Attend Carnival in Venice

“It is worth mentioning that on the last weekend there is usually something quite spectacular in Saint Mark’s Square (a fire show when I went, with dancers with flaming spears, and a huge dragon puppet that they set on fire) but apart from that, none of the public entertainments are generally as exciting as the city itself. [...] During Carnival masks appear even in the shops that don’t sell masks, and every restaurant and hotel hangs up a few of these mandatory proofs that one is not a stick-in-the-mud. Between these and the costumes, the days vanish, an afternoon seeming an hour, as one wanders and wanders and simply wanders.”

“I planned to walk from the station to San Marco in 30 minutes. It took four hours. This wasn’t poor planning; it was the design of the city. Venice is a trap for the curious. You will get distracted by a bridge, a reflection, or a stranger in a cape.”

“Between the incredible backdrop of Venice coupled with all the costumed revelers willing and wanting their photos taken, I thought I had died and gone to the photographer’s heaven. It was a simple matter of asking permission, and with a nod, the individual, couple, or group assumed a very elegant stance and froze. And within a minute or two, they gracefully moved into another pose making my job of capturing pleasing shots very straightforward.”