We're on the way to one of the worlds big carnivals, and it’s still freezing . Little WOL, the wonderful small Fiat 500 has done sterling work. Getting us all over the top of Italy, from Pisa, through and past the lakes of Garda and Como, up into Switzerland (Lugano) and along motorways and now into the outskirts of Venice’s Marco Polo Airport. The car rental return was not hard to find and it was with some sorrow to let her go back. Never mind I thought , as I trudged through lousy weather to the bus taking us into the outskirts of Venice.

Well..... I thought to myself again, 'that was easy!’ recalling the last time we went to Venice and the tour operator just completely forgot about us, leaving us stranded at the airport when we arrived, and to compound their crappy service completely forgot to pick us up and take us back to the airport as well! But that is definitely another story! Getting off the bus near the Rialto bridge, (probably a very long walk away) bought tickets for the Vaporetto; as we locals call it, the waterbus to all others . And we were herded in just like a lot of cattle; the rest of the passengers were mainly locals and after about twenty minutes, trying to see through the steamed up windows to make sure we alighted at the right stop,we arrived at our particular destination..... the famous St Marks Square. Now to find our hotel. I’m not sure how many of you have been to Venice, but it’s definitely not like any other city in the world; dirty green canals ,a labarynth of narrow walkways between crumbling antique buildings ,bridges and small tourist shops .You can easily get lost! Asking for some sort of direction from a local shopkeeper was told "just keep walking up this way," indicating a general direction with his hand; so off we went. And would you believe it... at the very next intersection Dyana looked up and there it was. The Hotel Rio. All booked on the internet and with good looking pictures of the rooms too.

The first ominous sign was a large piece of paper stuck to the closed and locked door with sellotape . “ALL GUESTS ARE TO GO TO THE HOTEL TIO POLLO TO BOOK IN, with a diagram showing where it was. Now what could this mean; and you just know inside yourself when something is wrong. The hotel Rio looked deserted and was it perhaps closed? Well.. to find the Tio Pollo was not that easy because the schematic diagram on the Hotel Rio’s door could have been drawn by an eight year old with no knowledge either of drawing, or for that matter of the city of Venice’s geography! A little bit of desperation now.... and after about fifteen minutes discovered that the hotel we had to book in with was down this very narrow, dingy alley, and then round another corner. Off on another adventure!...... And would you believe it, around the corner was a modern hotel behind the facade of the decrepit old building. Excellent I thought. “There’s no reception in the Rio so everyone has to book in and eat here. OK?

“OK.” And we were then escorted back down the alleys to the ‘closed hotel’, up three flights of stairs and into the very tiny room . “Double Superior?” I asked. And apparently, yes it was..... not because of the room itself, but (and you really might not believe this either), because we’d booked the breakfast as well as the room! And there you are.Booked a breakfast with the room! Just fancy that!! I’ve never heard of a room becoming superior because you order a breakfast. But apparently in Venice, that’s how it works, so just don’t forget it. I also thought that they’d taken photos of another hotel room and simply downloaded these onto their website. But enough of the hotel, it was in location, location, location. Only three minutes away from St Marks Square where it all happens. To try describing the costumes in words would be too long and far too laborious, so I hope you like all the photos I’ve uploaded. These are only a smattering of what we actually took. On the first morning for example we took over two hundred photos of people dressed up. Words like stunning; breathtaking;  spectacular or magnificent cannot conjure up the feeling of being here . It’s just breathtaking! Like being back in the 18th century. The people all dressed up in costumes simply find a corner, pillar or space to stand and then pose. Like metal filings to a magnet photographers rush from one to the next taking as many photographs as they can. I hope you like the small selection. Dyana & I have coined a new collective noun for these people, and it’s a ‘frenzy’ of photographers. One of the major places to go in St Marks Square is the Cafe Florian. Opened in 1720 and still going strong. It’s a Mecca for people all dresses up in 18th century costumes to congregate and drink coffee while hundreds of photographers take photos through the windows of the goings on inside. You have to see it to believe it. As this was the only cafe to allow women in, such names as Casanova would be on the hunt in its rooms for.......... well, we’ll left the reset unsaid. Its really worth Googling the cafe and reading all about it. The biggest WOW, was when we somehow worked our way into the Danielle Hotel . It’s on a par with the Cipriani, another of the worlds famous hotels. The Danielle was having a masked ball. One of those spectacular annual events; and there we were sitting in the grandly decorated lounge sipping extreeeeemly expensive hot chocolates in tiny cups with all the participants going to the masked ball in their magnificent finery. 18th century costumes all around us. It was as if we were totally invisible, being dressed in our 20th Century clothes, having landed in a time machine, and somehow, experiencing, and being in the centre of a costume drama. Unfortunately it was too dark to take meaningful photos, but take it from me it was simply a moment in time that will live forever. Had a bit of trouble with the local constabulary as well, had to attend a line up, hope you like the pics. It was just outside the Florian as well. The good news is we’re allowed back at some future time! As an aside, in the centre of St Marks Square, they had a fountain filled with red wine. Now how cool is that! Please make sure you click on the videos as they will definitely give you a taste of what a Carnival in Venice is like.