Venice Carnival

Sitting outside a cafe in a typically Italian piazza became one of the most interesting cappuccinos I have ever enjoyed. I was in awe of the sea of colours that paraded past us, immensely striking masks of different sizes and styles and costumes decorated like no other fancy dress event you will have experienced before.

Venice itself is truly alive during the Venice Carnival and there is no better time to engross yourself in Venetian culture. The festival can be traced back thousands of years and the masks were originally used as a form of disguise so social class was unknown. The costumes made up of long cloaks and dresses, masks and accessories from the glamorous to the eccentric; each costume is as memorising as the next.

Of course you don’t need to be sitting outside a cafe to view the range of costumes; you can spend hours wondering the streets, canals and over 400 bridges and bump into countless examples of the Venice Carnival dress. On day 3 of our trip we saw the official parade with a competitions for the most beautiful outfits and street shows in the most perfect of settings, once described as ‘the drawing room of Europe’ by Napoleon Bonaparte, San Marco Square. Spectacular performances, parades, music and dance take over this square.

The Venetian costumes are not the only unique attire you can expect to see on your visit toVenice, there are gondoliers throughout the islands ready to take you on the traditional form of transport! Used primarily today for tourists this is the ‘must do’ way to view the city is on a gondola. Weather it is a small canal that takes you behind the shops and houses or the majestic Grand Canal that snakes throughVeniceyou will see architecture from the Baroque, Renaissance and gothic; your camera is going to be busy!

Even the public transport is a experience within itself, with a city based aroundIslandas canals what better way to get around than a waterbus, the Vaporetto. Running along theGrand Canalit is a great way to experience the city especially if you don’t ride a gondola. Not only for the tourists, locals also use the Vaporetto this as the most economical form of transport if you don’t own your own boat or gondola and need to get to work!

This festival is mosaic of arts, made up of live music, comedy, acrobats, dazzling dancing and costume parades, if you want to experienceVenice; this isVeniceat its best.

Topdeck joins Carnevale di Venezia between 17-20^th February 2012. Check out www.topdeck.travel/festivals/venice-carnival for more information about Topdeck’s options of trips to Venice Carnival in February 2012.