7 February 2010

Venice Carnival

The 2010 Venice Carnival is underway; the weekends are the busiest times so today Venice was filled with tourists and day-trippers. The council estimates 75,000 people were in St. Mark's Square for the Volo dell'Angelo, a traditional event in which some bizarrely random 'personality' is winched down from the Campanile dressed as an angel.

It was a sunny day and despite the crowds on bridges and in lanes, the atmosphere was pleasant and jovial. It's the fourth Carnival I've seen in Venice, and I still enjoy seeing so many people dressed up in costumes and masks. It takes a very inventive costume to impress me now, and today my favourite was a man dressed as Noah... and his ark.

After a pleasant stroll and a few photos I bought a glass of vin brulé (mulled wine) from a stand near Campo Santa Margherita, along with a frittella, a kind of traditional Venetian festival doughnut (but nicer than a doughnut).

If the weather is good I'll be returning to San Marco for more Carnival photos during this week. In the meantime, here are some snapshots from this afternoon:







Gondoliers and maidens








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