Venice Carnival 2012

By Yelena Tischenko (Kent State University)

When I went to Venice Carnival on February 11, I had a blast! I didn’t know what to expect, since this is the first time that I have ever been to something remotely like this. I purchased a cat mask in Florence since I thought that the masks in Venice were going to be expensive. However, Venice had unbelievable masks that were just amazing! From black to the brightest pink, to cat masks to ones with huge feathers, there were masks that could cater to everyone’s taste!

After a three hour bus ride, we finally got to Venice. Although it was a freezing cold day, we had a blast! The costumes were incredible, the colors were so vibrant that you could spot someone in a costume a mile away. The girls in the group bought masks of all different kinds: one with bells, one with feathers, some with multicolored glitter and even some with beads! Little kids were running around in costumes and tourists flocked to Piazza San Marco to check out all the different costumes and music. As we browsed the streets, we saw the river with gondolas ready to be ridden. We had options to go to the different islands in Venice, but since we were only there for one day, we weren’t able to go. In April, our class gets to go back and see the beautiful, colorful houses in the warm weather.

By night, the Piazza became a destination for a DJ and a huge dance party!  Everyone was dancing, drinking and throwing confetti in celebration of Carnival. Hot wine was the drink of the evening in the -1 degree Celsius weather.  I was sad to go home at the end of the night, but excited to know that I would be back in April to see how beautiful and extravagant Venice is! Venice Carnival is a must-see for students and tourists because there isn’t anything remotely like this anywhere.