A Venezia per il Carnavale!

And to Venice we went!

On Saturday (yesterday) I went to Venezia as a part of an ESN Carnavale tour. Was a crazy 24hrs with us leaving Milano at 7am and returning the same time this morning. Being sick made the tour a little un-enjoyable, but there was no way I was missing out on such an amazing tour!

After eventually leaving the bus station, and a couple hours of driving, we finally made our way to the ferry port. In our tour group were not only students from IULM, but other universities in Milano and some of the cities near by- we made for quite a large group. Once we managed to cross the canal and head towards Piazza San Marco we had hours of free time to explore. This was made quite difficult by the enormous crowds and stalls all around us, but from the parts of the city I was able to see I am definitely in love- such a beautiful place and I can't wait to return and explore and get lost amongst the canals.


First order of the day was to ensure I had a mask to walk around wearing. Anyone without a mask or a costume or face-paint was certainly out of place. The whole city was so colourful and alive with everyone dressed up, it was such a fun atmosphere! After the shopping was out of the way (more masks and figurines to add to my collection back home) it was on to exploring! Every where you went there were people dressed up in costumes, posing for photos and talking to tourists. Even at the entrances to the museums and churches they were there keeping the people in line entertained (and queue we did). With so many people around it took quite a long time to get into anywhere, but I love people watching and there was plenty to see and photograph around me.

As the rest of my group went off to do some more shopping, I did a bit of sight-seeing and went inside and up the Basilica di San Marco. The church is constantly being repaired but I was able to go up to the terrace and catch a view of Venezia and the Piazza, as well as take a walk through the museum and the church itself. One thing that I have found a bit odd here is that they still let tourists into the churches when there are services on- a visit to the Duomo in Milano on a Sunday was made up of our group of about 20 walking through a full Sunday church service. Not at all what I would have expected!

After sight-seeing and taking a bit of a break I attempted to unsuccessfully meet up with some friends from Bologna who were also in Venezia for the day. We got so close but with the force of the crowds I was pushed away and unable to return to meet them in time. Oh well, another weekend I will definitely see them! The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around and by-chance bumping into other friends, and finally making it back to our ferry to head off to Padova for dinner and an ESN party.

The party was for all the ESN groups from around Italy, so apparently there were about 2000 students there. It was huge! By this point in the night (in Italy if you are at a club or a party before 12 you are too eager and early) I was feeling rather ill again, so a few of us took it easy and spent the night chatting and relaxing, before heading on the long-awaited bus back home.

It felt like forever, but we finally got here and in the end it was a fantastic 24hours. Can't wait for more explorations now that I finally have my timetable sorted Italy (and Europe) better watch out!