La mia Primavera a Roma: Carnival Weekend

I have just returned to Rome after a great weekend away experiencing the Italian carnival! The trip was arranged and there was about 60 of us who went on the trip to Padova, Venice and Verona. The trip started late Thursday night when we departed Rome at 12am!! I was not really looking forward to the 7 hour journey to our first destination-Padova, however it wasn't as bad as I thought and most of us managed to sleep during the night. Our first day was spent in Padova, which is said to be the oldest city in Northern Italy. We went on a tour with a very enthusiastic and entertaining guide. All of the tours were in Italian so it was a good way of improving on the language. It is a picturesque city with a dense network of arcaded streets opening into large communal squares, and many bridges crossing the various branches of the Bacchiglione river, which once surrounded the ancient walls like a moat. It is renowned for its university, almost 820 years old and is famous for having Galileo as one of its lecturers. We were lucky enough to be there on the 8th of February which is an important day for the university. It is on this day that they celebrate the university's liberation from Austrian rule in 1848. Many students from Padova died in doing so and so on this day they are remembered. Current students wear traditional robes to show their respect, the colour of which indicates from which faculty they are from. In the evening we had dinner which was accompanied with a unlimited wine on tap!!This is quite common in Italy, although I still find it an interesting concept.

Prato della Valle
second largest square in Europe

Tomb of Anetor

A traditional robe at the university

The botanical gardens of Padova

Torre dell'oroogio
One of oldest clocks made in Italy. Time is told using Roman numerals ans signs of the zodiac, however Libra is missing as it didn't exist in the pre-Roman zodiac system

The following day we were up early to go to Venice. I had visited Venice a few months ago with a great group of friends so it was hard to beat that experience however it was Carnival weekend and i didn't know what was ahead of me! The journey started on a train platform surrounded by people dressed up in costume ready to get aboard the approaching train. However it is Italy, and trains can be an eventful experience. As the train pulled up we could see that the train was full to capacity with peoples faces pushed up to the glass windows. But in Italy, the Italians believe there is always space to be found. For 60 people though? I was doubtful. Our organiser told us to run and get aboard!!!! This pan didn't work and we were promptly told told to run to another platform!!! It was quite a sight seeing 60 international students running after a man in fancy dress holding a large flag ( our organiser)...but when in Italy! Luckily we all got on (standing of course) and we were surrounded by people in fancy dress. The party started on the train with carnival confetti being thrown everywhere. When we arrived in Venice the scene was extraordinary, as usual, however it was even more so than ever and it was a sea of people dressed in ornate costumes. There were jokers, magicians and people in Venetian masks everywhere! It was like being in Disney world.

We started off with a tour of the lesser spotted areas of Venice and some friends and I decided to spend the rest of the day wandering the streets, away from the crowds, to discover the older unseen parts of the city. We got the train back in the evening. Once again the train was too packed and so we had to get another. I got to stand beside two men in large ware-wolf costumes al of the way back. From the train station we all went to a lovely pizzeria in Padova. The organisers were also, somehow allowed to bring in about 80 litres + of wine for us in very large containers!!! All tables got multiple pitchers of wine. Then began the traditional Italian drinking game 'bevelo'- which means 'drink it'! After consuming all of the wine and sharing it with the whole restaurant, much to the delight of the owners we then walked to get our bus.....Which we has missed. However spirits were high, and it started to snow!!!!! We got a tram nearby. However, after two or three stops about 10 Italian policemen - 'polizia' got on!!!! Unluckily for all of us we hadn't bought tickets! We looked to our organisers for any prompts such as run, but this didn't not come. We all played dumb and that we didn't speak Italian which was great as the police didn't speak English. We got off pretty lightly. The only Chinese guy on the trip, somehow managed to escape the Italian police force and got off!!! Which was ironic as he got the brunt of the drinking game and we all know the Chinese cannot drink! We then all went out to party in a large warehouse which was full of people. It was a great night!!

Our organisers dressed up!

So our last day was spent in Verona, also known as 'little Rome'. I really liked this city, it was a very romantic place and the fact that Valentines day next week intensified the experience as everywhere was decorated with love hearts! Once again we went on a tour here and the sun came out. We spent a while wandering the streets and then got ready for the LONG journey home. The journey home was tiring however we were driving through the mountains and so the scenery was magnificent with the snow covered peaks and trees and the sun was shining. It was definitely a great trip!