is insane. We got there saturday and it was more crowded than it was the last time I was in Venice, and carnevale didnt start until sunday, but it was so hard to get thru the crowd...especially when there were 83 college students and only two leaders. So we got there, and it took us forever to get to San Marco. But we eventually did, and they are talkin to us in the piazza, but we were too busy singing along because they were playing Disney songs in Italian...its pretty funny. So we went into the Church. It was pretty cool. The view from the Balony was insane. Bella! Then we had like 40 minutes to find some food and try to make our way back to the bus, so a bunch of us found a little sandwich shop/pizzeria and ate that while we walked. It was fun.

Then we got on the boat and went to Morano and got to see this guy make some stuff out of the glass. It took him like 1 minute to blow the prettiest vase ever. and then, he made a glass horse in like 2 minutes. Insanity! So then we got to walk around their store...they have the prettiest chandeliers ever, i was bummed they didnt let you take pictures, cuz i have a weird obsession with chandeliers. But then they gave us half price off of everything, except the jewelry. So then we walked around, and I bought a necklace and a few other things. It was cute, and I had the best black and white cookie ever, and it had some filling in it. Delicious!

Then we went to Burano, which is where they make lace, and that is the place with all the really brightly colored houses. It was so cute, and i bought my mask there for carnevale! cuz it was cheaper, they werent jackin up the prices for carnivale. Its pretty. silver and white, with these huge white feathers.

Then we went back to the island our hotel was on, and drove for a while to dinner. Which was so good an dlasted for three hours. We eat so much here. Just sit down and keep eatinga nd get up 5 hours later. Its insane.

Then Kim and Brandon and I went to the beach cuz our hotel was lke a block away from it. We couldnt see anythign cuz it was like 12:30 in the morning, but we got seashells, so thats cool.

Then Sunday morning, we ate and stuff and went back to venice. Where they took us to the Duke's Palace. It was really pretty. The view from the Bridge of Sighs was amazing, and the prison was awesome. Creepy, but very cool.

Then - my favorite part - we went on a gondola ride! There were ten of us so we took two. Jess, Traci, Allison, Leeanne, and Laura in one, and then Stef, Danielle, Kim, Brandon and I in the other. It was awesome. I took like a million pictures. I seriously cant describe it to you...it was surreal. And its so funny, cuz we were so excited that we were those people that when we go under a bridge, the people on the bridge are like, GONDOLA! and take ap icture of us, and then cuz it was carnevale, we went under the bridges and people threw confetti on us. It was incredible.

Then we went to try to see the Flight of the Angel which is the start of Carnevale, but it was so crowded. Brandon gave us all numbers and kept counting us to make sure we were there. We actually made a chain cuz it was so intense. you know, like you do when your in like elementary school...hold onto the person in front of you. it was craziness. Mass chaos. We hardly got to see the flight, but it wasnt all that exciting anyway. lol. the craziness was intense though. Then we walked around and ate. And then went into a museum, and then we split up, and somehow ended up in pairs and didnt see each other until the end when we got back on the boat. Brandon and I went to get postcards and came back and two other people we were with were gone, so we tried to see some of the parade, but it wasnt all that exciting, so we started walkign along the grand canal back towards where the boat picks us up, and we stopped at every little stand looking for a certain keychain, and then we found it and brandon took 10 minutes, no joke, deciding if he wanted to buy it or not. lol. it was good though, cuz we had over an hour to kill.

The costumes were crazy. and the masks. some were creepy, but it was so cool.

Then we all passed out on the bus and had classes this mornin. it was a blast though. If you ever have the opportunity to go to Venice during Carnevale, do it, but be forewarned that its pure insanity.