Today was a day of fun & festival in the Rio di Cannergio area of Venice. We walked over in the morning and wow – the crowds have grown huge in the last couple of days! I took photos just to try to capture the sea of people walking around the city!
We met some “Americans” in a cute local pub (a block away from our apartment) two nights ago and they said they had come just for 2 days and to see Festa Veneziana on the water – First Part One and Two. We had not heard of it so I looked it up on the internet. If you want to see more check out this LINK. The first day was an opening last night… but since I woke up with a sore throat yesterday and felt really bad by the evening we didn’t attend the “Part One” evening show. Here is a bit of new about the show we missed: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/travel/article/venice-kicks-off-carnival-season-video
Starting to come down with a cold, I was concerned that I wouldn’t feel good enough to go out today for “Part Two”, but it’s amazing how much a few Ibuprofen can help! It actually helped my with my knees as well.
We found the event easily by walking toward the train station. The crowds have certainly grown huge! The canal was lined by groves of people all waiting for the event to start? There was a lot of talking over a loud speaker – I didn’t understand any of it. Then some boats arrived carrying, what we guessed was food! Lots of food! We stood by the bridge for a while, waiting for something to happen, but nothing much happened… on the water. So we walked down the sidewalk and ran into some lines – they were giving out food!
So, we found the end to one very long line and waited out turn! As it turned out, like my mother warned me, in Italy it is ok to “cut in front of the line.” Yes, I saw it in the grocery store once. A lady who just wanted to buy a single chocolate bar asked to jump in front – no one minded. However, on this occasion, waiting in line for free food & drinks? Well, my “USA” patience ran dry. We waited in line behind some very patient Italians … as what I eventually found to be very rude foreigners to be cutting in. When Amar and I finally got to the place to get food (after nearly an hour) a englishing speaking girly-girl tried to cut in front of me. She was maybe around 20 year old and I had spied her with a group of her friends 5 minutes earlier trying to cut in… I told her, ‘Sorry – there is no emergency here and we had been waiting in the line for over an hour. She needs to go in the back of the line.’ I said a few other choice things based on frustration and hunger. LOL! I really detest young women trying to use their “looks” to get things the easy way. Hmmm….
The food and drink was good and the boat parade was excellent! Here are a few photos from the day!
