Carnevale!
On Saturday, we went down to Venice to experience Carnevale. Besides the slow moving crowds on the narrow streets the trip was actually even better than I expected. We planned to make our way Piazza di San Marco to view the festivities and also to see a concert and mask parade. The excitement started even before we left Pordenone. At the train station there was a young couple in costume getting train tickets.
Upon arrival in Venice, we were greeted by most of the characters of Star Wars and many other people in masks. This man on the right was funny. I especially love the shoes with a heel and and feather ball. I have a ton of respect for a man who can walk the catwalk in a 2 inch heel and muff. We followed 2 Minnie Mouses (Mice?), a clown, and a devil most of the way the Piazza. The street vendors were out in full force, as were face painters. It seemed if you were without a mask for whatever reason, surely you should have your face painted.
Along the way we saw various street performers (gypsies). The ones on the left were twirling flags. In this same square on the way back to the train station, there was another couple here. The man was singing a story (in Italian of course) while playing the guitar. The woman was swinging a flaming ball by a chain and jumping on a pile of broken glass barefoot. It was quite entertaining.
Continuing on to the Piazza, the costumes were getting more outrageous and elaborate. In the Piazza, those in costume were posing for pictures. We basically walked through the Piazza taking pictures of people. There was a stage and catwalk set up at the far end, so we found a spot in the crowd. I included the picture on the left, because the masks with the long noses freaked Mike out. The guy below and right, has a pretend man on his shoulders. The guy behind him has a tree on his head.
Finally, the band came out and in costume. I suppose they played some traditional Italian songs. We didn't know them, but everyone else in the crowd seemed to. I'm afraid they weren't all that great, but it did help to pass the time until the mask parade.
The parade consisted of ordinary people in costumes who had come from all over the world to participate in Carnevale. The family on the left was from New York. The endless parade of people lasted for over an hour. I'd have to say the majority of people were dressed like men and women of the late 1700's. But many others were dressed as all other things from Chinese dragons, to Van Gogh, to a "moon" lady (above left in blue). There was a play going on in another part of the Piazza (in the same area as the play in Casanova).
This was an older couple proving that Carnevale is indeed for all ages. Unlike the craziness that ensues in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, Carnevale is much more based on historic tradition. There's lots of conffetti, but no beads. However, we left fairly early, so I'm sure things get a little more rowdy later in the evening. We had fun, and I'm already planning my costume for next year.

Prima Donna

I had the pleasure of meeting Laura Bush when she stopped at Aviano on her way to the Olympics. She is heading the US Olympic delegation and brought with her former Olympians Dorothy Hamill, Kerri Strug, Hershel Walker, and Debi Thomas. She gave a good speech and then went down the front row of the crowd to sign autographs and take pictures.
I was told that if they would start letting people in at 7:30. However, she wouldn't be there until closer to 10, so be prepared to wait. I have been reading War and Peace and I didn't know if I was going to see anyone I knew, so I brought my book. I did end up finding some ladies that I hang out. We all have husbands in the 603rd. Laura is to the left of me, Angie to the right, and Kendra above. When we were told she would be signing autographs, the book was the only thing I had for her to sign since I had left everything else in the car. So when Mrs. Bush came by, I cleverly thought to say, "Mrs. Bush will you sign my book? I thought that as a librarian you would appreciate signing a good novel." Ha! She was like, "Sure. This is a good one. Where do you want me to sign it?" She opened it to the first page and signed just inside the cover. I said, "I'm a teacher from Texas". She said, "You are? Are you working here on base?" To which I had to reply, "No ma'am. DODDS isn't hiring right now". Lame right? But truthful. I just felt like a bum for not having gainful employment. Then Angie handed her camera to an aid and we had our picture taken. I think the picture looks fake. It looks like I just pasted my head in between two people in the crowd. But no, it's really me.
Mrs. Bush was followed by the Olympians who also did pictures and autographs. Above, left is Dorothy Hamill. Below are pictures of Debi Thomas (left), Hershel and Angie (center), and Kerri Strug (right).
Prima Donna means First Lady.

Pisa

This was a fun trip. As I mentioned, it's about an hour train ride from Florence. The station is on one side of the city and the "attractions" are on the other side, so it's a little bit of a walk. We thought it was a nice city though. It has a river running through the middle and whatnot. The picture on the right is part of the wall around the city. Pisa was one of the great naval powers before it was sacked by Florence. There's not a whole lot to do except the obvious. But I think it's well worth a trip. It really is very cool. The whole time I kept thinking how ridiculous it was to have a leaning tower. It's even more ridiculous to me that once they figured out it was leaning they tried to build the rest of it back the other way so it wouldn't lean so much. It's just nonsense. I love it. The first picture (upper right)was taken as we were walking up the street toward it. The picture to the left is of the base of the Tower. It's a little sub level. I don't know if it started out like that or it sunk. We had to go down a few stairs to enter the tower. Under that and to the left is the staircase inside the tower. We thought this was funny because the marble stairs are worn on either side depending on what side of the tower you're on. For example, if you're walking up the side that is closer to the ground, the stairs are worn on the left half of the step. Likewise if you're walking on the side that's farther away from the ground, the stairs are worn on the right side of the step. I hope that makes sense. It's really funny. The two pictures of us were on top of the Tower. On the left is a picture of the Baptistry. You had to pay to go in and our tickets didn't cover it so we didn't see the inside. The cathedral (right) was free but it was closed for riposo. (Almost everything shuts down for riposo from about noon until 3.) The picture below is of the cathedral and baptistry taken from the Tower. These last photos on the left , I know, are slightly silly. Unfortunately,they seem to be a requirement of a visit to Pisa. I was hesitant to put them on, but I figured what the heck, let's be silly.

Florence
We went to Florence in January. Thanks to a friend from high school and her husband who are in Florence for a year for missions, we were able to sleep on an air mattress at their apartment which greatly cut down on expense and allowed us to see more of the city. Although quite chilly, winter is a great time to travel because the weather is usually nice (aside from the cold), crowds are down, and things are cheaper. It was about a 4 hour train ride from Pordenone to Florence. We arrived about 4 pm and went to settle in at the apartment. We chatted for a while and then Mike and I set out to see the Baptistry and Duomo. We toured the Baptistry where Dante was baptized and walked around the outside of the Duomo. This is a picture of the ceiling. It's hard to see but it's Christ accepting souls into heaven or condemning them to hell. The rest of the ceiling was done in smaller, chronological biblical scenes and the different levels of angels around the top. This is also where the famous "Doors of Paradise" are. It was getting dark so we decided to find somewhere to eat. Then we went back to the apartment to catch up on some LOST episodes. The next morning we left to catch a train to Pisa about an hour away. I'll talk about Pisa in the next blog. After we got back from Pisa we headed to the Duomo to try to get in before it closed. We ate at the Pizzeria del Corso on the way--fabulous pizza.

The Campanile is on the left. We entered the cathedral (middle picture)--Europe's 4th largest church and the city's tallest building. It was amazing. We were afraid that we'd missed all the tours to the top of the Duomo (right picture), but we finally found the line and headed up. There are two shells, for the Duomo. When you climb the stairs to the top, you are actually climbing in between the two shells. It was a long, hard climb but the close up views of paintings on the inside of the Duomo and views of the city are well worth the effort, especially at sunset. These are pictures from the top of the Duomo.

The next morning, we went to the museums. We went to the Academia first to see Michelangelo's "David". It was so beautiful. The detail made it look so real. We weren't supposed to take pictures. So of course we didn't. But if we had, I probably wouldn't post them here. Then we walked to the other side of town to tour the Uffizi (pictured on the right). It is Italy's most famous art gallery and we saw many great works of art. My personal favorite is Botticelli's "Birth of Venus".

You might recognize this building from one of the shots of the city from the Duomo. It's the Palazzo Vecchio. It is the heart of Florence's political and social life. There is also a "pavilion" with a lot of statues in it. The statues are supposed to represent historic victories and act as warnings to attackers. The picture on the right was taken from inside the U-shaped Uffizi. The bronze statue in the middle is my particular favorite. He's holding a head.

We walked along the river and across the Ponte Vecchio. Built in 1345, it is the only one of Florence's bridges that wasn't destroyed during WWII. You can't really tell, but the picture on the left is a statue on the Ponte Vecchio. There is a fence around the statue and all over the fence are locks. The legend (as told to us by our friends) is that if you put a lock on the fence and throw the key into the river, you will have everlasting love. There are many gold shops along the bridge so that in conjunction with the legend makes this a very popular spot for Florentine proposals. Mike didn't put a lock on the fence to represent our love, but I think it's just because he didn't have one. At least that's what he told me... :)

Florence is an amazing city. There is so much to see and do. I don't think a trip to Italy would be complete without visiting Florence. And you might as well go to Pisa while you're there.