Nearly trampled in Venice

I was lucky to visit Italy during Carnival season. I knew Venice was a can’t miss destination. I took the three-hour train from Rome. Venice has a certain energy that I felt as soon as I arrived, almost certainly enhanced by Carnival season. Outside of the train station, there are tons of street vendors and musicians. If you know where you’re going in Venice, it takes about 30 minutes to walk from the train station to Saint Mark’s Square. I’ve got one hour to get to Saint Mark’s before the festivities begin. I follow the crowd for about five minutes, then I go off the beaten path. There are still tons of people around and I feel like I have a sense of where I’m going. I started exploring and went further off the beaten path. I see fewer and fewer people and it’s at this point I realized that I am nowhere near Saint Mark’s Square. After much backtracking, I work my way towards the square. The closer to Saint Mark’s, the more and more street vendors and people. I see more people wearing their Carnival costumes.

 image courtesy of Google Images

I arrive at Saint Mark’s Square right as the event begins. It started with a ceremony called The Flight of the Eagle. The eagle’s flight is a woman being lowered from a tower in the middle of the square to the stage. As the woman is lowered slowly on the zip line, “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvis Presley starts to play. When the song starts everyone stops what they are doing and begins to take pictures and record the woman on the zip line. Because of my detour, I was not completely in the square at this time. I was in a pathway leading inside the square. More people than I could count were still trying to enter the square. The people in front of me were stopped so they could take pictures. The people in the back kept pushing trying to enter the square. The people in front were standing their ground. And there I was. Right in the middle. More and more people kept arriving. My arms were pinned to my side. The thought of a stampede entered my mind. I thought the woman on the zip line would never reach the stage.

After what felt like an eternity, the woman finally landed. The crowd began to disperse and I could move freely! The costume contest began. Contestants made their way to the stage. After all the contestants appeared the official festivities paused for a couple of hours. Most of the people went to Saint Mark’s Cathedral or left the square.

Even though I got lost, and was nearly trampled in Venice… I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Venice is a beautiful place and I had a great time walking around and people watching.