Viareggio, which was our home base for the weekend, is a coastal town that truly dies out for the winter- that is except for Carnevale weekend! During the day the town was completely dead and almost creepy because there were few people to be seen walking around. However at night everyone from 2-year-old children to 90-year-old grandparents were out and about dancing in the streets! Carnevale in Italy is absolutely nothing like Mardi Gras-New Orleans style. For people here Carnevale=Halloween! I lost track of how many adult furry onesies that I saw each night! People literally dressed head to toe in every imaginable animal outfit. Instead of all the beads and flashing of Mardi Gras, Carnevale is all about the dancing and costumes. The atmosphere of Carnevale was so exciting because the music could be heard long before arriving and the colors of the costumes lit up the night. Also, the dancing mostly happens down by the pier with gorgeous views overlooking dock after dock of yachts and other boats. It is also exciting how the sound systems are set up so that as you walk down the street it feels as though you are actually going through room after room as you walk from one dj to the next. Two of the girls I was with bought masks, but Kelly and I decided to experiment and made our own- with makeup! It was definitely an entertaining process and outcome!
On Sunday we spent the day in Viareggio because it was the day of the parade and actual celebration. It poured all morning, but just as we arrived at the parade area, it stopped for us and held off the rest of the day! The entire experience was nothing like I’d seen before- the floats were MASSIVE and incredible construction. The best part was that the movements were all done by hand and coordinated so that you couldn’t even tell it was remote controlled until you noticed that some of the people on the floats were pulling on cords or turning wheels. The topics of the floats were also really surprising because they definitely made various political statements and commentary that you just wouldn’t see in a U.S. parade. It was also different that we could walk through the streets with nothing barricaded. You just had to make sure you were aware of when the floats were coming and move out of the way. Overall the parade blew away my expectations and was probably my favorite parade that I have ever seen. Luckily the rain held off because if it had continued, the parade would not have happened!
Overall, every single moment and decision of the trip went in our favor. We had a million laughs together and all didn’t want to leave when the weekend came to an end!
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