V is for Venezia and Verona

Well, we had an absolutely fantastic time in Venice! The weather was beautiful and warm: my cheeks even sunburnt ever so slightly as we sat by the Canale Grande taking it all in. After many adventures, including missing our boat and bus back to the hotel in the evening and nearly freezing to death in our hotel room (we overlooked the thermostat), we're back! Oh, the things we saw!

The Canale Grande, seen from the Ponte Rialto.

Just some of the fantastic costumes and masks we saw--it was unbelievable! I literally had to forcefully control myself from taking any more photos or we'd still be there now!

I think we may have been trespassing onto private property here... oops!

A beader's paradise! The island of Murano, right off the mainland, is famous for its blown glass furnaces and foil-lined beads. We even got to see a free glass-furnace demonstation!

Another beautiful costume...

A lion column and the Campanile in the background.

I really did try to control my photo-taking, but I was powerless in the face of such costumes!


The next day, we stopped at Verona, about two hours away. It's famous as the city where Romeo and Juliet is set and where the legendary story that Shakespeare based the play on took place. What an amazingly beautiful town! It was so clean and had such a nice atmosphere.


Seeing Venice during Carnevale is definitely an experience that's worth bustling through the insane hoards of people, paying high hotel prices, and getting stuck on the highway for hours! I really recommend it to anyone considering visiting Italy, whether during Carnevale or not. Likewise, anyone visiting Venice should try to stop off in Verona, the fantastically charming town with Italy's second-largest Roman amphitheater and delicious pizza galore!