Martedì Grasso a Venezia

After the fun parade in Viareggio, my friends and I still had to see Venice for Carnevale. We went on the last day of the celebration - Mardi Gras, or in Italian, Martedì Grasso. It was really cool to see Venice for the big day and just to see Venice in general. It was the first time I'd been there, and it really is an amazing city. No streets or cars, just canals and boats. I went for the third time yesterday to show my brother around, and my mom asked me if I'd gotten bored of it yet, but it's still gorgeous as ever.

One thing I really love about Venice is just exiting the train station and finding yourself at the Grand Canal. Boom! It's Venice! Water taxi!
There are many many mask shops in Venice, since it's so famous for Carnevale, but I really like the ones where you can see the masks made.
The typical Venetian mask is made of papier-mâché as seen below in Figure 7-4.
Also in Venice: a lotttt of glass.
This picture for me really captures Italy. There's the gondola. The gondolier in traditional garb. There is a woman wearing a fur coat. (It seems to be part of the winter dress code of older Italian women). The passengers are also dressed up for Carnevale with the hats and masks! Perfetto!

Saint Mark's square was all dazzled up for the event!

Awesome mask, that is really four masks in one. I only caught three of the faces in this picture though.

Very elegant costumes.

Less elegant costume.

St. Mark's Basilica.
Yet another mask shop.
Moody picture.
Venice by night!