Carnevale di Venezia!!! Wine, Women, and Song

After a long night upgrading my ipod touch so I can get apps, 6AM came quickly. I have no trust in the 170 bus to the termini... once again- it didn't show! Luckily since it was closer to 6-630, more buses/trams were going (compared to 530am for Florence the other week). Libby and I walked up our block, thinking maybe we'll take the tram to the end and figure out how to get to the termini from there...but then I saw the H Termini bus. the H bus's stop wasn't for a few blocks down, but I decided to take one for the team- I went in the middle of the street, put my hand out to stop the bus. He stopped for us and let us on...thank goodness!!
We did Bus2Laps which is a student travel group that travels all throughout Europe. We met at the termini and didn't see too many familiar faces. We took the double decker coach bus for 7 hours. SEVEN HOURS. I must have slept for at least four because it wasn't that bad.
We met three girls who go to AUR and live on our block as well. They were a blast! Right when we got off, we bought masks (they are cheaper then inside the carnival and on the island). Carnevale di Venezia starts two weeks before Ash Wednesday and ends on Fat Tuesday/Martedi Grasso. The entire carnival is about being someone you aren't. We saw avatars, gremlins, princes, duchesses, lego costumes,  flipflops- anything and everything! If you aren't into body paint and corsets, masks are common as well. The mask levels all distinction. This was a time for people to travel to Venice from all over, and do things that are usually frowned upon. Masks hide your identity. It was/is a time for the poor to feel/dress like the richest of the rich, and the rich to dress like peasants. My language teacher told us that Carnevale has no limits- insults included. 

We traveled by 'water bus' which we decided is equivalent to a tram (water taxis-buses, gondolas-Mercede private taxis). It was so exciting traveling to the main land by boat, seeing the exciting activity on shore, trying to understand Venice is a region on stilts..crazy.

When we got off our water bus, the land was crowded with people dressed in their costumes.

HIGHLIGHTS and WHAT NOTS:
-trying caldo vino (rosso). It was delicious.
-taking pictures with all the extravagant costumes...and the odd ones
-walking around with open bottles (not that you can't do that in Rome, it just amazes me how care free the day was).
-buying gifts for friends and families (magnet bottle openers, sweatshirts)
-walking on the Rialto Bridge and not understanding the hoopplah about it until now. It's 1/4 bridges in Venice but this is the oldest bridge across the canal and was the dividing line for San Marco and San Polo. It went through some rough times but was completed in 1591 and is still standing today.
-walking through the streets with all the shops (Gucci, Prada, CHANEL, D&G etc).
-meeting 'Uncle Mark.' This guy showed us around for about 2 hours with his nephew, his nephew's friend Roman, and two German girls. He was obnoxious and made sure that people knew we were American tourists......he showed us some 'famous spots' such as a bar called Harry's where Giuseppe Cipriani bartended (someone tell me who he is..), Bruno Magli where Oj Simpson bought his shoes to kill and other places, such as a small shop to re-glue a kid's mask that he broke, a wine bar so some girls could use the bathroom (but he had to buy a drink for them to do so-he kept the glass..and gave it to us so now we have one wine glass in our apartment). When he brought us to St. Mark's Square we separated.

-Eating pizza
-eating more pizza at a sit down
-St. Mark's Square (where the carnival is centered around).
-Meeting Jen, Erin, and Nathalie
-Taking the water bus back at night- looking at the lights around us, feeling so blessed that I was able to experience such an event.
-HAD A BEAUTIFUL DAY. Last weekend of the carnival was a great idea!

The way back Pros+ and Cons-
-Almost went back to Florence instead of Rome. There were two Bus2Alps buses that came from Rome and Florence. We all got wristbands- Rome's were royal blue, Florence's were green/blue. Thank goodness I noticed the unfamiliar people and noticed the other color difference of the wristbands...otherwise we would have gone to Florence!
-Couldn't sleep comfortably.. don't think I slept at all on the way back.
+ My ipod soothed my tension. Shout out to Adele and Rick Steve' Podcast
-no wifi
-/+ Got back right around 5:30AM..did't have issues finding a bus to get back home... sad thing was, we wanted to go to bed but the sun was up and people were setting up for the market.
Exactly 24 hours for a 8 hour event. Money spent, lessons learned..worth it.

check out www.youtube.com/CHRISTINAMONSOUR  if you want to see more vids (warning: NR)