Carnevale!

We got off the train and were immediately surrounded by a sea of colors! About half of the people there were in costumes, some really strange, some just beautiful! I don't know the story of Carnevale, but by the look of the costumes, I'm guessing it has something to do with a masquerade ball back in the 18th century. We were fascinated and curious about those who dressed up in magnificent costumes. We figured they would be asking for money if we asked to take a picture with them, since their costumes look so expensive to make, but they did not! We still don't know why they were willing to just stand there all day in the Piazza letting people take pictures of them! We even looked for sponsorship ads or labels on their clothes, but there were none. In fact, we spoke with a man in a fantastic outfit who said he was from Santa Monica, CA until 10 years ago!!

But the first thing we did when we got off the train was to go to the hotel reservation counter and book a room in a cheap hotel. From the train station you pretty much have to make a left, then you can go straight into one neighborhood or go over the bridge over the Grande Canal to all the other neighborhoods. We attempted to go over the bridge since our hotel was there, but there were so many people crowded onto that bridge that it took about 15 minutes to get across! Only those who have been to the Taste of Chicago on the weekend know what this is like! The hotel turned out to be a pretty nice place, breakfast included, with a shower stall right there in the room (but the toilet was upstairs!)! After we checked in, we did some walking around. It was so much colder than in Florence and Rome, but we toughed it out because the party was live! We got programs for the festivities and went looking for the main events, but they seemed to elude us. I think that because we got there Sunday afternoon, everybody was leaving to get back to work on Monday. . . ..

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