Carnavale!

Last Tuesday was Fat Tuesday or in Italy's case, Carnevale. Here in Italy, Carnevale is a two week event that culminates on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. It's like Mardis Gras in New Orleans, except longer. You get a really good idea of what it is by the small part in the movie The Count of Monte Cristo, when Mercedes lets her son Albert go to Carnevale with his friends and he gets kidnapped by the Count's pirate friends.
I decided to be one of the masses flocking to Venice for this huge celebration and had a blast! Masks are a huge part of this celebration and everyone walks around with just a mask or a full-on costume. While I kept it tame with my face mask, there were plenty of others who looked like they'd just stepped out of Louis IX's palace in Versailles.
Our night began early, when we listened to the Beatles cover band playing for everyone in the main square, San Marco. We left and wound our way through the narrow streets and too many people to a corner pizzeria, which may have been the best pizza I've tasted yet. Our fun was dampened a little by some rain, but we found a cool place to celebrate under some archways. All in all, I would say that everyone needs to experience Carnevale at least once in their life. There is no real way to describe the night and I hope my pictures explain it much better than I ever could.
One is of my friend, Antonio's mask because it was way cooler than mine and the other picture of the huge crowd in Piazza di San Marco...it was dark.