Scott & Jeff come to Italy: Venice

             Saturday we headed to Venice to celebrate Carnivale. Carnivale is the celebration before Lent…the equivalent to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. During the 1600s and 1700s they used to wear masks and could pretty much do anything with anybody from any social status because no one could tell who you were. Today many people sport masks and costumes and there are tons of activities going on in Venice during Carnivale. It was CRAZY!!! But it was so much fun seeing everyone dressed up in their costumes.

Here are the boys on our boat ride down the Grand Canal. 

There were lots of Gondolas in the canal giving people expensive boat rides. 

In front of the La Salute Church. 

The guys in front of the Bridge of Sighs. This bridge connects two wings of the Doge's Palace (the Doge is the ruling duke of Venice). Supposedly a man condemned to prison would be taken over this bridge on his way to lock up. They would take one last look at Venice... and sigh. 

The crowds were insane! There were tons of people everywhere. This was crossing the bridge heading towards St. Marks Square. 

These were the crowds on the back alleys. 

More crowds in front of St. Mark's Basilica. 

A man maneuvering his personal boat into his garage.

Jeff sporting his sailor hat.

When we went to Venice for the first time with Autumn, Josh, and Ava we found this artist that has his studio tucked away in a little alley. He invited us in and showed us all around his studio. When we went with Steve and Susan we took them and they bought one of his paintings. We wanted to take Scott and Jeff, but his door was closed. I went ahead and knocked and his invited us in and showed us around. We just love Senor Martina. He remembers us and invites us in every time whether he is opened or not. He did a little charcoal demonstration for us and it was once again…amazing. Here are a few short clips if you would like to watch.

Here are some of the cool/interesting/weird costumes that we saw around town.

Night shot on the canal.

Rialto bridge was lit up in the background. 

The Grand Canal at night. 

Even though it was extremely crowded we had a great day in Venice!